Saturday, April 2

Office Supplies Hexapod Tramples Your Excuses

We all have reasons why we’re not building cool robots. “I don’t have a lasercutter.” “I don’t have a 3D printer.” [JAC_101]’s hexapod robot dances all over your excuses with its tongue-depressor body and pencil-eraser feet!

Some folks like to agonize over designs, optimizing this and tweaking that on the blackboard. Other folks just build stuff and see what works. If you’re in the mood for some of the latter, check out some of the techniques at work here. Tongue depressors make a simple frame, and servos are lashed on with zip ties in place of fancy servo mounts (or hot glue). Photoresistors are soldered directly to their load resistors, making a simple light sensor. It’s all very accessible and brutally minimalistic, but it seems to walk. (Check out the video, below.)

Arduino code is available for you to play with, naturally.

There are other X-apods (where X is a small integer) you can build on for not much more than the cost of the hobby servos involved. [Radomir Dopieralski]’s Tote springs to mind. If you’re more into grippy arms, the MeArm has you covered. (Why has nobody combined these?!?!?) If two legs will suffice, try out a BOB derivative: either in minimalist garb or something fancier. Whatever flavor you choose, just get building. Leave your excuses for another day.


Filed under: robots hacks

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