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Watch the first steps of a robot inspired by stick bugs
They grow up so fast, don't they? It was just a few years ago that HECTOR the stick bug robot was little more than a twinkle in Bielefeld University's eye, and it's already taking its first steps. Okay, so this isn't quite a tear-jerking moment, but it's still an important achievement in robotics. As you'll see in the video below, all of HECTOR's six insect-like legs move independently while reacting to unexpected changes in terrain. They shift to maintain balance on slippery ground, and raise themselves above small obstacles the moment they sense resistance.
Robugtix's 3D-printed T8 spiderbot will terrify your friends for $1,350 (video)
Whether they run, jump or swim, there are plenty of robots around to be fearful of. None have quite exacerbated our arachnophobia as much as Robugtix's T8 octopod, however. The 3D-printed spiderbot not only looks the part, but employs 26 servo motors to drive its unnervingly life-like movement. Bigfoot's baked-in "Inverse Kinematics Engine" deals with all of the background computations, so you don't have to be a coding genius to work it. Instead, users send "short and simple commands" to the bot via wireless XBee or any other method you can hook up to its Rx / Tx pins. Expected to ship at the end of September, the T8 is available now for a special pre-order price of $1,350, and you can add $85 to that if you want one of Robugtix's analog-stick controllers for real-time direction. If that sounds a bit pricey, there's another option in the much cuter $250 iitsii hexapod, which is predicted to ship late August. Check out the shudder-inducing video of the T8 below, then follow it up with the iitsii demo to help you forget.
Stompy the giant hexapod gets hexafunded, one step closer to hexacrushing your car
So, just how many people want to see Stompy, the two-ton hexapod come to smashtastic life? Enough to fund the project in 11 days via its Kickstarter page. The folks at Artisan's Asylum dropped us a line to let us know that Sir Stompsalot has hit its $65,000 goal as of 7:30 AM this morning, with 18 days left to pledge. That list includes two backers at the $5,000 adopt-a-leg level and nine backers for the $1,000 drive Stompy mark, so unless you've got a giant insect of your own, you might want to avoid driving the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts for a while...
Stompy gets off the ground with a Kickstarter: buy a ride on a 2-ton hexabot
In June we were promised a Kickstarter for Project Hexapod's 10-foot tall, two-ton Stompy. We're happy to report that Gui Cavalcanti and his cohorts (James Whong and Dan Cody) at the Artisan's Asylum weren't kidding. This morning the page went live and you can officially pledge your support for rideable six-legged robots. Now that the chassis is 80 percent through the design phase, the half-scale prototype leg (Gimpy) has proven its mettle, and the full-size prototype leg has been designed and the necessary parts ordered, it's time to start lining up funding for the final project. You know how it works: you pledge a certain amount of money and in return you receive a particular level of reward. Don't have much to offer? For just $5 the team will scale the White Mountains and shout your name from the top, while $10 will get you get you something a bit more tangible -- a bumper sticker that reads "my other car has six legs."
X-RHex Lite robot grows a tail, always lands on its feet (video)
By far the greatest challenge for robots with legs is staying upright when the going gets rough. A team at the University of Pennsylvania's Kod*lab has a hunch that we don't need extra smarts to make that happen -- just an extra appendage. The upgraded X-RHex Lite (XRL) carries a tail that will swing in the right direction to keep the robot upright if it's caught out by a fall, much like a cat. That's impressive for a nearly 18-pound robot (the previous Tailbot was 0.4 pounds), but we're pretty sure no feline has six springy legs; the XRL can crash to the ground and still get back up like it ain't no thing, which gives it a fudge factor others don't have. We don't know if the hexapod critter will lead to more than further experiments. If there are fewer stuck rovers on future exploration missions, though, we'll know who to thank.
Hexy: hands-on with the adorable, affordable hexapod (video)
The Artisan's Asylum has a few guiding principles, one of which is anyone can "make." We assume one of the others is "you can never have too many hexapods." If Stompy, the giant rideable bot, is a bit much for you to handle (or store), then maybe Hexy is more your speed. He's got six legs and 20 servos, but at only $200, he's much cheaper than similar hexapod kits and, most importantly, more adorable. The bot is the brain child of Joseph Schlesinger, a resident at the Somerville hacker space who saw a need for a low-cost but serious robotics kit. Since hitting Kickstarter in May, his creation has raked in roughly $86,000 in pledges, far surpassing his original goal of thirteen grand. We swung by Joe's booth to get a taste of what exactly his hundreds of backers have bought into and to find out what's next for the budding bot entrepreneur.
Project Hexapod: eyes-on with Gimpy, the (half-scale) giant robot leg
Admittedly, this is one of our shorter editors on staff. But he is, believe it or not, an adult male that stands five foot, eight inches tall. Which puts that giant chunk of metal next to him at about five feet. Turns out, that slab of black steel is a prototype robot leg -- and one that's only half scale. It's the work of a bunch of hobbyists, engineers and hackers at the Artisan's Asylum in Somerville, MA where its the big dog amongst a pile of other amazing projects. This is simply an early stage in the building of what will ultimately be one of the largest six-legged robots in the world, dubbed Stompy. All told some 19 different people are hard at work on the bot as part of an intensive class taught by Gui Cavalcanti, James Whong and Dan Cody at the hacker space that covers everything from metal work, to hydraulics, and, of course, robotics. When it started in April, the goal was to build a fully functional and rideable hexapod in four months time, by breaking down the project into much simpler to tackle tasks. Now the class is gearing up to enter the final stages, namely, building the full scale mechanical monster. %Gallery-158274%
Mighty morphing hexapod bot is back, now rolls with the punches
It's been awhile since we last saw Kåre Halvorsen's morphing hexapod ball-shaped bot, and in the interim it picked up some new tricks. Before, the MorpHex could only maneuver by scurrying around on its six legs, but now it can move around while still in spherical form. It works by periodically protruding its polycarbonate panels to get rolling, and it stops and turns in similar fashion. Additionally, it's learned some nifty new dance moves and acquired the ability to flummox small children. Don't take our word for it, though, see the thing in action after the break.
Spherical hexapod robot walks like a crab, dances like the Bogle (video)
Kåre Halvorsen (aka Zenta) is something of a genius in the robotic arts, as testified by the latest development in his long-running MorpHex project. By adding curved polycarbonate panels to its six feet and upper half, he's given his creation the ability to curl up into a ball when it gets tired of scuttling. Alas, he hasn't managed to make it roll around yet, or indeed fly, but the video after the break is still pretty amazing -- and almost as hypnotic as that robotic worm we caught doing the limbo.
HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video)
We've seen some rather nightmare-inducing robots inspired by insects, but, once again, the folks at Germany's Bielefeld University have managed to turn something inherently creepy into a rather lighthearted affair. HECTOR, or hexapod cognitive autonomously operating robot, was designed to help its creators understand how exactly real animals manage to move so gracefully. Physically speaking, HECTOR sports six legs, with 18 joints in total, that protrude from an exoskeleton made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Its legs are given a rather life-like range of motion provided by a special set of "elastic joint drives" and a series of "biologically inspired" algorithms, and its exoskeleton can carry a load weighing 30 kilograms -- the robot itself weighs a mere 12 kilograms. What's more, HECTOR's built to learn from its experiences. Okay, so a three foot robotic insect that can carry nearly three times its weight does sound kind of creepy in retrospect, but HECTOR really does have some smooth moves. You can see at least one of its legs in action after the break.
Kondo's spring-loaded spider robot creeps on the cheap (video)
The latest in a long line of terrifying (and occasionally adorable) pseudo-arachnid robots, Kondo's upcoming KMR-M6 is doing more with less. Thanks to a unique spring supported linking leg joint, this hexapedal bug gives you the heebie-jeebies with only two servos per leg. The new leg design lowers build costs while improving performance and stability, and was developed for education, research, and hobbyist markets. The base kit hits Japan next month for about ¥76,000 (about $880) and comes with twelve servos, a control board, a 10.8V 800mAh NiMH battery, software, and a frame with extra space for adding optional, cameras, grippers, or other servo controlled fancies. Although it's not as lovable as Kondo's turtle-bot, watching this robo-bug scuttle and march (after the break, if you're wondering) is far more awesome than it is creepy. It's another sign of the robot apocalypse, sure, but are you seriously going to let that ruin your Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday?
Phasma the terrifyingly adorable, six-legged insectoid bot
Is it possible for something to scamper into our heart and our nightmares simultaneously? Phasma is making a bid for that distinction. The hexapedal running robot, built by Takram Design Engineering, is based on Stanford's cockroach-inspired iSprawl, and is built to look all cold and mechanical at rest, but to move very much like an insect, churning those springy six legs in a tripod gait. At first we were terrified by the motion, depicted on video after the break, but the more we watch it the more we're struck by how eager and exuberant it looks. Eager and exuberant to dwell inside our hollowed out carcass during the end of days? May we never find out. The robot is currently on exhibition at the Science Museum in Tokyo, if you care for a look. %Gallery-99979%
MSR-H101 Hexapod kit lets you build your own nightmares
Robot builder Matt Denton apparently first built a one-off Hexapod robot for himself some time ago, but he's now taken things one big step further and is offering a kit of a similar bot to the general public through Micromagic Systems. In addition to being excessively creepy (just check out the video after the break), the MSR-101 Hexapod also looks to be relatively simple to get going straight out of the box, with it boasting a built-in HexEngine with plenty of pre-loaded settings, and built-in PS2 controller suppport, which'll let you parade your creation about without having to mess around with it too much beforehand. Of course, there's also plenty of room for more experienced robot builders to get their hands dirty, and Micromagic is more than happy to sell you a whole slew of optional add-ons for the kit. Those just looking to get started, however, can simply grab the base kit in their choice of black, red, or silver for an entirely reasonable €105, or roughly $168 -- just don't blame us if you never get a good night's sleep again.[Thanks, David]Update: It turns out that you do need slightly more than the base kit to get the bot up and walking -- namely, some extra servos and electronics detailed at the read link below -- so don't be too hasty with that order.
