There are so many good things about [Jose Julio’s] robotic spider. It’s design is dainty yet robust, and the behaviors encoded in the firmware are nothing short of spectacular.
The body is built from a piece of balsa wood in between sheets of carbon fiber. The legs are carbon rods, using two servo motors for left and right leg movement, and a third servo which can move the intermediary legs like the roll axis of a plane. An IR sensor rides on the front for obstacle avoidance, with system control courtesy of an Arduino. For more hardware info check out his build log.
Don’t miss the video after the break. You’ll see that the little bot can be manually controlled, or allowed to roam free. As we said before, the behavior is fantastic. Not only has [Jose] programmed interesting characteristics like the spider getting tired and sitting down for a while, but when it is awakened it leaps into the air. The movements are fun to watch for human and feline alike; if only your house cat could be so lucky.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqUhlYrN_Po&w=470]
[Via Engadget]
That was… AWESOME!
pretty cool
Never seen a bot do so much with just 3 servo’s and so fast too!
That is badass! I would like to see a bipedal version of this. I bet that guy could pull it off.
I’d love to see his take on a true hexapod (independently controlled legs)or even for the bot to live up to its name, and octapod version.
very very cool!
This is one of the best projects I saw in a while. I’m definitely going to base a design on this one.
Thank you!
@aristotle: six legs would make it an insect not a spider
I like the butt-scoot at 2:12. I didn’t know robotic spiders could get worms.
Saw this on Engadget and fell in love with it. Beautifully designed robot and obviously a hit with its new owner.
Wow indeed!
I’m floored at how much mobility and…and…expression it has!
Really great one there. Well done sir.
Most of the cats I have had would end up yanking a wire out. he should vac-mold a body for it
Should call it “Happy Fun Bug”
//spiders have 8 legs//
This reminds me alot of the tiptoes robot an aussie friend by the name of ‘RifRaf’ was working on in #robotics on the Freenode irc network.
check out the videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k-jhSLZ6xg
The Robot vs Cat part is great!
Brad
Very cool build. I especially like the move where it puts both legs forward and “hops”. I built one myself that works on the same general principle:
http://jcopro.net/2010/12/12/pegleg-the-six-legged-hexapod-robot-part-4-programming-and-servo-control/
(it’s a hopefully pretty complete write up)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9836584@N03/sets/72157623215601373/detail/
same from LEGO
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9836584@N03/4328908400/in/set-72157623215601373/
same from LEGO
Turned turtle, the end.
You should see his quadcopters!
Superb.