A Better Motor For Chickenwalkers

June 24, 2019 by Brian Benchoff 27 Comments

The last decade or so has seen remarkable advances in motor technology for robotics and hobby applications. We’re no longer stuck with crappy brushed motors, and now we have fancy (and cheap!) stepper motors, brushless motors for drones, and servo motors. This has led to some incredible achievements; drones are only barely possible with brushed motors, and you can’t build a robot without encoders.

For his entry into the Hackaday Prize, [Gabrael Levine] is taking on one of the hardest robotics challenges around: the bipedal robot. It’s a chickenwalker, or an AT-ST; either way, you need a lot of power in a very small space, and that’s where the OpenTorque Actuator comes in. It’s a quasi-direct-drive motor that was originally pioneered by the MIT Biomimetics Lab.

The key feature of the OpenTorque Actuator is using a big brushless motor, a rotation encoder, and a small, 8:1 planetary gear set. This allows the motor to be backdrivable, capable of force-sensing and open-loop control, and because this actuator is 3D printed, it’s really cheap to produce.

But a motor without a chassis is nothing, and that’s where the Blackbird Bipedal Robot comes in. In keeping with best practices of robotic design, the kinematics are first being tested in simulation, with the mechanical build happening in parallel. That means there’s some great videos of this chickenwalker strutting around (available below), and so far, everything looks great. This bipedal robot can turn, walk, yaw, and work is continuing on the efforts to get this bird-legged bot to stand still.

AT-ST High Chair Elevates Lucky Jedi Youngling

February 14, 2018 by Tom Nardi 20 Comments

As a new parent, there’s lots you have to do. You have to buy a car seat, get the baby’s room ready, figure out daycare; all the boring but unavoidable minutiae of shepherding a tiny human. But for the more creative types, that list might include warming up the 3D printer or putting a fresh bit in the CNC, as there’s no better way to welcome a little one into the world than giving them some custom gear to get started with.

That’s certainly been the plan for [Matthew Regonini], who’s been showering his son with DIY playthings. He recently wrote in to tell us about his awesome AT-ST high chair build that manages to turn the drudgery of getting a baby to eat into an epic worthy of a John Williams score.

This isn’t the first time [Matthew] has turned dead trees into Imperial hardware. Last year we covered his fantastic AT-AT rocker which utilized the same construction techniques. The parts are cut out of plywood with his CNC, separated, cleaned up on a spindle sander, and finally assembled with wood glue and a few strategic fasteners. The depth and level of detail he’s able to achieve when the individual pieces are stacked up is exceptionally impressive. If builds like these don’t get you thinking about adding a CNC to your workshop, nothing will.

As with the AT-AT, the finish on the high chair is simply a healthy application of polyurethane. This keeps the wood from being porous (important as this build will be seeing its fair share of food and liquids) while retaining a natural look. Some might be tempted to paint it up in appropriate Imperial colors, but that might be a bit imposing considering its intended occupant.

Really, the only downside with this build is how quickly his son will outgrow it. The obvious solution to the problem is a constant supply of fresh babies to pilot it, but that’s one type of creation that we don’t generally detail here on Hackaday. If you have questions, ask your parents.

Incidentally, it’s starting to look like we’ve got a plywood arms-race going on. We’re excited to see somebody take it to the next level. A little scared, but mainly excited.

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Full-size AT-ST Star Wars Build

April 4, 2016 by James Hobson 30 Comments

Think you made a cool tree-house for your kids? Sorry to burst your bubble, but we don’t think anything can top this full-size 1:1 replica of a Star Wars AT-ST — complete with sound effects and moving turrets! Did we mention it seats two?

Built in his backyard, this AT-ST is constructed of wood, plastic, and sheet metal. On the inside it is decked out with joysticks, display panels, and other knobs and buttons for your imagination to go wild with. It even features solar panels on the roof to power two ventilation fans to keep you cool while daydreaming of blowing up Rebel scum on Hoth.

Stay tuned after the break to see a video of it in action.

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Hackaday Links: November 1, 2015

November 1, 2015 by Mike Szczys 4 Comments

It seems almost compulsory that we start off with a dose of Star Wars. Here’s an epic AT-ST build that motorizes the iconic walker.

That two-legger isn’t going to be lonely. It bigger-slower brother, the AT-AT got a bit of motorized love as well.

What? You were expecting a BB8 build? We have one of those too. [DrYerzinia] has begun a design that hides a quadcopter inside of the BB8. The four 17″ DJI propellers fold up when not in use, extending through hatches in the outer shell when it’s time to take flight. This retains the rolling design you’ve already come to love in the BB8 and we’re going to keep our eyes on it!

Do you have a Teensy and some extra WS2812 strips hanging out on your bench? [etix] put his to use with an ambilight clone. This works really well: simple hardware which connects via USB to communicate with VLC. We applaud [etix’s] choice of Kung Fury as a demo video… a truly bizarre and entertaining short movie. +1000 for its use of VHS tape artifacts.

We just missed Halloween, but this set of wings is far too great of a build to be reserved for that one day. Alas, there is only the demo video but seeing the huge feathered structures fold and unfold is really impressive!

[Truebass] added an artistic accent to one of the walls in his home. He had several cellphone chargers from old phones in his junk bin. These were used to regulate power for some white LEDs. The finished sconces are made from chip-board covered in cherry veneer, all leftover from previous projects.

Want to drink your beer out of beer-byproducts? How about your coffee out of coffee-byproducts. It sounds strange, but 3DOM is marketing it that way, encouraging you to print your beer stein with this beer-byproduct-based 3D printer filament. They also offer coffee filament and have plans for future oddball building materials. Printer inception?

We ran a post about the secret computer of the New York subway system. There wasn’t a ton of information there, but that could change. The New York Historical Society is running a Kickstarter to expand their Computing History made in NY.