My Walking Robot Inspiration.. What's yours?

[Matt Denton]

Ok, so I have been meaning to start this thread for some time, and finally did something about it.

I believe the sole reason I have been interested in walking robots and in particular the hexapod, is due to a short video clip I watched when I was about 10 years old. I remember seeing a six legged walking machine emerging from a hanger in what looked like a military base / industrial area. This image stuck with me for years, in fact I can still picture it.. and this was the hexapod in question:





It was another 15 years before I built my first hexapod, but along with images such as At-AT's & scout walkers stomping around in star wars films, the hexapod above was definitely my inspiration to build walking machines.

My first hexapod: PyE ( Named after my Grandad's nick name + the need for tha magic number 3.141592....)



I'm pretty sure that Plustech / John deer took their inspiration from the same hexapod for their designs:

How much fun is this chap having


Got to love that design!

So what's your robot inspiration?

[jaspinall]

Sweet jesus, that last machine looks incredible!!!

My inspiration...lol, time to blow some smoke up your ass... Mr Denton's iC was mine

[plingboot]

inspiration...

always loved building stuff - i had a huge collection of lego technic as a kid.

the first robot which inspired me was the loadlifter ripley used to schmack the alien queen in 'Aliens'.

I'm also a big fan of humanoid robots - top of my with list at the moment is this fella (see youtube), he's a little bit bigger than a kondo khr-1hv, but at several thousand quid (i kid you not), it's not going to happen unless i win the lottery. The MAKERS also have a version with a panoramic eye sensor in the head.

I've always eye'd the mms hex's but after asking matt several times whether he was going to build them commercially, i eventually went for the LM phoenix. If i'd have waited 3 months i'd have saved a lot of money. I'm so glad there's a UK made, UK supported, high quality hex finally available. (just need a mac interface now )

Oh, and Matt, you know you've got to make an mini orange acrylic kit available at some point...

Unfortunately robots get a fraction of the time i'd love to spend on them, the business and triathlon get the lion's share.

[youtube=W6rWa2Q4Roc][/youtube]

[BillB]

I was first inspired many, many years ago - after watching the film Runaway with Tom Selleck. The special effects are awful by todays standards, but at the time I was totally inspired by the concept.

After first watching the film I tried to make a spider robot, but in the 80's the technology was not quite there.

Then last year I saw videos of Matt's iC hexapod. Totally blown away. Looks like technology has finally catching up with SciFi.

[No1_sonuk]

I was first inspired many, many years ago - after watching the film Runaway with Tom Selleck. The special effects are awful by todays standards, but at the time I was totally inspired by the concept.

After first watching the film I tried to make a spider robot, but in the 80's the technology was not quite there.

I think this is where my interest stems from too.
Any pics of those around? The ones from the movie. IIRC, they were quite fast.

Then last year I saw videos of Matt's iC hexapod. Totally blown away. Looks like technology has finally catching up with SciFi.

I think in some ways technology has surpassed sci-fi. e.g. Matt's face-tracker setup in particular looks freakishly "alive" - kind of "RoboRoach".

[BillB]

in some ways technology has surpassed sci-fi. e.g. Matt's face-tracker setup in particular looks freakishly "alive" - kind of "RoboRoach".

Oh I agree - iC looks Freakishly 'alive'. Infact it looks 'more alive' and moves more naturally than the hexapods from runaway - especially if you look at the trailers on Youtube .

Here is a pic of the hexapods from Runaway.

[Matt Denton]

WOW! I wasn't expecting iC to feature so heavily, but thanks all the same

Runaway... now I just want to watch it again! and We/I have to recreate that shot with some of my hexapods

[Invader_Zim]

Matt, I think its kinda eerie that I recently sent you a message on YouTUBE, right after I watched your video (well technically, I watched your vid about 6 times before I did so), and in the message, I asked you the same exact question; what was your inspiration? Of course in the message I probably sounded like a li'l weeble (kid) asking 20 questions. My apologies. Anywhos, my inspiration(s) happens to be a strange one. I always wanted a pet robot that is intelligent. One that can recognize voice commands and follow me around everywhere I go. I hate real spiders but this is a hexapod; I guess those 2 MIA legs help? Of course hexapods aren't fast enough to follow a person around, so its a tad sad. I thought about giving it tracks or wheels, so that when I shout "LETS F*CKING GO!!!" the thing would zip along 2 feet behind me no matter how fast I'm walking. I'll have some sort of beacon on me that it will use to be guided towards me. The spiderbot would also talk and stuff...whatever. So many technological barriers to break before achieving anything nearly as complex.

I too watched Runaway, and I believe that was what started the whole ordeal to begin with. I remember thos things crawling around the walls with their needles sticking out. Actually that might have been what triggered my killer bot motivation...destroy dEstrOY DESTROY!!

Well look out for my new post. I think I should ask some questions regarding some of my ideas and see if it can be done or not. I must achieve my goals before I hit the age of 30, otherwise, there will be no point.

[plingboot]

[jaspinall]

LOL... How many years do you have left, Invader_Zim ?