The first Bug ‘n’ Bots BuildFest of the year saw the ending of one project and the beginning of another. Steve Jones has completed his hexapod, B-B Hex. It is very zippy, should be good competition for the ECRG walker event. Steve’s latest robot is a two-servo biped. He machined it from Gracey's Penguin drawings.
Speaking of machining, I got a crash course on his CNC. He draws the mechanics using TurboCAD, which passes a file to CAM software, which finally converts it into G-Code. Then, a software package called Mach2 runs the G-Code and machines the plastic. All I can say is that Steve makes it look easy.
I figured I could machine a simple robot chassis in the morning and spend the afternoon working on a walker with Joe. Instead, this simple chassis took all day. Several things conspired but the end result is this: my next project is to learn TurboCAD.
But enough of that. The BuildFest was well attended. There were several new faces and everyone enjoyed themselves. Cannot wait for next month!
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Steve Jones' new Hexapod. |
The top of the B-B Hex |
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The birth of a Scout Walker III. |
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Steve machined this biped. |
This is a two-servo design. |
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It is based on Ken Gracey's Penguin. |
Very small (or I have large hands!). |
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An animatronic head taking form. | |
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Our project of the day: Photovore chassis. |
The chassis and protoboard. |
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When chassis meets riser. |
And now the solar panel (Solarbotics SCC3733). |
