Wait until you see its big brother
I-Wei Huang of Crabfu has a link from his SteamWorks page to his non-steam-powered remote-controlled contraptions. That link is called “Steamless Crap”.
He’s now given that section of the site a more dignified name, Crabfu MotionWorks. In which the latest creation is…
…the R/C Tortoise.
(Once again, the cat is unmoved. If something in the Crabfu back yard doesn’t blow hot steam and shriek like a banshee, it’s not worth worrying about.)
Like its ancestors the Swashbots, the Tortoise is a creature that converts movement of normal R/C servos more or less directly into leg movements. It’s operated as an animatronic puppet, with no automation beyond servo mixing on the controller.
But the Tortoise is a quadruped rather than a triped - with legs that look as if they’re made from the same low-temperature polycaprolactone thermoplastic as Swashbot 3’s disturbingly organic parts - and so it can walk much better.
The Tortoise still turns with a Swashbot-esque wiggle, but when it’s going forward or backward it’s much more efficient. And it’s all based on only three servos - each pair of legs is one arch-shaped piece of plastic. (There are actually four servos in the Tortoise, but one just moves the head.)
The Tortoise’s clumsy high-stepping gait makes it look, to me, like a creature that’s going to be very very large when it grows up.
(Via.)
Two thoughts that come to mind after watching that video:
1) The tortoise reminds me a lot of the Tachikoma's in Ghost in the Shell. I should mention that I've never actually watched GITS (just lurked a lot on 4chon), but I think a remote control Tachikoma complete with quadrupedal and wheeled means of ambulation would be a VERY popular toy.
2) Mr. Huang must have very well developed thumb muscles (much like anybody addicted to text messaging).
Comment by kamikrae-z — June 21, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
R/C Tachikomas actually already exist, though not as a commercial product.
Comment by Daniel Rutter — June 21, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
That cat sure is blase. You get the impression it's used to being assaulted by itty bitty mechanical thingies?
Comment by Steven Den Beste — June 23, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
The can didn't seem to understand what the heck was that.
Comment by maxshcherban — June 26, 2008 @ 12:19 am