pic: Hexapod Crawler

[Alex.Norton]

Believe me, I hear you when you say I should make it smaller. I would want to prototype this using some sort of modular servo system like the bioloid before I ever started making the actual parts. However, given that I'm currently and plan of continuing to be a poor college student for the foreseeable future I don't either thing will happen with any type of urgency.

Its not really that I'm really excited about the banebots, its more that I had a CAD for them, they aren't completely junk, and at least in theory they would work. The only place that I would be sure to use them is in the wheels because the does require a planetary for compactness and banebots aren't too difficult to rip apart. If I were intending to build this in the near future I would probably try to find a better suited motor which would have a longer lifetime.

In reference to the size questions. You can vaguely estimate the size based on those being the 36mm BB gearboxes, but for a more precise idea, with the legs in that position it is 5' across and 18" tall. The body is about 3" off the floor and the wheels are four inches in diameter.

When it comes to the position of the wheels, the original idea was for the module to remain vertical pretty much always. However, there are no constraints to make this a law, it should have the structure to remain at almost and angle as long as it is the wheel that is indeed touching the ground and supporting the weight.

Alex