Maker Faire 2008 was a huge success.  We had a lot of fun running a workshop for kids called petBots. The kids built spinBots.   Kinda like a robotic Spirograph, spinBots use two markers as legs and a motor that spins the bot around in circles as the pens leave a trail behind showing its progress.


Check out some of the roboteers here!


Click on the above images for info on my other projects or use the index at the top of the page.


My current project, that I am trying to finish in time for ROBOGAMES coming up in june, is the tentacle arm robot.  It is a proof of concept model to figure out how to make a robotic tentacle arm respond to its environment.  The final Bot will have many arms and sonar sensors to detect movement.



Close up of the lasercut vertebrae showing the cable system.  Notice the slots in the vertebrae of the lower section.  These allow the cables that actuate the upper section to pass thru without being tensioned by the movement of the lower section.  This was a breakthrough in the design, without which I would not be able to achieve the fluid movement that I am looking for.


Here is a shot of the cables being tensioned manually.  The double curve is much more difficult to do but is key to the movement I want the arms to be able to make in the final Bot.


I am now working on the base for the single arm.  It consists of four servos and four sonar sensors arranged in a circle.  In the test prototype the arm will react to movement around it, hopefully following, pointing at the movement throughout the room.








You can contact me at: contactatisopoddesigndotcom

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