[HH] article on local Hexapod robot project

[Kurt Keville]

Man... this would be the realization of Gui's dream when he started the Asylum over 2 years ago... 
see Slide 68 of http://www.flickr.com/photos/artisansasylum/4571117604/in/set-72157623850250683/

he is getting some help from some of the other roboticists at AA... 
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/06/wifi-extending-robot-is-built-like-a-tank-we-talk-to-the-peop/

On Aug 8, 2012, at 6:58 PM, Tom Metro wrote:

> I didn't know this was funded through Kickstarter. (The project has been
> mentioned on the list before.)
> -Tom
> 
> Why There's A Rideable 4,000-Pound Spider-Robot Being Built In Somerville
> http://www.wbur.org/2012/08/08/robotic-hexapod?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wbur_news%2Fboston+%28News%3A+Boston%29
> 
>  ...the trio co-founded Project Hexapod, which is now raising money on
>  their Kickstarter page. Based out of a workspace in Somerville called
>  Artisan's Asylum (of which Gui is the president of), Project Hexapod
>  is an online blog that is documenting the progress of the Robotics
>  Intensive: Rideable Hexapod class taught at the Asylum.
>  [...]
>  ...it's also supposed to weigh 4,000 pounds and measures about 18-feet
>  wide and 10-feet tall. In other words, a behemoth of a machine.
> 
>  How much of a behemoth? Here's an idea: the propane-fired engine that
>  powers the hexapod was ripped out of the hydraulic unit of a
>  10,000-pound forklift. Each leg weighs about 200 pounds without the
>  actuators. And just the small chunk of metal that links the body to
>  the thigh weighs 70 pounds.
>  [...]
>  So why build it?
>  [...]
>  "We wanted it to be a thing that walks in parades and makes little
>  kids smile," Cavalcanti said. "[It] has no other purpose than to
>  really be cool, to show off a lot of really awesome tech, and inspire
>  people. That's its job."
>  [...]
>  Having six legs also means it can climb over things, and that's where
>  the team sees some real practical use. Take a situation like the 2010
>  earthquake in Haiti. ... With Stompy, "you have a technology that
>  allows you to walk over this rubble in the first place, it's all of a
>  sudden an answer of how to get anything in or out of a disaster-hit
>  area," Cavalcanti said.
>  [...]
>  Stompy is expected to be built fully this winter, and the first demo
>  will take place in April.
> 
> Kickstarter page:
> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/projecthexapod/stompy-the-giant-rideable-walking-robot-0
> 
> 
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