[HH] article on local Hexapod robot project

[Kurt Keville]

My understanding was that it was going to famously use the same 
software that runs on a 2 pound hexapod (which would be what? ROS?)

At 08:26 AM 8/9/2012, Greg London wrote:


> > I didn't know this was funded through Kickstarter. (The project has been
> > mentioned on the list before.)
> >  -Tom
>
>
>It started as a "class" at Artisan Asylum
>that ran from April till the end of July,
>Tuition was $750.
>
>http://rideablehexapod.eventbrite.com/
>
>There didn't seem to be much electrical engineering
>design, more like putting existing systems together.
>I was curious to learn something about
>controlling hydraulics via electronics.
>And I was curious about how they were going to do the
>control software.
>
>But I was already booked for Tuesday nights,
>so couldn't do it.
>
>Greg
>
>
>
> >
> > 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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