This is charlie, a PC based Quad Mech Warrior/artist
I started working on her last sunday when I took a trip to the recycling center and picked up four pounds of aluminum at a dollar a pound.
I was originally planning on making a three legged mech for mechwars, but scrapped the idea when I realized there was no way I was going to be able to make a viable pc based tripod. My wife and I are currently building a mother in law for her mom to move into, and I spent a huge amount on a motorcycle and hexapod this summer. I priced SES brackets for the tripod and it was going to be a few hundred dollars. without servos.
I really enjoyed reading the article on making robot brackets by Matt Bauer in robot magazine. I do not have a CNC, but figured "it can't be that hard. So I made the trip to the recycling center on the island and started drawing pictures of what I hoped were flattened brackets using my cad software.
A sleepless week later I present you with Charlie. I had hoped to hold off posting pictures until I had some video to share, but I smoked my SSC-32 somehow ( think I shorted it against an aluminum panel.) So I'll have to wait until at least next friday.
I've been collecting servos for a while at a few dollars a piece from Ebay. They were about $2.50 a piece. So 12 would be $30 not including shipping. The head gripper neck and gun servos are all leftovers from vivian's arm. I sprung for a big ticket item...a USB RC interface. That was $39 bringing my total up to just under $75.
I hope to enter this robot in:
Mech wars
Art bots (painting)
Art bots Kinetic
The Shooting Gallarie
Here are the pics:
The leg design was "borrowed" from the crustcrawler hexapod HDATS. I made the brackets slightly shorter to fit the robot a bit better. I also rounded out the ends so that the shin rotates around the mounting point. That let me design the shins differently.
I cut the brackets out using a dremel a drill and a jig saw. I softened the edges using an angle grinder.
This face was inspired by IC Hexapod by Matt Denton.
I'm going to have to make a new computer mount at some point. The one here is from my hexapod. A part of me feels bad about taking lexi apart for this, but another part of me, the artist in me, just can't justify working with something that someone else designed, and anyone could buy off the shelf. I tried to justify working with a kit robot by saying that anything I might design would look about the same, but in reality that hasn't turned out to be true...at least I don't think so.
I am growing by leaps and bounds making this thing. I'm planning on writing a chapter in the book about the process. I'll try to post it soon.
Here is some video of charlie
Added Rockets!
DB
Linear Mode
