The Giant Robot Project is an undertaking by

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inventor Jaimie Mantzel to construct a large six-legged

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

. The robot is approximately in height with a similar dimension in width and is made primarily from

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and

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tubing. The machine is powered by a central

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

system that mechanically transfers energy to the legs. To walk, the machine lifts three of its legs forward while pushing the remaining three legs backward against the ground in an alternating cycle. The system is designed in such a way that it can seamlessly adjust its direction of movement based on the rotation of the drive section located at the center of the machine. , the robot had no onboard power system in place yet and during initial testing had to be

tethered A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also may be used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers incl ...

to external power sources. Fabrication of the full-scale robot began in 2007 and intermittently continued until December 2010 when an initial and short "test drive" was taken.youtube.com - Giant Robot Project Test Drive
December 26, 2010 This brief test demonstrated the structural soundness of the design in general but also highlighted material weaknesses. These currently are being or have since been improved upon through continual upgrades or alterations of the robot. Complementing the construction, a series of video logs of progress made on the project have been uploaded to

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. Because of this, Mantzel has gained a following of supporters who occasionally make material or financial contributions to the Giant Robot Project. A smaller version of the robot referred to as the 'Spider Tank' is also in development and serves as a scale model for many of the technologies and design features incorporated into the larger robot.

Notes and references

External links

ourherald.com: Living ‘Off the Grid’ In South Royaltonwcax.com: WCAX News Story

robotsnob.com: Interview with Mantzel about the projectyoutube.com: Mantzel's YouTube Channel

adventurebuilders.club: Mantzel's Adventure Builder Club Website
Entertainment robots 2007 robots Robots of the United States Hexapod robots {{robot-stub