How the Spider Tank Works.

Jamius.com (thanks for reminding me to put my website here)
To Walk:
-The main drive motor (M1) turns the gears in a gear box reducing the speed, and incresing the rotational force.
-The last gear (G1) in the gearbox is longer than the rest and rotates (R1) the main drive gears (G2).
-The main drive gears (G1) rotate the bottom of the Main drive lever (L1) while the top is restricted to vertical movement.
-The main drive lever (L1) rotates (R2) the central 6 directional Universal joint (J1).

At this point the device splits into 2 separate mechanisms. One mechanism is copied 3 times to affect 3 of the legs (A) (every other one), and the other mechanism affects the other 3 legs (B).

Mechanism "A" for 3 legs

"X" axis motion
-The central 6 directional universal joint (J1) rotates (R2) one end of the main horizontal leg lever (L2A) which pivots on a universal joint (J2A) much like a "sea-saw" causing the end of the lever to rotate (R3) in the opposite direction of (R2).
-This Rotates (R3A) the top of the vertical leg lever (L3A) which pivots much like a "sea-saw" on the small horizontal lever (L4A) causing the bottom, or foot, or the vertical leg lever (L3A) to reverse direction, and rotate (R4A) in the same direction as (R2).

**It is important to note that although the directions of (R2) and (R4A) are the same, they are offset by half of one rotation.

"Z" axis motion
-If the rotation of the central 6 directional universal joint (J1) changes (see turning below) to (P2), the main horizontal leg lever (L2A) pivots on universal joint (J2A) like an "oar in a rowboat".
-This causes the entire vertical leg lever (L3A) to rotate (P4A).

**It is important to note that although the directions of (P2) and (P4A) are the same, they are offset by half of one rotation.

The walking motion in the "X" direction, and in the "Z" direction add together to produce a motion at the foot of the vertical leg lever (L3A) that is always in the same direction of rotation as the central 6 directional universal joint (J1), and is always offset by half of one rotation.
(The rotation of (J1) can pivot 360 degrees by way of the turning mechanism discussed below)

Mechanism "B" for 3 legs

"X" axis motion
-The central 6 directional universal joint (J1) rotates (R2) a pivot point toward the middle of the main horizontal leg lever (L2B) which pivots at one end on a universal joint (J2B) causing the oppsite end to rotate (R3B) similarly to (R2).
-This rotates the midsection of the vertical leg lever (L3B) which pivots at its top on the small horizontal leg lever (L4B) causing the bottom or "foot" of the vertical leg lever (L3B) to rotate (R4B) similarly to (R2).

**The 3 the main horizontal leg levers (L2B) share a central space where they all cross the centerpoint of the machine. Since they cannot all occupy the same space the main horizontal leg levers (L2B) contain a curved section (C1) that allows them to "corkscrew around eachother leaving enough space to produce the necessary movements for walking.

"Y" axis motion
-If the rotation of the central 6 directional universal joint (J1) changes (see turning below) to (P2) the entire main horizontal leg lever (L2B) behaves much "like a sweeping broom". One end of the main horizontal leg lever (L2B) pivots on the universal joint (J2B) and the opposite end rotates similarly to (P2).
-This causes the entire horizontal leg lever (L3B) to rotate (P4B)

**An extra joint (J3) is required in one end of the small horizontal leg lever (L4B) because its stationary pivot point is not on the same vertical axis as the main horizontal leg levers (L2B) pivot point (J2B)

The walking motion in the "X" direction, and in the "Z" direction add together to produce a motion at the foot of the vertical leg lever (L3B) that is always in the same direction of rotation as the central 6 directional universal joint (J1), and matches its rotational position.
(The rotation of (J1) can pivot 360 degrees by way of the turning mechanism discussed below)

To Turn:
-To change walking direction of the legs central 6 directional universal joint (J1) must change its direction of rotation. This is done by rotating (R5) the entire central top section of the machine (T1).
-The central top section of the machine is connected to the outter section (T2) by a large ball bearing (J6) that goes around the perimeter of the central top section (T1) allowing it to rotate.
-Motor (M2) rotates gears in a gearbox to reduce speed and increase force. The last gear (G3) rests on the central top section (T1).
-The gear (G3) rotates against a large internal toothed gear that is connected to the outter section (T2).
-This rotates the entire central top section (T1).

**All electronics (batteries, radio control, etc are mounted in the central top section (T1) to prevent wires from having to cross the large ball bearing (J6) so it can rotate indefinitely.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Jaimie
• Mantzel
• spider
• tank
• how
• it
• works
• diy
• build
• invention

[Romashk]

Wahh... I watched your videos, and thought that, maybe sometime, I'd make something similar... shame on me for thinking it was that simple :)Though it's nice to know, that even a toy has to have a serious side to it :)

Did you ever run your designs through "TFlex" or something similar?

[JMEMantzel]

@Romashk Nope. I uhh... dont' even know what Tflex is. I generally just use my brain space. :-)

[urchin34]

my head is exploding jaimie, why would you want to kill 80% of your viewers!?

noooooo Arrrghgghhahhhhhhhhhhhh *kasploosh*

[JMEMantzel]

@urchin34 wait, what? ohhh..... ha ha. For a second, I was trying to remember when I said I wanted to kill anyone.  ha ha. Derr..... you mean because the brains exploding... :-P

[NoodleNog]

It all makes sense now. It seems the J2s (for both A and B type legs) are a definite weak point though. What sort of mechanical gains are there with the main horizontal pieces (L2s) i.e. what is the ratio of the pivot distances?

Also it looks like L4B could be replaced with a double ended ball/socket for simplicity.

Awesome stuff! Thanks for posting the detailed description. ;)

[JMEMantzel]

@NoodleNog The L4's help keep the ends of the legs vertical. Thats why they're like they are. Ball and socket could be used, but would sacrifice a bit of stability.

The "J" pieces are actually pretty strong. They're so small that they have very little leverage against them. They've never broken on me.

Hmm.... proportions. I knew that would come up. ha ha. I'm planning on dimensioning the drawings when I get some time.

[ANormalGuy]

This guy is a fucking genius... According to him. It just hit him one day when he was doing stuff... And he drew it free handed... Please PLEASE patent this design

[DontArgueImSmarter]

My brain hurts D: Has DARPA tried to recruit you yet? O_O

I would LOVE a full sized OCTO-TANK to conquest my local neighborhood with :3

I say you use titanium, power it with a nuclear core, and scale it up and give it real rockets. I'd buy one....

[juniorsrap]

Jaimie!!!!Where can i get one of these!!!This is so brilliant!!!

[drizztx27]

Jaimie, I'd just like to say, as someone who's done architectural drafting on an amateur level as a hobby, if those schematics are drawn freehand, they are really impressive. I especially like the one at 1:00. (also the spider bot is pretty awesome) Just as you said the spider bot is the toy we all wish we could have as a kid, I kinda think you're a little bit of the person we all wished we could grow up to be when we were kids. Keep up the good work! :)

[Krissappleseed]

The mechanics is brilliant, pretty awesome to let only one engine drive the legs

[linkmaster1222]

jme rocks



[GADNEWTRON]

Re: The HexBug Spider works just the same

Looks like the chinese are at it again. Why has the inventor NOT received any money from the manufacturers of the HexBug?

Oh well no one is safe, even if you get a Patent granted, a copy will always come out of China in no time!

It's a dying shame!

[ADinHD]

Awesome design! I'm totally building 5 of these to patrol my yard as part of my future security system. Keep up the good work!

[pereeldelospalotes]

Could you please put more drawings of L2B and C1? May be 3 diedric views?

[MoowChair]

Did you patent this? =)

I'm going to try to recreate this in a sandbox game called garry's mod. I'm most likely going to fail miserably, but wish me luck! :D

[YTBYlover]

good memories of J1

[OddyssisThePyro]

I was wondering what company you are selling this to or where I should look to find the manufactured version that will be sold :P Thanks!

[Ashanmaril]

@fireblaserman Wow. Way to double-post. Either way, use proper sentence structure, and learn to spell.

[Elephantintheroom01]

Wow, it works different to how i imagined....

[togaida]

Yeah, Radio Shack has the same remote control toy:

look up HEXBUG Spider (which is also trademarked), on their website, seems to be the same design, what ever isn't the same can be easily improved.

[Megamaniac610]

Jamie did you learn to do this at school or did you just pick this stuff up cuz this is incredible man.

[Romashk]

@JMEMantzel Hmm... It's a program some engineers use to analyze their designs(structural integrity, motion, heat etc.) Seeing as you started doing some 3d modeling I was curious to know if you broached this subject...

[jamesx6x]

@Ashanmaril Inturnette peeul argh thugh bhesst.

[kiml42]

I don't think I'll understand until I take one apart, so if ever I have the opportunity, I'll buy two.

[PanzerFrog]

Hot damn, thanks for posting. Very intresting.