Wooden TrotBots by Automata Korea Design Center
오토마타 코리아
Woodworking Wizard Seung-hang Lee
The craftsmanship of these builds is incredible!
Seung-hang Lee is a seasoned pro, so it's no surprise that he designed and built his TrotBots in stages.
Here's stage one, working from TrotBot's linkage plans:
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Stage 2: TrotBot walking on air. Check out his circular crank design, which can handle higher torques than linear beam-based cranks. It looks like the circular cranks also give some lateral support to the legs, which could be a significant benefit when bearing loads while turning TrotBot tank-style. Also, notice how Seung-hang Lee used two beams for the bottom of TrotBot's parallelogram linkage, mirroring the top beams. Such symmetry results in a sturdier linkage with less tendency to twist while bearing loads. We took the same approach with our bamboo TrotBot to the right. Finally, notice how he made the toes symmetrical and strong, with the toes' top link to the front "shin" bar sandwiched between two bars, and the bottom link sandwiched between the two bars connected to the "heel" linkage. |
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Stage 3: testing a quadruped version. The craftsmanship of those wooden parts is amazing!
Stage 4: gear fabrication - making wooden gears with such tight tolerances is a testimony to Seung-hang Lee's skill
Stage 5: adding vision. Seung-hang Lee was bold to attempt a quadruped version for his first TrotBot build, since it usually requires at least 6 legs with a tripod gait, but it walks surprisingly well, which is another testimony to the quality of his build. It's gait could probably be improved somewhat if he added some height to the outside of the heels and toes, like we did with our LEGO quadruped.
Stage 6: linking two quadrupeds to make a steerable 8-legged TrotBot. Seung-hang Lee's adventurous curiosity is again evident by his decision to omit the retractable toes, which results in a bumpier gait, but can improve performance on some terrain since the smooth shins can more easily slide over objects - like these couch cushions.