Something more constructive

This is a robot that Jeff and I worked on recently. Jeff's idea: to construct a permanent installation of a humanoid robot that symbolises the progress/decay of civilisation via traversing a field over a thousand years. I suggested that it crash into a wall. In order to sustain itself for such a long time, we decided that it would be propelled by somothing I kind of cooked up, basically a network of plates of different materials that, due to different thermal expansion properties and natural thermal cycling, are able to advance the robot as they bend back and forth in a sort of ratcheting motion. This is very simple and, compared with any other propulsion technology, relatively bomb-proof. What you see is about a 16" model powered by batteries (we like to cheat). I built the chassis out of ABS plastic (Lego Mindstorms pieces) with each arm consisting of a 5 bar linkage that folds in three places and curls much like a human arm as the robot walks. The arms move very slowly and require about a ten second stare to make sure that they're actually moving. This is wonderful to watch while intoxicated.

Jeff built the lower portion of the chassis and skin out of PET plastic and cardboard. The model installation is a grassy field with a coniferus tree over which the robot towers. This would really dominate a landscape. Would be quite interesting to actually build it. Some inspiration for this project was derived from the 10,000 Year Clock.

Oh yeah, Jeff is a sculptor/artist/musician from Toronto. He gave me this lamp. I think people should stop buying lamps from IKEA and start buying lamps from Jeff, and Jeff should start making more lamps. Check out Jeff and his portfolio.