Welded Flea - kinetic metal sculpture

Andy over at the Workshop Shed blog has made this great metal flea sculpture. Take a look!

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An unusual "Happy Meal" automaton

Here's an interesting (hidden) mechanism for you to ponder.

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Large wooden spider automaton

Check out this automaton of a spider by Tim Douglas. Crafted of oak and walnut, the automaton beautifully depicts the motions of a spider.

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Hex Bug Crab - micro robotic creature

The Hex Bug Crab is a small robot with some simple autonomous behavior. The Hex Bug crab will seek out dark places to hide, and change its direction at the sound of a loud noise (such as a hand clap).

Here's the link to the Hex Bug Crab

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Scarab beetle robot kit avoids obstacles

Here's a kit for making a nifty obstacle-avoiding insect-like robot.

From the product description
It comes with two touch sensors that look like insect antennas, and when they detect an obstacle, the Scarab will first step back and then automatically execute a two-step maneuver to avoid the obstacle. The maneuver is a combination of "left turn", "right turn", "reverse" or "stop". The Scarab Robot can be configured with different sets of movements. Easy assembly allows you to learn electronics, robotics and mechanical design. The kit comes complete with 2 sets of differently designed legs, which move in their own distinct way.

Here is the link for the Scarab Beetle Robot Kit

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Le Pinch stainless steel wind up inch worm toy

Le Pinch stainless steel wind up inch worm toy made by Kikkerland. It's nice to see wind-up toys taking some new evolutionary steps (no pun intended).

Here's a link to the Le Pinch Wind Up.

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Giant metal kinetic praying mantis sculpture

Kinetic artist, Nemo Gould, will be part of the upcoming IT MOVED show in San Diego we told you about the other day. Here is some video one of his recent sculptures, Praying Mantis.

Especially cool is that he has also created a step-by-step guide showing how he build this stunning piece.

Here is link for the Giant Kinetic Praying Mantis Sculpture from found materials on the Instructables web site.

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Butterfly paper automaton kit from CeraCera

The folks over at CeraCera have just come out with four new paper automata kits. Among them is this charming Monarch Butterfly that gently flaps its wings when you turn the the crank.

Here is a link to the Monarch Butterfly paper automaton kit from CeraCera.

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New Great Video of Giant Spider, La Princesse

This footage of the enormous mechanical spider recently on the move in Liverpool, England was filmed and edited by Giselle Leeb.

Watch the giant spider of Liverpool arrive at the city hall, wake up after a sleep and, in a nice bit of dramatically sped up footage, crawl up a building to rest.

La Princesse was created by a French company, La Machine, as part of the Liverpool European Capital of culture programme.

[ Thanks Giselle! ]

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Giant Mechanical Spider on the Move in Liverpool

Obviously, I've been busy if I missed this on the web a few days ago. Check out this giant mechanical spider that crept down the streets of Liverpool, England. I don't have an adjective in my vocabulary to describe how amazing this is as an artistic and technical accomplishment.

Here is a link to a flickr set of photos that captured the event.

[ Found via Make blog, who credits the BBC coverage. Also found via the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre blog coverage. ]

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Hexbugs Insect-Like Autonomous Robots

HexBugs are small insect-like autonomous robots that are aware of their environment. They have sensors that allow them to feel their way around obstacles. They also have audio sensors, so a loud hand clap will send them running.

They seem to be a commercial version of the breed known as BEAM robots. Here are some BEAM robots I made. If you modified these to use a small solar engine, they would be full-fledged BEAM robots.

HexBugs come in five shapes and colors and cost about $16 USD each. Shown here is the HexBug Bravo Green. You can also buy a Complete set of 5 of these micro-robotic insects for $50 USD.