A Walking Machine

A Strandbeest is a machine design, initially created by a man named Theo Jansen, a Dutch artist who specializes in kinetic sculptures. In the year 1990 he began construction of a project he titled Strandbeest, a windpowered walking machine.

The following project is a scaled down, reverse engineered version made out of popsicle sticks, glue, curtailed nails for joint pivots, and a DC motor with a worm interfaced with a worm gear to provide enough torque to make the legs move.

The original version (by Theo) utilizes a repeating leg structure, so that at any one moment multiple feet are on the ground; thus, the machine is much wider and therefore much more stable. In my version however, this lack of support (such as when a back leg picks up) makes it less than ideal in terms of stability. A fix for this is a "tail" of sorts. It drags along behind the structure, allowing it to stand when the legs are in suboptimal positions.