And now for something completely different : MontyPythonSillyWalkBot

By TotoroYamada
@ May 10, 2009

• Actuators / output devices: 2 servos, 2 continuous rotation servos
• Control method: Infra-red remote controlled
• CPU: picaxe 18x
• Power source: 4 x 1, 2 NiMh batteries
• Programming language: Picaxe basic
• Target environment: Indoor carpet

Like many all of you, i like robots. Big news. But i especially like robots that walk, that crawl, that jump, that fly... like OddBot's Caterpillar, or Fritsl's Skiwalker for example...

So i wanted to make something which moves in an unusual way, and here it is... I couldn't figure any name until i saw it moving, then it was like a revelation : it instantly made think about my favorite Monty Python sequence : the Ministry of Silly Walks. For the crazy ignorant people those who don't know about, i included the video, enjoy... :D

As it would have been pretty difficult to put any sensors on it, it's remote controlled, i got the IR receiver in a broken tv-decoder-thing, and i use a remote control from an old Sony camera (and thanks to robologist and CTC in that thread)

The case is a modem-case that i took apart for the components, and as always in my robots, there's a lot of blue tape ^^ The IR receiver is the small black thing next to the led.

A view from the other side with the remote control. As it comes from a camera there are less buttons than in a tv remote, and some buttons are decoded the same way by the picaxe so i ended up with a dozen of different commands, which was enough for this robot. But now that i know it works, i just have to buy an universal remote for the next robots...

I know the wheels should spin at different speeds, the one on the floor should be slower, so i looked at that pwmout thing, but looks like the picaxe 18x can only handle one (and i need two), i managed to do something with loops and pause, but actually it was pretty worthless as the robot moves on a carpet, so i decided to let them spin at the same speed. And it works like a charm...

And as usual, now that it's finished, that i played with it, scared the cat, took pictures and filmed it, i'm gonna unbuild it and make another one :)

UPDATE : 

I just found a new trick with Youtube (i should say Yooouuutuuube), looks funny with the video so enjoy! :D