Art & Cultural Events List

Artisan's Asylum has been hosting a class called Project Hexapod for the past four months. In it, three professional roboticists (myself included) have taught 15 students how to design, prototype, simulate, and fabricate large scale robots, and the net results is that we've designed Stompy; a 4,000 pound, 18-foot wide, 135 horsepower, 6-legged robot that seats two. We're now raising funds to build the robot, and could use your help to get to our goal! The robot is being developed because we think it's awesome, because we've all wanted to ride a giant walking robot, and because we want to take it to all the local fairs and parades, but it turns out that the technology has incredibly practical purposes. With 6 force-sensitive legs and a ground clearance of 6 feet, the robot will be able to walk over broken terrain that varies from mountainous areas, to rubble piles, to water up to 7 or 8 feet deep - everywhere existing vehicles can't go. It will be able to carry up to 1,000 pounds at a 2-3 mph pace while doing so, and up to 4,000 pounds at a 1 mph pace. This is important because in disaster zones like Haiti's Port Au Prince, it's taken more than three years to clear the rubble out of some areas - meaning throughout that entire time, people have had to have been rescued or resupplied by helicopter, because no ground vehicle could reach them. That means that it will, in fact, be the only ground vehicle capable of navigating the McGrath underpass during heavy rains! Tuition for the class was used to build prototype legs and develop the powerplant to the point where we were confident the whole system was going to work. Now, we're looking to raise $65,000 to build the full-scale robot. I would be incredibly grateful if you would take the time to check out the Kickstarter, and pass it along to any friends you think might get a kick out of developing giant robots! Thanks much, Somerville! -- Gui Cavalcanti, President Artisan's Asylum, Inc. http://www.artisansasylum.com Cell: (857) 389-7669