K'nex Strandbeest

A motor powered Strandbeest made from K'nex!

Strandbeests, which means "beach beasts," are a type of kinetic sculpture made by Theo Jansen. These sculptures are able to walk with only wind power. After designing the walkers with a special algorithm, he races them on the beach to measure their fitness and incorporates the best traits to modify improve the design. The designs grow more complex over time, and have artificial stomachs, obstacle detection and other features. This video should give you an overview.

Here is a video of my Strandbeest. It has terrible traction on concrete, and the motor is a bit underpowered.

Step 1: Gather Pieces

Connectors
- 12 white
- 60 yellow
- 12 red
- 10 orange
- 80 grey

End Connectors
- 20 tan lock

Rods
- 3 black
- 36 red
- 72 yellow
- 30 blue
- 20 green

Motors and Wheels
- 1 trekker motor

Comments

[danielhone9]

on the video it looks like its doing the moonwalk

[freeza36]

theo jansens dont have motors though

[Anybodysguess]

This is cool, this is the next thing I was going to attempt after I took apart my K'nex clock.
AWESOME!

[aashilrv]

LOL It almost looks like a moon walk.

[Franky14]

what are the 3 black rods

[Senior Waffleman]

the strengthened black rods are used to connect the to pairs of leg he used in the strandbeast, if you dont have any, use the grey/orange long knex rods

[snow clones]

You are insanely smart, and this thing is truly "beest"!

[eyebot117]

Such fascinating examples of kinetic art! Can they be ridden like a bicycle and steered? Could they hold my weight? GAH! I have to find out more! =P

[dombeef]

 Try with pvc pipe.
Here is a template i made for the strandbeest designs 
 l
V

[MoonlightWolf]

(Factoid)
The walking mechanism you are using is called a ''Clan Linkage''

[iprefermuffins]

Actually, a Klann Linkage seems to be pretty different from the linkage used in Jansen's Strandbeests. Here is a comparison: http://www.mechanicalspider.com/comparison.html

[iprefermuffins]

With link this time. http://www.mechanicalspider.com/comparison.html

[The Great Knex Warrior]

i made a six-legged strandbeest. it walks perfectly in a straight line, i will try to get a picture or a vid on youtube.

[Your Average Guy]

Same as Oompa-Loompa. I am definitely making one of these. (I just need a motor first) I have thousands of pieces, but no motors. Very sad.

[geodez]

oompa loompa WAS smart, now he is just average.

[srhadaham]

I got my motors from roller coaster sets, they have lots of rods and a motor. Just make sure it isn't a plug in model if you are going for something mobile

[riku1]

what motor is that the 12v one??????? i only have the motor below.

[Miles Tails Prower]

It's 6 volt with 4 AA batteries. I have one. Double as powerful and has two speeds.

[riku1]

add more detailed instructions plz and if possable state substitution pieces

[knexsuperbuilderfreak]

where can i get that motor

[Wafflicious]

Idk if its still sold its like a treckor or something

[geodez]

all terrain trekker and no it is not sold anymore but you can get it at amazon or something like that

[knexsuperbuilderfreak]

ok =)

[The Great Knex Warrior]

you have made the crank move the wrong way to the legs.

[smilee]

can you use a different motor???

[florina19martie]

It's an interesting creation and can be improved. I wan't to buid such a thing on my on and thank you for informations.

[Miles Tails Prower]

crestind, Are you Dutch? 'Cause I am.

[stale56]

this guy i smart, he knows what hes talking about

[grevious]

ummm... i looked at the video and now im confused, ar these things actually real...?

[crestind]

What do you mean?

[grevious]

is a strandbeast a real thing? or is not?

[WoD5]

these are very real but there not alive they simpley have a bunch of simple sensors like tubes kenected to botles, to sence the water, and a BIOS (basic imput output) toproseses left and right or 1s and 0s. but i could understand your disbelief. there quite amazing machines.

[grevious]

wow they do seem very simple for there functions, ill have to look deeper into these...

[Your Average Guy]

Srry for double comment, can I make one of these move with a wind up?

[crestind]

It won't work. They're nowhere near powerful enough.

[Your Average Guy]

what about with three wind up motors?

[crestind]

They'll start off strong and lose power very quickly, so you'll probably only get one revolution or so. It needs continuous power.

[Your Average Guy]

Ok thanks, yeah i just figured that out.

[Oompa-Loompa]

I favorited this so I know where to find it when I take apart my sniper rifle. Really cool.

[straandbest.es]

Hello,

The new official spanish website of strandbeest, is ready. This is the link:
strandbest.es

Regards.