Toby1 is a hexapod robot that uses a crank tripod gate motion to walk, it is a multi directional bot from forward to backwards that can reverse its motion with a touch sensor.

Step 1: Good Foundation

Construction of the main body that will house the gearing system and support the drive joints. The material used is bolster wood, matchsticks and a strip of decorative border.

Step 2: Adding the Lower Gears

I made two rails regarding the gears, lower and upper, the lower are small gears used to transfer motion and the upper are large gears that will fix the crank bars in place and grant motion.

Step 3: Adding the Battery & Expansion Partition

With the partitions added and glued in, the excess wood was cut away to leave the base of the robot. The washers were added to hold the drive rods in place, but were later removed and replaced because of alignment problems.

Step 4: Pick Up Points

Two small expansion bays were added on each side of the robot, they were to be used as the sensors, they became pick up points after i decided that the touch sensor would be under belly of the bot. This came in very *handy* when carrying and picking up the robot, so it worked out really well!

Step 5: Making the Cranks

Each crank is sanded and double glued reinforced, over done it here but i don't want any joint coming lose or breaking when finished!

Step 6: Aligning Cranks & Adding the Large Gears

With the large gears and drive shafts added, the cranks were put in place and aligned, this is some pretty stone age alignment methods going on here but hay! i hobby out of my kitchen atm! :D

Step 7: Making the Legs

The cut outs were done on paper and traced over, i made a center connector at the mid top so that each leg with snogly fit to the joint plate. I would make the legs out of something stronger if i was to do this again, bare bolster wood is just too fragile for legs in my opinion.

Step 8: Touch Sensor

I tend to fall under heavy influence of *why buy when u can build* mentality, while this is true in many aspects, other factors can complicate this...such as time or money. I wanted this touch sensor to be digital more so, with the idea of using 2 relay switches, but i could not get my hands on them locally and buying online means waiting, not one for waiting! ^^ so i decided to build, live and learn.

Step 9: L.E.D's & Wiring

L.E.D's were added to each side, tried yellow and white but blue was just perfect! It gave the robot that little bit of character i wanted. The lights were wired wrong though, they were suppose to point and light up the same direction as the robot was moving. I could have re wired it all again but the mistake grew on me and i decided to leave it be.

I speed controller was added to slow the robots speed but was not needed as Toby1 walks at a nice pace.

Step 10: Battery Partition

Originally the battery was going to be a 6v camera battery, but the standard 9v was the perfect size and worked well with what was needed. So i went with that, it sits in snug and is held by an elastic band that wraps around from the top to bottom.

Step 11: Drive Motor & Gearbox

The first gearbox idea was my own and i built it to a standard of it working, however the alignment was not perfect and through friction made movement slumpy and struggle-som! So i decided to scrap it and buy a good motor with a built in gearbox (Haljia 6v 120rpm).

Step 12: The Gallery

Toby1 is my first Hexapod robot, i have learnt a great deal! the next one will have full movement control and i would hope an on board camera.

Hope you enjoyed looking up and watching Toby1! All/any questions, suggestions and comments are welcome! Thanks all and the very best regards to you and yours!

Razorgon

YouTube Channel