Walking Shoes

Intro: Walking Shoes

I was reminded the other day of those tiny wind-up shoes. They would walk all on their own with a little crank. I figured using my know how and ingenuity i could make a full size pair in no time.

These shoes use a servo motor to drive them.

This project has been featured on Gizmodo, Thanks!

The Here is a video to show how they work.

STEP 1: Supplies

For this instructable you will need:

1 3/4" Wooden Dowel
1 Full Rotational Servo with direct drive (Look at these instructables for how to: Direct Drive and Continuous Rotation)
1 4 AA battery pack
1 Switch
1 Screw
Gorilla Glue

and lastly
1 pair of old shoes

STEP 2: Make the Pivot Arm

First you need to make a pivot arm which consists of:
2 1 inch dowel pieces
1 4 inch dowel piece

Use wood or gorilla glue to attach the 1 inch pieces to the 4 inch piece and let the glue dry over night.

You should have a nice s shape to work with

STEP 3: Install the Motor

First you want to install the motor, take the shoe and drill a small hole. Next take the head off of the motor and push the smaller part through hole in the shoe and reinstall the servo head.

Next wire up the motor and test it out. I included a switch for easy turn off. I also added a small zip tie to prevent the motor from moving around

Lastly you want to glue the arm onto the servo head plate.

STEP 4: Attach Other Shoe

I attached the other shoe just using a screw. I pre-drilled a hole into the wood and screwed the screw in with a very small screwdriver.

STEP 5: Test It Out

Once everything is together a secure, test it out! you may need to make some mods depending on your shoes. My shoes worked pretty well right away although they do like to turn to the right a bit.

Comments

[Protomega]

Might I recommend a weight that moves back and forth. Because when you step down you apply weight.

[Bosun Rick]

It's a little late fro this year, but for next Halloween you could mount 2 thin pieces of plywood or paneling to the soles of each shoe, paint them and the connector bar black, and put the assembly on a black carpet or floor, then light it with a black light! the dual motor idea would probably be a requirement to do this.

[Surfer24]

Do you think that putting a counter weight in the shoe without the motor would make it go in a straight line?

[KnexAndMeccanoMan]

Maybe adding another servo in the opposite shoe might help it go in a straight line, might give it more power as well.

[Surfer24]

Even better, twice the power and equally balanced.