Wheels are the predominant way to get around in the World according to GrabCAD. Wings are a common way too. But walking? Believe it or not lots of Engineers and Designers have been putting a lot of effort into designing machines that can walk, like you or I, from point A to point B. Going by bike? Whatever. Learjet? Pfft. Bugatti Veyron? Meh. I'll see you there on my mechanical horse!
Big thanks to GrabCAD Engineer KFZ-Schule for his Theo Jansen-inspired horse. With 11000 downloads, totalling 27.5 GB, this is one of our most popular items on GrabCAD. I can't wait to see someone try to make this!
The truth is, once KFZ-Schule's horse was uploaded, a lot of people began uploading their own takes on Theo Jansen's ideas. Here's a classic example: Walking Beest by GrabCADr Les Hardwick-Grey.
Another awesome take - a Bike Walker by GrabCADr Tom. I can only imagine how hard it would be to do tricks on this. He's uploaded files - give it a render doing tricks!
Check out what GrabCADr Martin Price has been making! Called the Helium Frog HF08Hexapod Robot, it is moved by a number of simple servos and an Arduino, prototyped on a RepRap 3D Printer. It even comes with a model you could download and print yourself.
Fan of Star Wars anyone? Silly question - everyone likes Star Wars. Here's a model of one of the At-At Walkers featured in Empire Strikes Back, crafted and rendered by the very same Tom that made the Bike Walker! Batteries not included.
