Robotic Caterpillar
Sadly this is the only remaining photo of my 10' long robotic caterpillar project.
This monster was programmed to drive in figure eights around the front lawn of my high-school (for an Alice in Wonderland themed prom). Of course the turning radius left something to be desired, so she was tethered to a stake with a piece of old sash chord for the duration of the event. Of course, I underestimated the strength of the beast and eventually she broke free (notice the broken white rope trailing behind the orange section). Had a really cool operating action, as it inched across the front lawn (and eventually into the bushes).
Technically, nothing too fancy:
1) Junk 386 laptop with dead hard drive, lcd, keyboard
(running DOS bootdisk with autoexec.bat C++ program)
2) Power relays controlled by 2n3904 transistors connected to
parallel port of laptop (dont worry it is *mostly* failsafe)
3) Big honkin 12 volt deep cycle marine battery
4) Drivetrain of Power Wheels kids jeep
5) Articulating frame covered by two nylon kid tunnels
6) Secondary battery (under tail piece)
7) Second Power Wheels jeep
Parallel Port Interface