Yellow Strandbeest
3d printerThe Machine #
The Strandbeest is a living sculpture designed and built by Theo Jansen. I find the leg mechanism mesmerising and was in the process of designing a walking robot using it. That project has somewhat stalled though, so I decided to take inspiration from another execution on the idea and 3D print it.
Recycled #
As a test of the recycled filament, only the yellow recycled PLA I produced recently was used. That’s why it has green stripes: some ~0.5–1% purple accidentally got mixed in.
The Strandbeest shows no signs of degradation from recycled filament, and I consider this a showcase of the material being indistinguishable from standard commercial (non-recycled) filament.
This is a recycling success, especially for the challenging print-in-place assemblies that rely on precise tolerancing along the entire manufacturing chain:
- precise filament diameter: even mass flow rate, no impurities or blobs
- no skipped extruder steps in the 3D printer
- precise 3D printer kinematics: no backlash
PIP Design #
This is a 3D printed design I found on printables: Easy Strandbeest by @LoboCNC
Additionally to the Jansen Linkage, it shows off great design skills with each leg being print-in place.
This is interesting because of the much reduced assembly: there is almost nothing to do for each of the legs, except crack the moving articulations (carefully) away from eachother, as opposed to usual assemblies where you need to at least click something together, and probably use a screw (and nut) for stronger joints.
The rest of the assembly is a classic click-and-slide-together process though; for the body, gearing and wind turbine. Also designed for ease of assembly: no screws or any other parts needed. The only tools you’re supposed to use are your hands.
The weather outside was not really windy so I made inside wind myself
This recycling project is supported by
