We’ve shown you some very cool hexapod robots in the past. They’re charming little crab-like contraptions with six legs and all the flexibility and terrain-handling capacities that come with them. Unfortunately, they can be pretty complex and all those servos make them expensive even in the pricey realm of hobby robotics.
With Hexy the Hexapod, a project now on Kickstarter, Joseph Schlesinger of ArcBotics is aiming to make this advanced robotic form widely available at a very reasonable price. A full kit to build a completely functional Hexy is $200, compared to the more standard $1,000 – $2,000 for this sort robot. The project is going strong, fully funded with more than a month still to go. So, this project will see production. Schlesinger is dedicated to making robotics open source, and plans to make Hexy’s plans, cut files, and code freely available. I personally have backed it and will be bringing you a follow-up when I have the kit in hand. Looks like it will be a lot of fun.
Looks fantastic, but I wonder what Innovation First Labs (Hexugs) think of the name and the design, though admittedly it is aimed at a slightly different market.
*Hexbugs