Swatting Bot
An annoyed robot trying to swat a fly.
Concept
This robot was meant to be another simple concept, with almost no props, just to get used to the making process. The swatting movement is a bit interesting because the robot's arm has to be faster when it comes down than when it goes back up. I also decided to make a telescopic fly swatter because there was one at home and it seemed fun.
Construction
With the crouched position, it was more difficult to get the proportions right for the limbs. Even though the robots aren't supposed to be perfectly anatomically correct, the arms still look a bit too long on this one, especially the articulated arm. I also had a bit of trouble with the mechanism because I hadn't anticipated that the crank axis would need to be so high up.
New things
This bot wasn't too complicated and didn't take too long to make but there were some interesting differences with the first:
- New mechanism that can offer a different dynamic, with a slow build-up followed by a fast movement.
- New shape for the head (closer to a cylinder and less pointy), which is easier to make and more resistant.
- Articulated elbow, which requires to pass wires through the arms and make a smaller hinges.
- The telescopic fly swatter introduces a fun random element to the dynamic.
What needs improvement
For the most part, this showed me that I could keep making similar robots consistently enough. To summarize, here are the main improvements I'd make on it:
- Limb proportions: I shouldn't need to measure everything precisely, but I should try not to make the arms too long, especially when articulated.
- This mechanism is a bit visually confusing because the "lever" fixed to the arms isn't always moving. This means it's harder to spot what's part of the robot and what's part of the mechanism (it just looks like the bot has something sticking out of its elbow).
- The base-piece was a bit uneven and felt more fragile due to making it out of multiple pieces of metal.
Videos and more pictures
I didn't actually take any pictures of this one before I gave it away, but I had a second video with a side-view of it. Also these videos are muted because there was loud talking in the background.