largest rideable hexapod

what inspired wars fan Matt Demton  (uk) to build a six legged mechanical marvel. And how did  it lead to him working on episode vll: The force  awakens Guinness world  records  meets the nan who turns  science fiction into jaw dropping reality named mantis the largest rideable  hexapod  robot stands 2.8 m (9ft 2 in) tall and a s- m (16 ft 4 in) diameter as verified on  15 nov 2017 in Wickham Hampshire Uk. powered by a 2.2 liter  (0.58- us gal) turbo  diesel   perking  engine it can be driven  form its cockpit or operated  remotely  by wi -if. mantis weighs 1.9 tonnes (4,188 lb) has 18 degrees of  freedom  and a top speed of just over  I km/h (0.6 mph) walking  machines have been a passion  of matt's  for year new but  where did it all start The answer lies a long ago in a galaxy far  away  first steeps matt saw wars episode v: The  empire strikes back( UAS 1980z) when  he was  seven he was immediately by the at-at walkers: Machines that walk that's cool! he thought to himself  why use wheels when you can have legs. After  school  he began on electronics apprenticeship  which eventually led to him working on tv show  space precinct  creating software for robotic machinery. But there week"s at Jim heron"s Creature shop made him realize just how much he needed to improve his skills. His  expertise with hexapods  saw matt go on to work with animatronic engineer  joshes  lee  on the  harry potter  movie  one day joshua told him about a top  secret new film that he might be interested in (see right for more!) but  away from the day job matt was working hard on a lobour of love mantis! drawing up plans mantis took  three  years to  build and it was a Mk ll version  matt  notched that the mk l model (a year and a half in the making) had mechanical  problems particularly issues with the the hydraulic systems systems as soon  as he got it to stand up. The brain the leg coordination system of mantis is the hexegine box its linux  pc use  hexegine software to control the movement  of the machine. The unit receives command from the hexapod,s operator interface (see above right and sends feedback ti it. spec height 2.8 (9 ft 2in ) weight  1.9 tonnes (4188 lb ) diameter 5m (16 ft 4 in ) engine 2.2 liters (0.58 us gal) top speed i km/h (0.6 mph) as heavy as three cows. on each arm of the drive's seat is a joystick and 14 buttons to control mantis's movement. The operator interface house a 6.5 in (16.5 cm)such screen  display  position of  the six legs. The  birth of bb -8 the lovable  spheroid  droid bb -8 devoted  in saw wars vll:the  force awakens matt got a dream  job on  the film as creartur fx  electronic  design  and development supervisor  as part of a team he worked  on seven versions of bb-8 from  a static robot  to two radio  controlled  models  handing the controls could be hair raisin though it's very powerful and  quit heavy and  your moving it around  some pretty key actors he explain you don't  want to hurt anyone. Meet the maker matt denton how many hexapods have you built  more than 20 with various shaper and made  from different materials. most wren  less than 50cm (1ft 7.6in) in dammer. one  ended up in a harry potter movie as six  legged  tortoise!does it have a practical purpose  one company me to ask if could make a 200 tonne (440,925 lb) hexapod for underwater  use. I wound up making  this  1.9 tonne version partly ti  read test the problems  I'd face also south  American comma was  interesting in mantis as they are operating  within  the regard  as sensitive terrain The  pressure of mantis's feet is on  more than that of a human footprint so they don't damage  landscape. did you  have many challenge to overcome in making mantis lost  had very little  experience hydraulics but had to figure out  how the engine hydraulic pump and tank would  together. The  system generated so much heat that initally  I would needed a 0.5 (1,100-lb) cooling tank just think a jcb digger has arm but mantis has six meaning six times the flow and the cooling capacity at that mantis wouldn't  have veery. At  that weight mantis wouldn' t  have  been very mobile so I had to scale the scale the  tank right  down in fact i had become an expert expert in

 multiple areas so I spent lot of evening reading. what  are you working on new nothing as ambitious months  my friend James Bruton lent me a 3d printer while I was working on a half scale bb-8 prototype and that got me started  on  bringing giant lego kits boded on the original designs. I've built  one if a go  kart (98 pieces) fork lift tunic  (216 pieces) and  a bulldozer 327pieces and 600 hr of 3d printing ) It's my homage  to lego technic sets which fired up  my imagination as a child I probably fired wouldn't be  doing what I do new without them. form called book Guinness  world record