Taking Shape!

Finally, it's really starting to take shape and start to resemble a snake! A few updates from my last post include: an additional segment and an extra servo reinforcement that hooks the back of the servo into the rotating chassis, as well as the horn. This allows for the force/stress to pass through the snake through two points, and not just the one that had originally been planned. This addition greatly improves the structural integrity of the snake. So far, I have two joints in the X direction and one in the Y. After one more in the Y, I should be able to get some very basic motion patterns down, but nothing as good as the final product.

I'm getting to the point where I'm comfortable enough with the design that I'm getting ready to get a nice big sheet of aluminium for the chassis pieces, and weaning off the scraps laying around the garage. Also, I'm getting to the point where more servos are going to be

necessary, and not just the 4 I got to start with.

I'd like to make a quick thanks to Michael Morrissey and Robotics and Beyond for providing me with the chance to do something as cool as this. Without their help, I would never have been able to do this.

Now, here's some more photos of the status of the project so far:

A shot of the segments each twisted at 90 degrees so you can see the different aluminium chassis pieces connected together.

The segments angled at slight less angles than before.

Another 90 degree shot from a different angle.

All the segments in-line.

Another shot of everything straight together, and you can see how the different pieces interact.