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Wind Powered Walking Machines

Posted by michael on from the strandbeest dept.

MyDixieWrecked writes "PopularScience has an interesting article about some wind powered machines. The creator is working on a new design that will be able to store the power from the wind to keep up momentum even after the wind stops." The creator's website has some more pictures and video.

6 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. a little off by katalyst · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the title of the submission suggested machines, but hey, these are works of art, evolving moving sculptures. Look bizzare, will fit very will into a sci fi movie (kinda made me think of the new Time Machine movie).
    I still don't understand though as to how he plans to keep them moving after the wind dies down. These must be high effeciency machines to be actually able to move on "legs". I wonder, if they can take any load, or maybe even a person (yah, it may be kinda boring to wait for a strong gust of wind - gives a new perspective of being in the doldrums).

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  2. Mars probe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Could we use something like these to send to Mars, assemble themselves (or have small robots do that) and then keep them walking and taking pictures (and steering away from chasms)?

    Some of the images looked like 3D renderings. So, wonder what the feasibility of all this is...

  3. new? by tanveer1979 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The concept of storing wind energy for future use has been there for long. It was the practicality that eluded. And this contraption also dosent look so practical.

    IMHO, the best way to use such a device is to use it to generate electricty... instead of walking. The coastel areas and deserts have an amazing amount of wind energy. If only the rulers wake up and spend money on these non-conventional sources rather than bigger bombs.

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  4. Worth looking at by panurge · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The videos are terrible quality but the image of the thing walking with the wings rippling is undeniably impressive - much more so than any CGI I've seen. And the things themselves have a genuine imaginative quality. They seem to have been influenced by science fiction comics, but they actually work as real structures. That is seriously clever stuff.

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  5. like clockwork.... by foniksonik · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Much like the sands of the hourglass... blah blah... seriously though, very cool work, just wish the flash control jscript worked on my mac... can't get beyond the funky video of the crank...

    I can see how he plans to store the windpower in the pistons though, springy.

    I like the pictures of the beetles the best... love how he's using ground effects to generate leg movin' vibrations. Makes ya think about bumblebee turbulence, etc. a little.

    So air flows over the tops of these slinkies and creates downward momentum that's converted into forward momentum via lovely sets of lever mechanisms... again, very clockwork. Very cool.

    Gotta love simply principles of physics applied creatively to mechanics.

    Crazy Dutchman!!!!

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  6. Stick evolution by Zauss · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That first video on his site reminds me of a couple programs I've seen that do this sort of stick evolution. IIRC, the programs also have a distributed computing type function where they exchange what they evolve with other clients. If anyone's interested:

    Framsticks

    Golem Project

    They're fun programs to try out. Framsticks is still under active development but the Golem Project is no more. Although I believe you can still download the last Golem client from their website.

    Both sites should contain relevant articles/research on stick evolution for anybody who wants to learn more.