also, have fun making those materials and all its hoses and such bullet and rocket proof 
LOL no kidding. Maybe we could get Jim to cut some panels of 10" thick Lexan for protection. 
accually i think i remember reading about the sumo robots that some of them were bullet proof 
yea thats right it was the terminater
if you look on the right side of the screen
youl know what im talking about
lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx? ā¦ tegoryID=5
any questions?
ummm, unless its likeā¦1-2 inches thick, its gonna break when a bullet hits it
Little note, this robot design is 100% identical to the idea I posted in another thread
Give me credit 
! And gimmie monies!
Itās not bullet proof. I think it is used metaphorically not literally. For point blank hollow point and shotgun fire, it would have to be over 6" thick alone. Layered Polycarbonate is the most common method for bulletproofing with Lexan. Itās actually bullet resistant. Multiple thin sheets of polycarbonate and glass are jointed with film layers in between. The layers act like a windshield does when broke. This allow the glass to shatter and the lexan to absorb the shock from the bullet, and catch it. After so many shots, the lexan will weaken to the point where bullets will pass through.
OH
Cool design with the tracks! 
I want to start on Walk 'N Roll soon, but I keep having stuff happen that pushes that off into the future. 
I took a little detour to build a BRAT so I can learn more about jointed leg movement before starting Walk 'N Roll. One of these days I will get to where I want to be and will be able to start on Walk 'N Roll.
The final version of Walk 'N Roll with its custom body will be 26" long and 9" wide (not including leg extension). This will not be a small bot.
8-Dale
Very nice. I see our ideas on leg retraction are the same.
Your design is a cool idea. Iād like to see us both build our designs as they both have their own strengths.
Thanks bud. My biggest concern was the weight of a tracked power-train. They tend to be heavier than a wheeled design. But if one could use a light enough track and build the sprockets and idlers out of Carbon or Fiberglass, it might work.
Although without the ability to retract the wheels, like your design, I will be lacking alot of ground clearance when walking. Which defeats the purpose of having legs. I envisioned the legs being an alternate method of crossing rocky or otherwise impassable terrain on wheels/tracks. But if I only have 4 inches of clearance wen walking, there isnāt much 4" obstacle that large tracks wonāt power over. So a Wheeled design is probably more practical.
Iāve been working on a light-weight sprocket and idler set for a custom track. And been slowly making progress on my HS-805 1/4 scale brackets and mounts. So Iām pondering if I should start on this. With a wealth of Hexapod programs and Tripod gait Programs for Hexapods, it would help compensate for my lack of programming abilities.
This is one reason I decided to go with wheels, plus the fact the bot will be able to steer each wheel independently. Depending on which leg design I use, I believe there will decent ground clearance when walking and the wheels are fully retracted.
This may not be true for the prototype with the SES body though - I have to take a closer look at that and will make some design changes to incorporate new stuff I have learned recently. After actually getting one of the U channels in my hand, I can see where I do not need to have three of them in the SES body - one, or two at most, should be plenty with some tubes of appropriate lengths to get the width I need. Iāll be able to reduce the overall bot weight by using fewer U channels.
Hmmmmā¦ I wonder about using the tracks in combination with the legs. If the legs are used as helpers for the tracks to get the bot over rough obstacles, you might gain a lot of mobility and ground clearance might not be such an issue.
I donāt really think either of our designs are necessarily better - just different in how we implement things. I think in the end, it will be our software and how we make use of our hardware that will make all the difference.
Well, I think you should seriously consider working on this hybrid at some point. But then, I really like hybrid designs. I can just imagine our two bots moving along together.
Yes, indeed! I will also be able to use the hex programs since Walk 'N Roll will be able to walk as a hex when it is using its front legs for arms.
8-Dale
I would love to see 2 of these in action together. LOL Battle hybrid in the woods.
Well Iām glad our chassis, drivetrain and arm designs are different. That way we can see 2 different versions of this idea. Maybe more if someone else makes one.
I can just see this idea cruising along the ground then stopping, unpacking itās legs, and walking across a shallow stream, them back on the ground and off it goes. And for me, incorporating an additional 2 channels for for/aft and left/right control of the track ESCās would be pretty easy. I think easy enough even I can do it.
Can you say āRobo Magellenā now? I very much want to build a bot that can have some chance of competing in such a contest.
Yes, the variety is nice. I am looking forward to working on the software. Software developlent for Walk 'N Roll is going to be very interesting.
I originally got the idea to build a hybrid bot from looking at some stuff the Japanese have done. I donāt think there is much going on in the U.S. with hybrids unless it is NASA class stuff.
Oh yes! Two different hybrid bots toodling along together, helping each other as needed to get through obstacles. Maybe someday they will even be able to communicate with each otherā¦
ā¦sticking little signs that say āDegauss meā to each othersā backsā¦ 
LOLOLOLOL That was awesome.
Ha ha, yeah. Too funny!
8-Dale
Iāve been doing a lot of thinking about Walk 'N Roll, the number of servos it will have, etc. I am considering building it as a Hexapod instead of an Octapod now, since this will not take anything away from the overall design or capabilities I want it to have. Scaling back to a Hexapod configuration will also have the advantage of taking away 6 servos and the associated weight for 2 legs.
With an SES body for the prototype it will be easy to upscale back to an Octapod configuration. I am also redesigning the body to reduce weight even more.
The other advantage Iād gain to going to a Hexapod configuration is I would be able to take advantage of existing software for hexapods using the atom microcontrollers for the prototype. This would allow me to concentrate more on writing software for the special abilities of Walk 'N Roll which will require all new code.
8-Dale
That movie is AWESOME! I wonder how it gets those wheels to roll? It has a very weird pattern that Ive seen roller skaters use to move.