T08A2 hexapod tank (from Ghost In The Shell)

Ghost In The Shell movie left a long lasting impression on me. The tank from the final battle captivated my mind. It has such a rigid shape, but then moves in a very fluid way which makes it seem more like an animal, and then it becomes completely static making it purely mechanical again. Now I realise that this was something that I wanted to build for a long time and I just had to get it out of my system :) 

https://vimeo.com/168164892

It took roughly ~250 hours of 3D printing time... and probably even more time for polishing using acetone, sand paper, files and putty. It is actuated by 28 servos and driven by 2 Raspberry Pi micro controllers with custom software for locomotion and animation. It has two lasers (serious, how can you have a robot with lazors?!!!:) It can be controlled by PS3 joystick, but it has some autonomy as well - it can track and follow faces.

Photos

You can find more photos, videos and info at http://gits-tank.com

Story (behind the scenes)

A collection of random photos from making of:

If anyone is interested there is a full story about making of the robot here: http://gits-tank.com/Story.php

Specs

Hardware

• 2x Raspberry Pi micro computers (1st for motion control, 2nd for face tracking)
• 28x Servos (18 for legs, 4 for body, 6 for weapons)
• 1x Camera (for face tracking)
• 3x Servo drivers
• 2x Lasers (how can you have a robot without lazors??!!! :))
• 1x Distance sensor
• 1x PS3 controller (or XBox controller when developing on Windows)

Software

• Custom engine with special gait algorithm, animation playback, IK, face tracking, etc.
• Unity pipeline for converting animations and skeleton from 3D animation software into custom format.