Roboraptor (fun with modeling clay)

[Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com>]

When I layed eyes on Roboraptor, my first thought was "Wow, that would
make a great scaffolding for application of Sculpie modeling clay!". 
Leave the joints free of clay, of course, to maintain freedom of
movement.  After modeling the clay on the 'bot (how about modeling a
*realistic* T. rex?), carefully remove the clay, and cure the clay in the
oven to harden it.  When the clay is hardened, drill it and bolt it to
the 'bot.

Another possible medium is latex, or a flexible polyurethane.....

The balance may be thrown off, though.  That can probably be dealt with
somehow.  All kinds of ideas are creeping into my little mind.  Too bad
I'm not an "arteest".  

<pb>
--
"Am I crazy, Jerry?  Am I?  Or, I am SO sane that you just blew your
mind?!" - Kramer




On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 19:51:37 +0000 Julia Heathcote
<julia@juliaheathcote.com> writes:


<<<Having acquired one of these for Christmas (and already through one
set =
of
batteries), I thought I'd be the first to write a review for the DML.  =
Yes,
it's a "generic theropod", and the parrot-like feet, two-digit =
T.rex-like
forelimbs (which flip up and down in a rather Noel Coward-esque fashion)
=
and
random backwards-facing horns are a little weird to say the least.  But,
=
in
the same way that Robosapien was man-like but not an entirely accurate
representation of a human, Roboraptor is dinosaur-like but not an =
entirely
accurate representation of a raptor.
=20
On the movement though, I cannot fault it.  The head and neck movement =
is as
good as you're going to get for a 1' high non-hydraulic/pneumatic =
controlled
robot and it's very fluid - something like 3 or 4 points of articulation
=
in
the neck.  There are three speeds, walking, trotting and running, and =
four
modes: playful, cautious, hunting and guard.  It will move between modes
=
at
will, particularly from playful to hunting if you've been poking and
prodding at it for too long - it actually does get annoyed with you (to
assign emotion to what is just an "if more than x points are touched in =
y
minutes switch to hunting mode" programme).  The robot has been a hit =
with
all the family (except the dog, who regarded it with utter contempt and =
then
ignored it for the rest of the day).  It's certainly a lot livelier than
=
any
of the other dinosaur robots I have (the Spinosaurus JP3 robot is pants =
in
comparison), and you can just stick it in autonomous mode and leave it =
to
wander around and explore the surroundings.  It will sulk if you put it =
in a
corner.
=20
It will lose its novelty with time, but I know I am not the only person =
on
here who wholeheartedly embraces the geeky side of the popular science
phenomenon behind dinosaurs, and I think it's great.  Amazon and ToysRUs
have them in the US.  My fiance got mine from Tesco in the UK when they =
had
them on offer for 

Happy Christmas everyone (off to play with RR again).

Julia

Julia Heathcote
julia@juliaheathcote.com>>>