Inverted Rope Walker
Design, prototype, and test a mechanical walker that can rapidly cross a suspended rope.
Bonus video at end!
Design Overview
Constraints:
No powered wheels
Standard motor, battery, and switch
At least 2 m/min
Max size of 12 x 18 x 30cm
Fun theme
Our Design:
Slider crank mechanism to drive a cam cleat
Standard motor, battery, and switch
Much faster 10 m/min
7.7 x 13 x 28 cm before decorations
Gary the snail theme
Design Process
After deciding on a cam cleat driven by a slider crank mechanism, we defined the desired motion with a PVA analysis.
Initial Prototype
Prototype Learnings (Positives)
Linkage Generating the desired movement
Cleat slides along one side and stops on other
Chassis attaches on rope as desired
Lightweight (450 g, Motor + Battery = 340g)
Prototype Learnings (Improvements)
Difficult to constrain cleat along rope
Potential motor stall
Adjustable “test” joints unreliable for long term use
Potential increased friction at stabilizer
Final Subassemblies
Final Design
Final Results
Inverted Walker Demo.mov
Fun and Informative Final Video
I used a Spongebob AI voice-over to explain our design decisions. Somehow placed best overall (2nd in most informative and 2nd in most entertaining) for the people's choice awards.
ME 370 Rope Climbing Robot Video.MP4Shot on iPhone and edited with iMovie :)
