Insecto-Bots

Manufacturer's page: http://www.mgae.com/products/insecto_bots.shtml

This is what the Vinny-11 model I bought looks like out of the box:

Turns out, these things are pretty lame. Mine mostly sat there, doing nothing. It has the capacity, in principle, to react to light (including IR), sound, and touch. Mostly it just sits there, though.

In fact, mine was so useless that I decided to hack it apart. I tore out all of the sensors, and just hard-wired it so that when the power switch is on, it walks, period. Eventually I hope to add some sensors back in, so that the critter is able to respond in at least some way to its environment.

At $30, this is probably the cheapest 6-legged walker around. Plus my parts box now contains nifty bits like IR sensors, etc.

This is what my Vinny-11 Insecto-Bot looks like now:

Side:	Front view:
Rear end:	Front/top:
Add 3 Elastics and a QuickCam and you've got: the Tethered Cam-Bot: