The Playa Crawler

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Hello my name is Mark Ellis. I am a sculptor interested in mechanical mechanisms and kinetic artwork and this is my Burning Man mutant vehicle project: The Playa Crawler

I've been going to burning man since 2011 and i've always marveled at not just the static art but the art cars and mobile artwork as well. I've also been a long time fan of Theo Jansen and his wind-driven PVC pipe creatures that roam the beaches trying to survive. I've especially been fascenated by the mechanical linkage used to convert rotary motion into a walking motion and vice versa. While attending the burn I primarily ride a bike around the playa but I've always been a little envyous of people who bring smaller personal art cars made out of modded golf carts or welded together bicycles. I wanted something that could take me around to see all the great art without all the strenuous pedaling (ok i'll admit it I'm sorta lazy and i wanna ride around in a bit of style.) I had never seen anyone build a personal transport vehicle using Theo's legs, at least something agile and fast, so i decided if i wanted to make myself a motorized person-mover that i would jump into the deep end and build what i really wanted to have right out of the gate. This project has been kicking around in my head for at least a year and now i feel like i'm finally in a position to make it a reality.

The Playa Crawler is a single occupant transport vehicle with locomotion based off the mechanical linkage developed by Theo Jansen for his mechanical Strandbeest animals. It's styled after the dieselpunk aesthetic such as WWI military vehicles and streamline moderne. The vehicle walks, instead of rolls, on 8 pairs of articulated legs. The legs are driven by two brushless electric wheelchair motors and powered by two Group 27 deep cycle lead-acid batteries. Turning is achieved through skid-steering much like how a tank operates.

The majority of this machine is constructed from 1/4" and 1/8" plate aluminum that will either be CNC laser or water jet cut. These processes are accurate but expensive as well as the material itself. As this is a personal project, and while it's not impossible for me to pay for this project out of pocket, it would be fantastic if some of the financial burden could be lightened by your support.

The amount is based on rough preliminary calculations of what it would cost to cut these parts on the waterjet cutter at the San Francisco Tech Shop which charges $3/minute to run their machines. I'm currently in talks with one manufacturer of sheet metal products that has offered a discounted rate to laser cut the parts and I'm courting anouther laser cutting business as well. 

REWARDS:

$20 - Love Strandbeest Linkage Medallion/Pendant: A cute laser cut wood medallion/pendant depicting the leg linkage measurments enclosed within a heart. Adorable and fashionable math!

$100 - Crawler Test Drive: Limited to those living within the SF bay area. I will drive to you on an agreed upon day and let you ride around on the crawler to your (reasonable) hearts content. Driving away with the Crawler never to be seen from again is highly discouraged

$300 - Scale Model Crawler Kit: Own your vary own miniature Playa Crawler! The model is 1:2 scale and stands 27" tall. Made from laser cut cardboard, matboard, and wood dowels this fully articulated and functional Playa Crawler will be a notible piece in your ever growing strandbeest collection. You have one of those right? If not this would be the perfect place to start. Keep in mind that this reward isn't single-use. If 4 people decide to donate at this amount then 4 people will get a model. To be clear: You will receive all the laser cut parts for this model (minus wood dowels which can be found at any hobby store) and an assembly guide. You should only end up needing a bottle of CA glue and a way to accurately cut wood dowels to the appropriate lengths.