I. Introduction + Background

This project was inspired by Theo Jansen's StrandBeest walking mechanism. The walking mechanism has several of the linkages shown below (Figure 2), known as Jansen's Linkages. These linkages are set up in an alternating series about a wind-powered rotating horizontal axis. The goal of this project was to simplify the walking mechanism to only have four legs and to be powered by a 360 degree servo motor. Once simplified, the group will perform a kinematic analysis of the mechanism which will analyze the position, velocity, and acceleration of the mechanism's foot. 

Figure 1: StrandBeest Sculpture

Figure 2: Jansen's Linkages