very very work in progress
http://www.geocities.com/theeth/DirectLink.html
it’s a leg for the upcoming Mechanical Life (or something like this, didn’t decide on a title yet) contest.
The leg is fully boned with 2 IK chain, so the flexible section can bend independantly on the fixed V section. The piston works also, of course.
any comments? ideas? nit picking?
Martin
Nice! But what is that? insect/scorpion/spider/animal?
insect. I won’t say which one though, that’s a surprise! 
Martin
hmmm…
OK, how the heck is it going to support itself with a flex/braided hose for a leg? Is there some sort of universal joint connections underneath that? Sorry, but it is not very realistic, IMO. Maybe change it to something more solid with the braided hose running in between it. Just my opinion. So don’t take it too seriously. 
Other than that, it looks very mechanically sound. I know you said very early WIP, but make sure you add some clevis’s for the connections of the cylinder to the leg.
Nice work theeth. Big thumbs up.
BgDM
PS: for those of you who have never seen a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder before and need some references, go here -> http://catalog.festo.com/-snm-0135166248-1028116432-0000018576-0000000030-1028158158-enm-enu/-snm-0135166248-1028116432-0000018576-0000000030-1028158158-enm-asp/-snm-0135166248-1028116432-0000018576-0000000030-1028158159-enm-default3.asp
Reminds me on a grasshopper.
It’s great, so far.
Some edged details could improve it.
I’m sorry that I can’t contribute to the contest, still fight with python :x , relax by an archeological reconstraction :o , and thought first of a centipede which is a bit to much for my animation capabilities :-? .
the breaded part is only the outer shell. The inner core is made of tiny bilaminated (don’t know the english word, [i]the process of fitting two different metals with a very strong heat strech difference, so that if you make an electrical current go through it, the metal piece will bend on itself", and yes, that truelly exists and was once developed as a way to animate tiny robot’s part) breaded with a complicated power delivery system that enables the hose to bend on itself in any direction in any of the joints.
That was the scientific-on-the-spot answer.
Now for the dumbass answer:
hey dude, it’s magic… 
Other than that, it looks very mechanically sound. I know you said very early WIP, but make sure you add some clevis’s for the connections of the cylinder to the leg.
yes, of course. it will also need a pneumatic hose of some sort. Thanks for reminding me anyway.
Martin
PS: yes, I know about the lack of hard edges. that will also be taken care of later.
Cool start,
/me is still bumping his head on IK for soft tubes… Bleder becomes so slow 
(250 iterations still too much?)
Stefano
how many bones do you use? There’s only 4 bones in that hose, the soft bending is done with weight groups.
Martin
That was the scientific-on-the-spot answer
Hehe, great answer! I have actualy seen that as well on Discovery or TLC, or something like that. Very good idea, (and explanation 
).
Now for the dumbass answer:
hey dude, it’s magic…
I like that response better. 
BgDM
Updated version, same link: http://www.geocities.com/theeth/DirectLink.html
it might seem like not much changed, but since I copied the legs, I add to redo all the contraints… 
the material was thrown in really fast (less than 1 min), so don’t mind criticizing it, it’s just there so it’s not grey.
Martin
PS: no, it’s not a spider, yes, it’s an existing creature.
Looks very alien in the design :o (anybody here know if theeth is really human)
Makes me think of something that lurks.
Good job, keep it up.
8) pofo
how many bones do you use? There’s only 4 bones in that hose, the soft bending is done with weight groups.
Martin[/quote]
Each leg (1 leg for now, will be duplicated later on) has
5 bones for rigging + 1 bone for IK
3 flexible tubes, one with 13 bones, one with 7 an another I still have to do 
All these are IK on the former armature.
I discovered that if I keep the tubes deformed on a separate layer and don’t show this latter layer things run almost as fast as when I have no IK
Stefano
each bone controling a stiff part of the leg right? So you can’t really reduce this I guess…
3 flexible tubes, one with 13 bones, one with 7 an another I still have to do
Do they really need that much bones? You can make a really smooth deformation with very little bone and a touch of weight.
I discovered that if I keep the tubes deformed on a separate layer and don’t show this latter layer things run almost as fast as when I have no IK
yeah, it doesn’t solve the system if it doesn’t have to show it.
Martin
each bone controling a stiff part of the leg right? So you can’t really reduce this I guess…
[/quote]
Yup, I can’t
1 - I followed your .blend idea
2 - Less than that meshes get very ugly
3 - Don’t even know where to look to learn weight painting/whatever 
Stefano
yeah, I know. The .blend is a little misleading, since I made it before truely understanding bone weight… :-?
2 - Less than that meshes get very ugly
that’s where bone weight comes into play. So you can have smooth deformation in a part of a mesh that is “between” two bones.
3 - Don’t even know where to look to learn weight painting/whatever
try this: http://mmaigrot.free.fr/didac-blender/ikas/ikas-eng/ik-p5.html
Martin
I know what insect it is. it’s a little obvious though… it is a praying mantis. I like it. I hope the body is made out of titanium though, cuase if it isn’t then I think it will fall over or collapes. but then again maybe there is some magic involved… I wonder who is gonna make a Dragon-mech cause that would be f*cking cool.
adues,
WeWa
really great bugs! i just love mechanical stuff! nice job theeth!
wait until you see the rig, you’d love it even more 
just a little overview of what you don’t see:
Automatic wing opening (scale one big bone to open the the set of wings equally. One control bone for each pair of wings)
Automatic hydraulics (easy stuff)
IK legs splitted in two parts: V part (with hydraulics) and tube part
Automatic Iris (for the eye). Rotate one empty to open or close the Iris
etc
Martin
http://www.geocities.com/theeth/DirectLink.html
fiddle a bit with the lighting and materials
added the claws
I still have to bone them though.
what do you think?
Martin
very cool! but one thing that I dont like much is the leg…they are rally cool but they dont seem enough strong to support the body…dont know why but they seem week…but otherwise it is very cool!