Future of Engineering

Kinetic sculptures that can move around a beach demonstrate a number of innovative techniques that more mainstream engineers might wish to tap into. Made of plastic tubing that is normally used as cable conduit, they walk about under wind or compressed air power. Some can even sense the presence of water or soft sand and avoid it – without recourse to any kind of electronics. The walking mechanisms are unique, and offer a much more energy-efficient way of crossing soft ground than using wheels and tracks. They represent a possible template for future planetary exploration vehicles, but it is some of the component mechanisms that many may find most interesting and potentially transferable

Theo Jansen originally studied physics at the University of Delft, but soon turned to art, while retaining his interest in science and engineering. He has given his machines names, as if they were living animals – saying “I got the plans to make new forms of life” – and which he sees as evolving into a new type of machine

* The machines are mostly made of plastic cable conduit tubing and are purely mechanical, although some use pneumatic
* They use a walking mechanism for traversing soft grounds that is much more energy efficient than any other
* They also include a number of mechanical and pneumatic innovations worthy of study and of potential usefulness in mainstream engineering

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Labels: Design-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering