Features Podcasts Family Video Comics Music Tech Science Books Film & TV Games ✚

Jill

Papercraft Theo Jansen walker

Cory Doctorow at 10:48 pm Mon, Dec 14, 2009

— FEATURED —

Science

Last chance to enter the Armchair Taxonomist challenge!

Book Review

Black Code: how spies, cops and crims are making cyberspace unfit for human habitation

Book Review

We Can Fix it! - a graphic novel time travel memoir

Science

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

— FOLLOW US —

Boing Boing is on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to our RSS feed or daily email.

 

— POLICIES —

Except where indicated, Boing Boing is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution

 

— FONTS —

Tweet
Kindle

This papercraft walker, inspired by the genius kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen, uses nothing but paper and a single bamboo crank-shaft to accomplish its magic.

Papercraft Theo Jansen (via Make)

Previously:
  • Podcast with inventor of wind-powered robots - Boing Boing
  • Bizarre walking strategies of artifically evolved organisms ...
  • Reuben Margolin's kinetic wave sculptures - Boing Boing

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE:  kinetic • Technology

More at Boing Boing

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Hackers prepare for first "national holiday" in their honor

  • cymk

    Awesome video Cory, I love Theo Jansen’s work. Are there any instructions on how to make your own? This would be awesome on my desk at work.

  • palad

    Not to be nit-picky, but it looks like three bamboo shafts, not just one.

    • arkizzle / Moderator

      Pretty sure that’s nit-picky.

  • woodycodeblue

    @ #3, palad:

    Three bamboo shafts, for sure. Only the one in the middle, though, is a crankshaft.

  • Anonymous

    this is maybe witchcraft

  • Anonymous

    nah. use bamboo paper! tougher…

  • Anonymous

    can’t the crankshaft be made from tightly rolled paper, for the sake of the nit-pickers.

  • Anonymous

    If you like Theo Jansen’s stuff, you should check out work by these guys:

    Arthur Ganson (http://www.arthurganson.com/)

    Ben Hopson (http://www.benhopson.com/)

  • Anonymous

    Walkin sideways? That’s a crab move.

  • Colin.Drake

    I saw an article on the real thing in MAKE magazine.
    This person obviously had quite a bit of time on his or her hands.

  • Scipio Africanus

    Wow! I’ve always loved the strandbeesties. Any instructions for this one out there?

  • Anonymous

    hi there
    im creating on of there for a university project. is there any quick pointers you can give me i know you cant give me the instructions. i’ve already begun making it i just need a few tweekings to help it move more fluidly. please help
    ella

  • fishyswaz

    I saw this at Tokyo Make in May 2009. The action is great and looks only moderately complicated. The link for his site is http://emergeplus.xrea.jp/?page_id=320, however the PDF download has been removed with this comment:

    “本ペーパークラフトは、Theo Jansen エージェントからの公認プロセスに入っており、一時ダウンロードを停止させて頂いています。申し訳ありません。

    なお、すでにダウンロードされた方は、作り方を引き続き公開しておりますのでご利用ください。”

    Essentially, he has temporarily removed the download because he is in the process of negotiating with Theo Jansen’s agent to become “official”. There are pictures of the printout on the site, and detailed instructions (in Japanese) .