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Vorpal The Hexapod

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Vorpal The Hexapod is a low cost, easy to build hexapod that includes a Bluetooth gamepad. All the structural parts are 3D printed, allowing you to modify the design easily, reprint parts when needed, and save money (if you have a 3D printer) by only purchasing the electronic parts.

What can it do?

This robot is made for educational fun through friendly competition and there are endless ways it can be used by both the hobbyist and teachers. The Vorpal Hexapod has these features:

  • 12 degrees of freedom using all-metal gear mini servos.
  • Bluetooth wireless control using the custom Vorpal Button Gamepad
  • Arduino open source hardware used on both the gamepad and hexapod
  • The gamepad has many preprogrammed functions for walking, dancing, and fighting style competitions.
  • A unique feature allows gamepad functions to be recorded and replayed. For example, record a dancing session, then rewind and replay it all from the gamepad!
  • MIT Scratch Programming!
    • Tether the gamepad to your computer via USB and control the hexapod using your own Scratch code.
    • Scratch programs can both wirelessly control the robot and read sensor data from optional sensors on the robot.
  • Tremendous Expandability! The built in hardware and sensor expansion ports guarantee nearly unlimited expandability. Besides the accessories we already have, we are working on tons of new cool extensions, and you can also create your own using a 3D printer and standard, inexpensive sensors and other hardware.


How Do I Get it/Build it?

Vorpal The Hexapod is available on our store (see low cost hexapod robot kits) as well as fully built and tested.

You have several options for obtaining Vorpal The Hexapod:

  • Buy it completely built and ready to use
  • Buy all the parts, including the structural parts, and assemble yourself (assembly time depends on which kit you buy, but could be as little as 30 minutes).
  • Buy just the electronics, and you 3D print the free STL files for the structural parts, then assemble yourself.

The first option is the most convenient (and the most expensive, although the Vorpal Hexapod is still among the least expensive complete Hexapods on the market).

The second and third options are a lot more educational and fun, and will allow you to explore making your own enhancements. If you have a 3D printer, the third option is the most economical of all, because you can print all the parts you need for only about $10 worth of filament.

No soldering is necessary when building the kit. Age for build: 6th grade through adult. Adult supervision is suggested for students who are younger than high school level.

See our Vorpal The Hexapod Store for information on where to order parts or fully built hexapods.

How Long Does it Take to Build?

Build time depends on the experience of the builder and which kit you use. The smaller numbers on each range below are for a person very familiar with building robotic projects, and the larger numbers are for relative beginners.

  • If you buy one of our "QuickBuild" kits, the build time is 30 to 50 minutes. This is the fastest kit option because all the electronic connections are already made.
  • If you buy our "Bare Bones" kit, the build time is 1 to 2 hours. You need to make all the electrical connections yourself using jumper wires, but all the soldering is done, Arduino processors are flashed, BlueTooth modules are paired, etc., saving time over self-sourcing the parts.
  • If you do not use our kits, but decide to source all the parts yourself, the build time is 3 to 6 hours. There is a very large range because, for example, we've heard stories from people who needed several hours just to pair the BlueTooth modules (they'd just never done it before and the process is rather arcane). We have also had many cases of people buying the wrong parts when self-sourcing, and that's a source of delays.

For a classroom or STEM camp type environment, especially with younger students, we strongly recommend the QuickBuild option!

Vorpal The Hexapod Robot


Vorpal The Hexapod Quick Links

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