Latest revision as of 20:23, 25 February 2026

Gidget The Gigapod Quick Links: User Documentation: User Guide Gamepad Guide Assembly Guide Trouble Shooting Technical Guides Getting a Kit: Buy a Kit Supporters List Activities: Games & Activities Scratch Guide Customer Hacks Contact/Press: Contact Us Vorpal Forum Newsletter Press & News Press Kit

Introduction

Gidget the Gigapod is a version of our popular Vorpal The Hexapod project that's even bigger than Max The Megapod. It's 32 times the build volume of Vorpal the Hexapod. 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?

Gidget the Gigapod, a five year old child, Max the Megapod, and Vorpal the Hexapod

This is not a consumer level project. It is for makers who are comfortable building large robots and understand safety precautions required for using strong batteries, powerful servo motors, and other concepts. This robot was mainly created for public demonstrations. It's so large that we don't recommend it for general use around children except in very controlled environments. Some of the features include:

Software compatible with our popular smaller version, Vorpal The Hexapod. This includes all Scratch programming features!
12 degrees of freedom using all-metal gear high torque (60 kg-cm) large size servos.
Bluetooth wireless control using the custom Vorpal Gamepad
Arduino open source hardware used on both the gamepad and gigapod
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!
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.

From bottom to top: Gigapod, Megapod, Hexapod

Gidget the Gigapod Quick Links

NEWSLETTER	VORPAL FORUM
User Documentation: User Guide Gamepad Guide Assembly Guide Trouble Shooting Technical Guides	Contact/Press: Contact Us Vorpal Forum Press & News Press Kit

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 ==What can it do?==
 [[File:Child+Giga+Mega+Hexa.jpg|right|400px|Gidget the Gigapod, a five year old child, Max the Megapod, and Vorpal the Hexapod]]
-This robot was mainly created for public demonstrations. It's so large that we don't recommend it for general use around children except in controlled environments. Some of the features include:
+This is not a consumer level project. It is for makers who are comfortable building large robots and understand safety precautions required for using strong batteries, powerful servo motors, and other concepts.
+This robot was mainly created for public demonstrations. It's so large that we don't recommend it for general use around children except in very controlled environments. Some of the features include:
 * Software compatible with our popular smaller version, Vorpal The Hexapod. This includes all Scratch programming features!
 * 12 degrees of freedom using all-metal gear high torque (60 kg-cm) large size servos.
@@ Line 15: / Line 16: @@
 * 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.
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-==How Do I Get it/Build it?==
 [[File:Giga-Mega-Hexa-Stacked.jpg|left|300px|From bottom to top: Gigapod, Megapod, Hexapod]]
-Gigi the Gigapod kits are a special order item from our store (for an economical alternative see [https://vorpal-robotics-store.myshopify.com/collections/hexapod-kits our low cost hexapod robot kits]).
-You have several options for obtaining Gidget:
-* Buy the electronics/fasteners in kit form from us, and print the 3D parts yourself. The parts you will need to print require a printer with a build volume of 260mm cube (about 11 inches cube). It's about a 200 hour print (on our printers anyway, your results may vary). The build is about 3 to 4 hours using our kit.
-* Self-source all the parts and build from the Open Source plans. The build takes six to eight hours if your source the parts yourself (because there is soldering and other activities that are pre-made in our kit).
-No soldering is necessary when building our kit, considerable soldering is required if you self-source. Age for build from our kit: 10th grade through adult. Adult supervision is suggested for students. We do not suggest attempting to self-source the parts unless you are very familiar with robotics projects and electronics.
-Again I'll mention here: if you've never done something likes before, you are far better off starting with one of our smaller robots. They work exactly the same, do all the same dance moves, etc., but they are far less expensive, safer, and faster to print and build.
-IMPORTANT NOTE: Gidget has super-powerful servo motors and is not for use by children. (It may look like a big toy, but it's not!) Keep fingers clear of legs when Gidget is operating. It is easy for these servos to break fingers under the right circumstances or cause crushing injuries. Gidget is big and love-able and small children are naturally fascinated by her, so adult supervision is required to make sure little fingers stay safe. Children should not be allowed to touch Gidget while it is turned on. Keep your distance! Always turn the robot off and disconnect batteries before picking it up.
-See our [http://store.vorpalrobotics.com Vorpal Robotics Store] for information on where to order parts for all our hexapod projects.
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