Meuth built a 3 module mast using the copper tensegrity table instructions by William H. Guilford. He wrote:
I built 3 modules, 2 "left-handed" and 1 "right-handed." To assemble them into the tower, I hooked the struts of one module into the base triangle of tension elements of another, forcing the base triangle into a hexagon.I used 20lb test mono-filament fishing line and 2 sets of good smooth-jaw pliers to tie the knots (grip-jaw pliers scar the fishing line, causing breaks after you've carefully tied many little knots), following the guidelines at the Tensegrity coffee table website. If you do this yourself, construct a jig that will allow you to accurately create the tension links at a certain distance (the length of your struts divided by 1.4).
Ryan Meuth is Professor of Robotics and Embedded Systems, University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona.
It is exciting to see the robotics community work with tensegrity. The biomimetic devices lab at Tufts University creates robots that imitate biological structures. DARPA has contracts for researchers to create robots that can move through cracks and under doors; one early prototype can seen in the video here . The “jamming” technique is an example of viscoelastic: part of the structure is held rigid while the rest of it is flexible.
Phil Earnhardt points out, "when more robots begin to move with these qualities, it should be easier for us to remember that we can move that way, too. Within 20 years, I predict the phrase “moving like a robot” will have completely shed its current meaning."
Links:
The strut he used is here.
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