Steam Powered Robots

Crabfu SteamWorks made some really sweet steam powered RC toys. Very steampunk. I hope it inspires somone to make a steam powered android some day.

About live steam:
These steam machines are real miniature live steam engines. Principles are simple, heat + water = steam, steam pushes pistons and provides power in a circular motion.... how you harness that work is up to you :) I use mainly stationary or marine engines to start. They use alcohol, gas, or solid fuel tablets for heat, and requires oiling on each run. Distilled water is recommended, and steam pressure can build up around .8 - 1.5 bars, or around 10-20 psi.... NOT a lot of pressure. They have safety valves which releases the steam at a certain pressure, as not to "blow up", and typical running time is about 10 minutes.

Design process:
I have no machining skills or equipment, the only power tool that I use is my trusty Dremel. Therefore I spend a lot of time finding the right parts to build with. I frankenstein as much existing proven mechanics from toys or R/C vehicles as possible. Meccano / erector sets makes for relatively quick proof of concept, and I try to use them for support as well as mechanics (the walker is made of entirely from meccano parts). I usually start with pulleys and bands, as they are easy to work with, then upgrade them to sprockets and chains once proven. Finding the right gearing ratio for the job is a tricky process, these steam engines have high RPMs but low torque.... they stall easily, put your pinky on the flywheel with the slightest pressure and it stops. Over time I've developed a sense of how much a machine must be geared down to perform the work, based on the engine and weight. But gearing is still largely a trial and error process, and requires quite a bit of time to tune it.

[link via robots.net]