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MorpHex robot transforms from ball into creepy crawler

An engineer in Norway has created a hexapod robot that can transform from a sphere to a crab-like robot. Creepy or cool?

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Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
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MorpHex
The MorpHex in the early stages of the project. Kare Halvorsen

In the world of robots, there are those that fall into the cute category, and those that just make your skin crawl.

The MorpHex robot is more of the creepy variety; well, creepy but cool, that is. Designed by Norwegian engineer Kare Halvorsen (aka Zenta), the MorpHex looks to be a big translucent ball, but it's actually a hexapod that can sprout legs and scamper away or chase you, depending on whether it's used for good or evil.

Chronicling the entire project on his blog, Halvorsen started MorpHex about a year ago using a hacked-up globe from Toys "R" Us. He was able to bring the hexapod to life using 25 servos (a device that provides power assistance to operate a control), a Basicmicro ARC-32 board, an XBee radio, a 2S 5000mAh LiPo battery pack, and a Turnigy 8amp regulator.

For now, the MorpHex's only powers include the ability to crawl and retract back into a ball, but Halvorsen says he'll work on adding a rolling function next.

(Via Engadget)