The Hexanaut: Build the World's Largest Hexapod Robot

Whether they realize it or not, fans of Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Disney+ Andor series may already be familiar with the cinematic magic of British creator Matt Denton. But in 2012, Denton's futuristic fabrications transcended the silver screen and landed in the real world with the debut of Mantis - a six-legged, two-ton, human-piloted steel juggernaut.

Originally ordered for commercial use, a company noticed the smaller hexapods Denton was creating in the 2000s and requested a 400 ton version for exploring the underwater seabed. Due to scale, Denton was funded to have Mantis test this technology at 2 tons. Operating via Wi-Fi or using the two integrated three-axis joysticks and 28 buttons inside the cockpit, Mantis' top speed is 1 km/h and, despite its weight, exerts the same amount of pressure as 'a human foot under each footrest.

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Mantis took over three years to build, with Denton tackling the job alone for the first eight months. Denton recalls that “it was a mental challenge for me on a daily basis. I had never done such large hydraulics before and certainly never had a hydraulic power pack running on a diesel engine or controlling 18 actuators simultaneously. Each leg joint was particularly challenging with Denton using dual bearings driven by a linear actuator that rotates each joint. Subsequently, the team found rotary actuators that could have made Mantis' legs into a single solid unit. “I was learning on the job…even in those three years I found better ways to do mechanics.” It's "kind of a Frankenstein thing," Denton joked. "It's a 486 processor clocked at one gigahertz, but running a Linux system." The result is a jaw-dropping feat of engineering that earned Denton the Guinness World Record for "Largest Driven Hexapod Robot" in 2017.

With the processing power of Arduinos and the possibilities of 3D printing, Denton has recently explored giant 3D printed versions of classic Lego vehicles. For Denton, these "changed everything" and he did not intend to use his new skills to tackle hexapods again in the future. Follow more of her latest creations on Instagram and Youtube.