Walking Machine
 
In this, the final, the Bodgers face the Megalomaniacs in what could be one of the most difficult machines to build, a walking machine. They'll have to make their machine walk a somewhat straight course over rough terrain, through water or through a wall of barrels before the "dash" to the finish line. The machine must carry the four teammates and a safe.  They'll have to pick up a key to open the safe which holds a flag. Raise your flag at the finish line and you've won the day.

Each team has taken a different approach to how to get their machine to walk. The Megalomaniacs are going to adapt a Jeep to walk by welding a cam onto the wheel hubs. A cam is something that turns but isn't necessarily circular. The Megs cam will be teardrop shaped so the car will rise on the tip of the teardrop and roll over on the bottom. They'll need some strong feet for the cams though.

The Bodgers will be going for the much more difficult approach of hydraulics. A hydraulic is a piston inside a sealed tube. The pressure of a fluid (or air) being pumped into one end will force the piston forward. The piston moves back into position and the cycle repeats. Their machine will shuffle along having one set of hydraulics raise one platform, slide another along and repeat towards the finish line. Tricky business indeed.
 
 

The Megalomaniacs have the services
of Jerry King
The Bodgers have Dr James Brighton
Babs is ill, so stepping in is Anne Saunders
 
 
This walking machine is Dante.
He explores volcanoes
OK. This is the Bodgers machine. One
set of rams raises it and another slides it
forward and back on rollers.
 
 
The judge/expert this week is
Neal Davis, builder of wacky things
Seems as though Lurch has found a
chunky bit of rams
 
 
The Megs jeep. Actually, it's a Suzuki
They need to strip the jeep down so
off goes the roof
 
 
The Bodgers work area. Those
ladder-looking bits are actually
rollers
From rams to cams. A cam transfers
circular motion to vertical motion.  Or
"round-n-round" to "up & down"
 
 
Cut Those Cams!
Those strong Bodgers lift that car
 
 
Seems as though Bowser welded too
well. Those rollers are stuck.
Bowser's sexy welding goggles
 
 
The Megs walking jeep
The Bodgers shuffling scrap
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