The Walking Pod slowly crawls its way into your geodesic dreams

You can find strange robotic beasts at both Burning Man and the Maker Faire, so it’s only natural that Scott Parenteau took his sheet metal creation, the Walking Pod, to both. The robot, Parenteau tells Tested, is inspired both by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes and Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest. The result is a singular, walking machine that utilizes twelve legs powered powered by two batteries providing around 800 watts. Two dishwasher motors are enough to move them, and the batteries can be charged by generator, a small solar panel on top of the dome, or a wind turbine.

Parenteau says he has “a fascination with domes” and though the Walking Pod doesn’t strictly hew to Fuller’s geodesic design, it is able to be taken apart so its pieces stack up in a relatively small package. Overall the robot isn’t as terrifying as the Mondo Spider, but what it lacks in violent movement it makes up for in silent, unyielding persistence. With atop speed of about .02 miles per hour, you can physically outrun the Walking Pod — but mentally: it’s right there with you.