A few months ago, the head of our engineering and research and development department brought the work of Theo Jansen to my attention. Theo Jansen is equally part artist and inventor, as his animated creations are a fusion of art and engineering. Jansen says, "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds."

According to his website www.strandbeest.com, Mr. Jansen has spent the last fifteen years occupied with the making of a new nature. These creations are created not from organic resources, but from common manufactured materials of our industrialized world: PVC pipe, cardboard, cable ties, and adhesive tape. He makes skeletons of animals which are able to walk on the beaches of his homeland, the Netherlands, with only the wind to fuel their elegant movements. He explains just how this engineering concept works on youtube.com.

Eventually he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives. Personally, I think that these creatures are beautiful and an engineering marvel, but the idea of walking down a silvery beach at sunset quietly contemplating the universe and suddenly coming face to face with one of these creatures meandering along on its own is a bit unnerving!

The technology has developed by Mr. Jansen has inspired others to create their own creatures and robots. Beautifully inspired pieces of art include solar powered kinetic animal sculptures designed by James G. Watt. The video itself is an artistic achievement including background music by Joanna Newsom, ‘Sawdust & Diamonds.’ You may never look at horses running again the same way. And the album may be a great pick, too.

Interested in trying to make one of these on your own? This video takes you through all of the steps in the development of a Theo Jansen-inspired radio controlled walking robot. It starts with the design of a cardboard model, how the electronic testing is conducted, the fabrication phase that they refer to as “building the thingy,” a list of detailed specifications, all the way through a view of the Robot itself.

We hope you enjoy seeing these creations.