Steampunk Robots and Hacked Bugs

(relaxing music)

[I-Wei] I hack things apart.

I combine things that aren't a natural fit.

Tinkering is kinda where this all started.

(train engine whistles)

When it comes to making and the DIY movement,

there's little that says cool as robotics.

And I-Wei Huang is a master of hacking things apart,

putting things together again and coming up

with brand new creations.

I-Wei, tell me what about what you do.

I guess what I'm best known for is steam power stuff.

You know, so I take old steam engines

and model steam engines

and I kinda hack them into different machines.

And it's just kind of fantasy-based kinda things

but in real life, they actually work.

So that's kinda part of the appeal for me,

is just adding some character

and personality into the machines.

(relaxing music)

(train engine whistles)

So on this machine, take me through

the different components of it.

What are the parts that are the steam parts,

what are their functions and how does it work?

This is the boiler and this is where I'll be filling

with water, a little bit of oil for the engine,

fill this up with denatured alcohol

and set it on fire

and that in turn boils the water inside here.

It goes piped into this little steam engine

and then it starts working.

(relaxing music)

So then after you've worked on some of

these steam powered RC vehicles,

I know you've got a bunch of these smaller creations.

Yeah. How did these come about?

The goal here for me is just kinda create

like believable personalities, with these little things.

So once you see them move,

it looks like a little critter.

These work off of tiny little

micro servos running off a battery.

And I'm controlling it with a transmitter.

I noticed one of these looks like it doesn't have

electric or steam power. (laughs)

This walker over here, what's the story with that?

Yeah so this is the hamster walker.

So this is a hamster ball.

And the hamster goes in here,

it's a walking machine powered by a hamster.

[Mike] Do you have a hamster?

[I-Wei] My niece does.

So I have access to a hamster. (laughs)

[Mike] And it works.

[I-Wei] Yeah she's a great runner.

[Mike] How fast does this thing get going?

[I-Wei] She goes at a pretty good pace.

[Mike] That's the form of power of the future.

[I-Wei] Yeah there we go.

[Mike] Okay, we've solved the energy crisis. (laughs)

(relaxing music)