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his hands. Whether it was a castle out of Lego blocks, or his own transformer toys, give him a puzzle and he was in his glory. But little did Schmitke know that he would one day have the chance to help creâ€" ate something others could only dream of making. Schmitke, along with two other University of Waterloo students, Chris Collins and David Ort, put their minds together, and the skills they acquired in the school‘s sysâ€" tems design engineering program to work, and creatâ€" ed a sixâ€"legged walking robot. "I‘d say it‘s a few steps above Lego," Schmitke said with a chuckle. UW students create walking robot The robot, known as Hexplorer, or Hexy for short, is an omnidirectional, sysâ€" temsâ€"integrated _ project which took about eight months to complete. The machine features all aspects of systems design engineering, from mechaniâ€" cal and electrical to comâ€" puter. But what may be most interesting is that while all six of its legs are fully operaâ€" tional, just one leg is capaâ€" ble of supporting the robot‘s 48â€"pound body weight. Schmitke said this was one of the key differences between Hexplorer and a sixâ€"legged creation, known as Hexotica, another group of students attempted a few While the first robot was designed to function in the same manner, the legs were too weak to support the weight. "That group also worked very hard, and after four months they too had a walkâ€" ing robot," said Prof, John McPhee, who supervised both projects. "I don‘t think they slept. "But the problem was they didn‘t have access to the same technology. The legs were just too flimsy." _ Knowing more work could be done, McPhee approached Schmitke last year and asked him if he would take a crack at creatâ€" ing a more robust leg design. "I was very interested in the concept of making a By Anorea Baurey Chronicle Staff _ s a child, Chad Schmitke _ enjoyed building things with Aaioe small leg with three degrees of freedom," Schmitke said. "It was a good handsâ€"on problem for me to tackle." Schmitke said his love for problemâ€"solving _ comes from growing up with a father who was always facâ€" ing challenges on their farm in Winnipeg. They decided to enter the project into â€" an Americanâ€"based technoloâ€" gy competition, sponsored A team of students from the University of Waterloo have spent almost the last year putting together a sixâ€"legged walking robot. Pictured with the robot, known as Hexplorer, are, dockwise from left, Prof. John McPhee, Steve White of Texas Instruments, David Orr and Chad Schmitke. "Dad was always figuring things out," Schmitke said. "He always knew a little bit about a lot of things. "I always said if anyone should have a (university) degree, it should be him." Once Schmitke‘s design was deemed durable, the group knew they could be on to something big. , 328 Erb Street West, Waterioo (519) 885â€"2306 by Texas Instruments, and were selected as one of 15 finalists out of over 200 international entries. "They were the only ones from Canada to win the first round," McPhee said. "And there was only one from the U.S. as well. The rest were from Europe and Asia. That goes to show how stiff the competition was." And though Hexplorer failed to make it to the list of top three winners, the group agreed the recognition that was received was worth the long labourious hours. But Schmitke said the work is far from over. He has more plans in store for Hexplorer. "We‘re now looking into putting vision on the robot," he said. Y__â€"â€"â€"~~ _ If you don‘t see it, we can get it! _ â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"_J Over 200 used cars available through our company network 97 GRAND MARQUIS LS . .. . . . . St. 266039A , 97 ESCORT aut., 4 cyl., p. locks. . . . . St #APA3 99 MALIBU V6, auto. . ... .. . . . . . St. FW6906A| 01 CONTINENTAL LS m. roof, L. int. St. #9P4497 98 RANGER FLARESIDE 4cyl., Sspd. St. #P4516 | 98 GRAND PRIX p. roof, p. windows. St. #P4472 00 FOCUS 5 speed, CD, air cond.. . . . St. #P4409 | 98 SUNFIRE aut., air conditioning . . St. £T4996A 99 WINDSTAR 6 cy!., AM/FM/Cass . . St. #P4209 | 97 E150 CARGO VAN white . . . . . . . St. #41540 97 F150 4X4, p. windows & locks. . . St. #F6611A | 99 ESCORT 4 dr., airbag, AM/FM/cas. St. #P4437 99 TAURUS WAGON air, V6, p. acc. . St. #P4386 | 98 CONTOUR 4 cyi., air conditioning . St. #P4434 partial listing only - All vehicles are warrantied _ _ MraTS & CHEESE | New York Strip Loin Steaks Boneless Chicken Breasts Fresh Farmers Pork Sausage Deli Sliced Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Havarti Cheese Ring Bologna Our beef is cut from Canada grades A, AA, AAA SPECIALS 5 lbs. or more $8.99n6. $4.99n. $2.59n6. 2.29n6. $5.9916. 1.79n6. 5.398