Carpentopod project was started back in 2008, the designer wrote some software for fun to make it possible to generate optimized walking mechanisms. Through times, he was able to transform these mechanisms into an actual wooden coffee table: The Carpentopod. It’s a wooden coffee table with moving 12 legs, the algorithm is capable to create various leg movements where they compete against each other. User can select which movement is the best, each variation got assigned a fitness core based on its walking speed, clearance, and material use. Watch the video that shows 20 seconds of cool evolution, each frame displays a different individual out of 5000 “live” variations.
Carpentopod Walking Wooden Coffee Table is aesthetically pleasing to watch. each leg in the linkage is only a third of the walk cycle on the ground, therefore, it requires twelve legs to make it stable at all times. In order for this table to walk smoothly, those leg components are needed to be carefully made with sub-millimeter precision and stay that way. Turning 3D design into a physical table, Giliam de Carpentier preferred to use CNC as much as possible. It would also a lot easier to churn out twelve identical wooden parts.
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