Four Leg Mechanism - Designed by Jiko

The Theo Jansen Mechanism

Fusion 360 is a powerful Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) software that allows you to simulate a wide range of mechanisms and physical behaviors.

I choose to simulate the famous mechanism called “Jansen Mechanism” and I have explained below the entire procedure of simulating this mechanism using Fusion 360.

Step 1: Understanding The Theory

The Jansen mechanism, also known as the Jansen linkage or Jansen walker, is a mechanical linkage system that simulates the leg movements of certain walking creatures, such as insects. It was inspired by the leg movements of the Strandbeest, which are kinetic sculptures created by Dutch artist Theo Jansen. The Jansen mechanism consists of a complex arrangement of links and pivots that, when driven by a rotating crank, produces a walking motion.

The mechanism usually features multiple legs. But in order to understand the concept behind the mechanism, it’s better to consider a one leg section.

The above mentioned values are actually the mathematically proven numbers to match up with this mechanism. When you are trying to design any prototype based on this theorem, it is better to use these values or multiples of these values according to the requirement.

Step 2: Drawing the basic sketch

Step 3: Making Components Based on the sketch

Step 4: Join the components and defining the joint relationship

Step 5: Mirroring the components to get the final 4 leg prototype

Step 6: Finally animating the joint relationship and see the mechanism