Project Hexapod: The six-legged spider-car called Stompy

This is Stompy: he's a six-legged robot — or hexapod — that holds two passengers and is completely drivable thanks to a 99kW six-cylinder LPG-powered forklift engine.

Stompy is the result of Project Hexapod: an intensive robotics class at the creative projects studio Artisan's Asylum in Boston, reports Wired.com.

The 2.5 tonne robot's main party trick is being able to walk over a car thanks to its hydraulic legs and high elevation. This is especially handy since Stompy's large size also means he takes up two lanes of traffic.

How to steer Stompy is still being figured out, but the most likely solution will involve two joysticks — one to turn and move the robot forward and backward, and another to rotate the cockpit independently of the legs.

While still a design concept on paper, project leader Gui Cavalcanti is confident a full-scale version will be built if a smaller prototype encourages funding from investors.

The team behind Stompy comprises 15 students and three instructors and is made up of robotics engineers, open-source software coders and a two-time BattleBots champion.

Team Stompy plans to launch the idea on creative project funding site Kickstarter in August.