Electric Giraffe

The Electric Giraffe, named Russell, is a 17 feet tall robotic giraffe, built by Lindsay Lawlor. It runs off propane, which charges its batteries. The giraffe has walking ability, as well as stereos and its own lighting system of over 1000 LEDs. The giraffe has appeared at Burning Man 2005, 2006 & 2007, Robo Nexus 2005, San Francisco Decompression Party 2005, Fuego Diego 2005, Ray at Night 2006, Make Faire 2006, 2007 & 2008, Xara 2006, Disney Web 2.0 Expo 2006, Califur 2006, and Further Confusion 2007.

The giraffe was given a full makeover/rebuild in late 2008 to mid 2009, with its new look debuted at the 2009 Maker Faire. The hydraulic drive system was rebuilt; all manual controls were removed and the control system was converted to radio control; the frame was upgraded and the wooden floor replaced with plexiglass panels; and the entire machine was disassembled, sand blasted, and sprayed with pearlescent sunset orange paint. The electronic control system was changed from Ethernet to USB, making the giraffe itself a USB peripheral.