Dog v3
A 3D-printed quadruped, third time around — custom-actuated legs, onboard sensing, built to walk on its own.
This is the third time I’ve built this dog from scratch. v1 and v2 taught me where the printer wins and where it doesn’t, and v3 is me finally trusting the parts that took the most abuse.
Build log
The body is printed in sections and bolted around the electronics, so I can crack it open without tearing the whole thing apart. Each leg is a three-segment design with an actuator at every joint — that’s most of the weight and all of the difficulty.
Up front it carries a sensor module so the dog can eventually see what it’s walking into, instead of me babysitting it with a tether.
The hard part isn’t the printing — it’s getting four legs to agree on where the ground is.
2026-06-11 — The new revision walks
The new body is up and walking, with a newly tuned gait and the finalized color scheme and branding for the company.
2026-06-04 — New revision, assembled
The next revision standing on the floor — cleaner body, tidier legs. The blue boot is TPU.
2026-06-03 — The next revision is printing
New parts are coming off the printer for the next revision of V3.
2026-04-25 — New skill: play dead
Flopping over on command. The easiest trick in the book, once standing up stopped being the hard part.
The wolf is embossed straight into the shell.
2026-04-21 — Learning to turn
Walking straight came first. Turning means the legs have to stop agreeing with each other on purpose, which is a different problem entirely.
Footage from this stretch of the build — up on all fours, full leg articulation.
2026-04-20 — First steps
First steps on video. Rough gait, wiring everywhere, but four legs moved one body forward and nothing snapped.
Floor footage from this stretch of the build.
2026-04-11 — Test-stand era
Early testing with the dog suspended on a stand: kinematic checks, leg timing, and the failures that shaped the final leg design.