Timothy Williams
Surimi is an imitation crab. His body is made from a surface
of rotation, as are his legs and claws. The bumps on the shell
that are the base of the eyestalks is made by sweeping a function
along another. The eyestalks themselves are made by sweeping one
curve around a line defined by another curve (i.e. a surface of
rotation, but around a moving line, not an axis). Even the seaweed
in the background is made from a mathematical curve (a spiral swept
around a spiral).
Surimi is good at keeping his feet on the floor, regardless of the
angles his leg joints take. You can also lock the radius of his
feet on the floor, and then as you change leg angle 1, leg angles
2 and 3 automatically flex to keep the feet stationary on the ground.
The eyes can be made to look around, and up or down. The scale
of the legs is adjustable. Finally, Surimi does a pretty
interesting animation. Be warned that unless you have a very fast
machine, it's best to view the animation in poor resolution, and
there is a slider to speed up the animation.