I am sure you could use a very sharp knife, but the plastic is pretty strong, so you may end up cutting your way into the hospital emergency department. I used a marker to draw out what I was going to cut. Next, go to town on the cover with a Dremel, removing all the excess plastic. Desolder or cut them away from the board. The wires to the motors are attached to a small PCB, which you can see once you’ve opened it up. It takes a single screw to remove the lid, to get to the batteries and then another 3 to remove the top of the robot. Direction is changed by rotating the main body, using a second motor, which changes the disposition of the legs, changing the direction in which the entire robot moves. All the 6 legs are powered with a single motors. These Battle Spiders are mechanically really interesting. Ever since I saw these HEXBUG Battle Spiders, I’ve wanted to tear them apart and supply them with a more capable brain.

This is a project I’ve had on the shelf for quite some time (2 years or so), and only just now finished up.

Download remote control hexbug