Make Your Own Robot
February 22, 2010
TIROL-CHOCO Robots Compete
Witness the 4th annual TIROL-CHOCO Robot Competition that pits bipedal robots made with candy boxes. The bots race on a 2m track, compete in chocolate target practice at paper cups and carry chocolate. And you thought bon bons were just for eating.
Via Biped Robot News
February 16, 2010
Hexapod Teaches Itself to Walk
It would seem everybody watches YouTube robotics videos, including Intel. A couple of days after University of Arizona student Matt Bunting posted a video of his hexapod robot, the company ordered two of them for trade shows and meetings. The robot works on Intel's 1.60GHz Atom Z530, a US15W chipset and Ubunto, and sees through a Logitech Webcam.
Bunting wanted his creation to be able to walk without the usual algorithms. Instead it works by reinforcement learning. The company CrustCrawler was also impressed and asked him to develop software for many of their products, including hexapod kits.
Via Crave
February 3, 2010
Techno Robot Kit - Simplified Learning
The Techno Robot Kit includes everything you need to build a 9.5" workable bot. Included are snap-together outer body, engine, wheels and adhesive. When complete, you only need to add 2 AA batteries to get your new best friend to get going.
Via Techno Robot Kit
January 26, 2010
Robotic Flower Girl Subs at Wedding
Allegra Fullerton got married last November but didn't have a flower girl. She asked her sister Laurel, a Mechanical Engineer Grad Student at Stanford, to build one for her. She did and the result is this pretty in pink bot. The WeddingBot not only tossed petals down the aisle when controlled by Laurel, she also danced a bit at the reception.
Via gizmodo
January 14, 2010
Micromouse Captured on Video
Micromouse robots get faster each generation to the extent that it is difficult to capture them on video. Peter Harrison used a Casio FC100 camera set for 640x480 at 210 fps to slow the action down by 7x. Note that not only is the entry from the 30th All Japan Micromouse Competition still chugging along, there is a flicker caused by frequency between the frame rate and 50hz lighting.
Via Robots Dreams
University Of Malaga Robots Make Music
A University of Malaga group in Spain, led by Professor Elizabeth Barbancho, devised a Lego Mindstorms NXT that can play Name That Tune when you play chords on the guitar, tickle piano keys, whistle or hum. The clever bot will then suggest other songs that are similar. A team also came up with a system that uses augmented reality technology to make a virtual keyboard, useful for those without a real one. Other researchers from the group came up with a method of turning ordinary songs into a format that is similar to the one used in "Guitar Hero."
Via EPA (translated)
January 8, 2010
Must Have: Insultabotz
Build the Insultabotz, load it up with one or several evil messages of up to 15 seconds apiece and let it loose in your workplace or home. When it comes in contact with any object detected by its IR eye, such as people, pets or water coolers, it will stop, reverse direction and issue an insult. The 6-legged robot is simple to assemble and is no doubt simply annoying.
Via Insultabot
December 17, 2009
Mario Brothers Strictly For Adults
Little kids have their Mario game and now big kids have theirs. At Austria's Roboexotica, "Adult Mario" was displayed. Run around and you get a fan in your face. Break blocks, destroy the bad guys or come to the end of the level and you get rewarded with a rum and Coke. Jimmy Fallon, your Beer Pong is so yesterday.
Via Digital Tools
December 2, 2009
The Prez is Alert to Robot Attacks
As much as we admired President Obama before, we now know that he gets it. He recently made this comment at a Washington DC's Oakdon High School when admiring a robot named Cougar Cannon designed by its students, "As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything."
Check the link for his full speech.
Via Washington Post
November 23, 2009
Robonica Launches New Gaming System Roboni-i
Robonica, a South Africa-based toy manufacturer, launched its new Roboni-i Action Game last week at California University in Pennsylvania. The programmable, 2 wheeled bot has 16 sensors. Users can program the robot and design games with its PC based Command Center software, then play alone or join an online community. The entire system comes packed with a bot, controller, gun, scoop, ball, "unihubs" and more. It carries a MSRP of $249.99.
(Thanks, Christine)
Via Robini-i
November 19, 2009
Mr. Wake Rouses Sleepers
Take Clocky one step further and you end up with Mr. Wake. "isotope" created this robot that gets you up and then runs for the hills, or at least the next room. His Basic V2.0 contest entry took him about 18 hours to build at a cost of about $80.00 and is still a work in progress.
Via Let's Make Robots
November 13, 2009
Takahashi Masakazu Papercraft Robots
Takahashi Masakazu is either an artistic genius or has too much time on his hands, or both. His papercraft is amazing as evidenced by this distant cousin of R2-D2. Check out his site that features buildings, insects, animals and airplanes.
Via Craziest Gadgets
November 11, 2009
Brush Robot Helps Clean Up
The folks who brought you the Robot Duck have now decided that robots can be useful as well. Toysmith's Brush Robot, at a size of 6.5 x 9.4 x 2.4", helps you clean up mini messes while ogling you with a curious stare not unlike the money you could be saving if you switched to Geico. The kit comes with wooden and paint brushes, motor, battery case with wires, eyes and miscellaneous parts.
Via Toysmith DIY
October 23, 2009
Spherical Robot Utilizes Gyroscopes
Greg Schroll has created a spherical robot that uses gyroscopes for steering. The torque that is exerted increases as it spins for more speed and power. The clever part comes in when the bot jumps because you just never know when one will fall in a pothole. The graduate student from CSU says he used to daydream as a child about a soccer ball that could redirect its course when rolling. We guess that shows that dreams can come true. Because of his talent, Greg was named one of Popular Mechanic's 10 Most Brilliant Innovators of 2009.
Via Popular Mechanics
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