Robotics posts

Hey, y’know Bait Car? Bait Car is great. Bait Car is frequently hilarious. Bait Car comes from Canada. Bait Car has a website. If you’re still lost, just Youtube ‘Bait Car’. This post is absolutely not about Bait Car. At least, not quite. That picture what you’re putting in your eyeholes, there, is a design concept for the MIMO Autonomous Mobile Robot, and while it is not Bait Car, it operates in the same spirit – that is, to deter and frighten would-be criminals out of doing that crime thing they like to do. So what the hell is this thing? Well, it’s not immediately clear, and once the entire scope of this…

I’m really stoked about all the cool Arduino stuff I’m seeing lately. Remember the Twitter lamp I rapped about last week? Almost makes me want to be an engineer. Almost. I have a dexterity score of like 8, so it’ll probably never happen. Meanwhile, though, people who are indeed engineers (and at the very least, programmers) are doing stuff like this. John Park is using the Arduino platform to construct – what else – a Nerf sentry gun. You know, to protect your property from, like, Nerf criminals, or 7 year old boys, or something. The uselessness of this is nothing short of legend, but I can’t give the…

I’ve always been terrified by diabetes. Not that I’m at any risk or anything, it’s just the thought of living your life on this weird insulin countdown death clock thing freaks me out. But today, I’m totally stoked about it. Hold up, don’t get all twisted. I mean that in the best of possible terms – internet startup folk legend Jeffrey Brewer is looking to turn diabetes sufferers into verified cyborgs by means of a goddamn robotic pancreas. Without even going into detail, that sounds freaking wicked, right? There was this time after an accident, I was told I’d need a robotic ankle. Seriously, true…

Techi is honor-bound to offer you totally rad (and routinely bizarre) things to read about, and I for one don’t like to disappoint, so check this out. In the endless chronicle of robots infiltrating humanity’s dwindling normalcy, it would appear Japan is still proving itself crowned king – this time, with a robotic priest, of all things. Satoko Inoue and her groom, Tomohiro Shibata, were recently wed in a fairly typical ceremony, save for the atypically-nonhuman i-Fairy robot presiding over the affair. According to Inoue, who is an employee at Kokoro Ltd, the robotics company behind the i-Fairy,…

This robotic creature transforms into a Mini-ITX test bench.  The four adjustable legs create a spider-like effect. Designer Lian Li created it primarily for open- air PC benchmarking; the design makes it easier to build up and tear down again. You will be able to purchase your creepy-crawly friend on May 21st of 2010. Spidey comes in three colors; silver, red and black. Features: Unique eye catching design Available in red, silver and black colors For mini-ITX motherboards Supports one 5.25″ slim CD-ROM Adjustable leg angles Evolved spider design with only 4 legs Availability: Arriving…

I’ve been hearing this concept tossed around for years now, but apparently, it has now happened: Science (and may I point out that I capitalize ‘Science’ intentionally) has built robots out of DNA, and has put them to work. Nadrian Seeman, a professor at NYU and his team have developed a sort of ‘factory’ where they’re currently experimenting with having the nanobots build particles of gold. Each robot is composed of a few molecules, instructed by DNA. “We have the three robot stations lined up in a row, and the walker walks by them. Depending on how we program the system, the walker will or will not…

You know what? I think you’ve had enough sleep. In fact, I think you’ve had enough sleep for the next several weeks, and I’m going to make sure you don’t – I’m going to make you watch this video. Not-oft-loved-enough-by-North-Americans company Fujitsu breakdanced its brand new technologies all over Tokyo’s Fujitsu Forum 2010 this week, and among the lot is this absolutely terrifying bear. Interestingly enough, this robotic atrocity is designed not as a toy for children, but as therapy, chiefly for the elderly. The idea is that it fills the role of a pet or small child, allowing you to feel less guilty…

I’ll admit, I was skeptical when I saw the title of this video. I assumed I was in for three minutes of watching robots unsuccessfully attempting to walk and their creators optimistically trying to convince the audience that this constitutes “dancing”. Oh how wrong I was. This is a small slice of awesome. The world has seen some pretty advanced robots, robots that can play the violin, robots that fight and even robot waiters, but this is fun, creative and mesmerizing. The robots, or hexapods, are competing in the 5th Annual Austrian Hexapod Dance-Off. Boy, those Austrians sure know how to party….

Robots, man. Freaking robots. Your robotic fix today comes from PhD student Ji-Dong Yim, who has built two cell phone robots, Callo and Cally (get it? call-y? cell phone? ah, never mind). Both bots run on Nokia N82 handsets, and can move and show emotion based on user input, be it by text, voice, or even facial expression. Yim claims the aim is to explore social robotic products, in an attempt to build better relationships between robots and their owners in the future. So, like a Furby, then, JD? Because these are way cooler than a Furby. Give yourself some credit, man. Totally brought some videos for…

This isn’t the first Rubik’s-cube-solving Lego robot that’s been viral in the last few months, nor is it the fastest (25 seconds), nor is it the most intimidating. But this one’s special for another reason entirely – this one’s powered by the Motorola Droid. Designed as a promotional vid for chip manufacturer ARM, builder David Gilday must be crying himself to sleep for missing his chance at YouTube kingship by a mere two months. You’re still number one in our hearts, Dave. [Via Make]…