Robotics

Making a robot can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s the perfect combination of creativity, engineering and problem solving. However, if you’re just getting started in robotics, it can also be overwhelming. To make things easier for those who are just starting out, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to help makers bring robots to life! From the basics of assembling your robot to software implementation, these pointers will give you everything you need to get started on your robotic adventure!

Behold Your Doom: Children’s battle mech

Behold Your Doom: Children’s battle mech

In point of fact, this “Kid’s Walker” from Japanese firm Sakakibara Kikai, like every real-world mecha prototype I’ve ever seen, is considerably more impressive when standing still than when in motion. There’s embedded video here. If you are actually concerned about the possibility of the world being stomped to rubble beneath the armored galoshes of a Pokémech revolution, you should watch it and put your mind at ease. If, like me, however, you were excited by the photo and are enjoying dreaming about buying or making one of these for your own outer or inner child, you may want to keep that dream alive and pass on the vid. [via gizmag]

Giant fluid dynamics sculpture made of robot-glued plastic balls

Giant fluid dynamics sculpture made of robot-glued plastic balls

Um, wow. Geometric death frequency-141, as its called, was created by Czech artist Federico Díaz. It consists of 420,000 plastic spheres, each of which appears to be about 1.5″ in diameter, glued together by industrial robot arms. The subject is a simulated liquid splashing inside an imaginary 50x20x20 foot box. Reportedly, Díaz wrote the software to perform the simulation himself, and the software to drive the assembly process, as well. More details over at designboom. [via Gizmodo]

2nd-generation Raytheon exoskeleton prototype vid

I remember awhile back when video of the original XOS prototype made the rounds. Well, now, defense behemoth Raytheon is back with another somewhat cheesy testosterone-fueled video showing the new lighter, stronger XOS 2 prototype performing various feats of strength in preparation for the upcoming holiday season. There’s heavy metal music and one of the actors from Iron Man who is not, ah, actually Iron Man.

Gimme, a panhandling robot

Gimme, a panhandling robot

Several times a week I push my three-year-old son and our jogging stroller along the banks of the Guadalupe River on our morning run. We invariably meet homeless people, often groups, and it inspires a wide variety of emotions: sympathy, fear, anger. As a board member for the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, I […]