Scratchbot robot navigates with whiskers
Interested in sensing things without using sight? So are the researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, who have developed the Scratchbot robot that can navigate by waving around a set of 18 whiskers.
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!
MakerBot Sumobot
Will Langford, the Tufts student who created printable shop glasses on his MakerBot and rendered Thom Yorke’s head in 3D, has now printed a Sumbot chassis for an Arduino-driven sumo. Nice work, Will! It’s so cute! Will’s page on Thingiverse More: Print your own glasses Radiohead´s Thom Yorke printed in 3D
Make: Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Robots
Another year, another profusion of robot kits, toys, and showy humanoids demo’d by entertainment conglomerates and big car companies. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It wasn’t a huge leap year for the evolution of robokind, but there are definitely plenty of new tools and toys to play with, and plenty […]
Universal doorknob opening robot for the disabled
Interesting article over on New Scientist about Erin Rapacki’s design for a “low-cost” robot that can be used by the wheelchair-bound to grip, turn, and push or pull on most kinds of doorknobs. Maybe my sense of how much this sort of thing should cost is way off, but $2000 still seems pricey to me, although I guess at the prototype stage it’s pretty impressive. [via Popular Science]
Self-righting autonomous swarming robots
SensorFly, a prototype from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University shows just how robust the current crop really is. Knock down one of these sensor-packed hovering whirlygigs and it reorients itself to take flight again in a matter of seconds
Dance of the Christmas Robots
It’s still way too early for holiday music and decorations, however this was too good to pass up. Robobuilder made this RoboBuilder Xmas Dance Routine to demonstrate the capabilities of their 5720t ‘Huno’ robotics kit.
LadyBugBot bot crawls on your fridge
Vadim Ryazanov of Let’s Make Robots is at it again with the LadyBugBot. If you were wondering what he was going to make with his papier-mâché shell, this is it!
