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!

Blast From The Past: “SpringWalker” Running Exoskeleton

Blast From The Past: “SpringWalker” Running Exoskeleton

I am indebted to a commenter on yesterday’s skeletonics post for reminding me of G. John Dick and Eric A. Edwards’ SpringWalker spring-powered lower-body exoskeleton. Using the slightly half-baked terms I proposed yesterday, the SpringWalker is another notable example of a “passive” exoskeleton, i.e. one that amplifies the speed and range of a motion, but does not actually add power. An oldie but a goodie, the SpringWalker was patented in 1991, back when the term of a US patent was still 17 years, and is thus now out of patent. [Thanks, DanYHKim!]

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Individually labeled egg

If you’ve ever cracked into a nice hardboiled egg in the morning and wondered about the nutrition content, then you might want to check out this egg nutrition label. Designed by Thingiverse user dnewman and printed on an EggBot art robot, it should provide all of the nutrition info that you need about your breakfast. […]

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Welcome Guest Author David Cranor

Welcome Guest Author David Cranor

I’m pleased to welcome a new guest author to Make: Online! David Cranor will be covering projects and people on the maker side of high-tech academic research. David Cranor is an inventor, adventurer, and pineapple upside down cake enthusiast. He is currently a student at the MIT Media Lab researching human/computer interaction, as well as […]

Continue Reading Becky Stern2
“Skeletonics” Exoskeleton Is Kinda Like Stilts For Your Whole Body

“Skeletonics” Exoskeleton Is Kinda Like Stilts For Your Whole Body

All the primary source material here appears to be in Japanese, in which I am sadly illiterate, but word on the street is that this is a college-level student engineering project. It’s called Skeletonics, and I want to describe the technology as a “passive exoskeleton,” because it does not have any servomechanisms and just amplifies the speed and reach of the wearer’s natural movements. That would be opposed to an “active exoskeleton,” which, you know, would be one that actually adds power to a movement. I dunno what good it may be, but it sure looks like fun. If nothing else, you could build one and sell rides in it at the county fair. [via Hack a Day]

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Where Have All the Robots Gone?

Where Have All the Robots Gone?

Right after the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, I began jokingly mentioning to friends: “At least Japan has lots of robots that can help.” Then, as the days have worn on, and the tragedies mount, I started seeing comments on Facebook and blogs, asking: “Where are the robots!?” Where are the robots? Japan is […]

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This Week in Hobby Robotics 02

Frits and Rik are back with another episode of This Week in Hobby Robotics! Find out what’s going on in the land of robots. Frits (from Denmark), who works professionally in web concept development, is the creator of Letsmakerobots.com, a popular international source for hobby robotics. His cohost, Rik (from Holland), is part of the […]

Continue Reading Becky Stern