Build a Fun Solar Roller or Symet BEAM Bot This Weekend
Inspired by nature and driven by solar light, BEAM Solar Chariots are both simple and fun to build – and move all on their own!
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!
Optically Tracking a Robot Arm
I loved reading Tom Larkworthy’s recent post on Edinburgh (Scotland) Hacklab’s blog on his experiments with building an OSHW robot arm with a reach of 1m, positionable to within 0.1mm and able to lift up to 2kg. Rather than sourcing expensive components, Tom’s goal was to develop an optical tracking system that would allow the […]
KegDroid Smart Tap
In an attempt to make brewing his small batch beer even more fun than it already is, Android hacker and home brewer Paul Carff created KegDroid, an NFC/RFID enabled smart tap for his home bar. Presenting the device with a MiFare-based RFID/NFC compatible tag will cause it to authenticate the user and pull up their preferences on an Android tablet.
RobotGrrl Interview
I loved this interview with kickass robot builder RobotGrrl by Robot Dreams. [via Adafruit]
Mindstorms Bottle Opener
R.J. McNamara built this great Mindstorms bottle opener: I decided to tackle building LEGO Mindstorms NXT Bottle Openers… The task turned out to be somewhat more difficult than I envisioned. The most difficult part by far was the Gripper Mechanisms, as they had to securely hold the Bottle and it’s cap in a manner that […]
MAKE’s Exclusive Interview with Jan Malasek from Pololu
In my previous article Jan Malasek from Pololu had some really interesting statements on intellectual property, so in addition to wanting to know more, I thought I’d see if Jan was up for an interview with MAKE about Pololu. I’ve been covering a lot of open-source hardware companies, almost exclusively, so I wanted to make […]
Festo ExoHand
I don’t know what to say about this, beyond the fact that Festo can sure turn out a cool robot video. Check out all the other Festo pr0n on the site! [via the NXT Step]