Dalek wheelchair costume
Check out YouTube user YellowWheels’ channel for another pretty sweet chair costume.
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!
World’s smallest R2?
Rob Meyer built this amazingly small (1/18th scale) R2-D2 with three of Solarbotics GM15 pager gearmotors. It uses two of the motors in the drive train and one to rotate the mech’s dome. It measures 2.36″/6cm tall! [via Solarbotics] Rob Meyer Productions
How-To: Autonomous mobile pumpkin (AMP)
OK, so I made up that name. Windell of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories calls it a “Rovin’ Pumpkin,” which is a perfectly respectable moniker. But it’s never going to score a juicy government defense contract for this technology, the military applications of which, I should think, are obvious. [Thanks, Becky!]
Jeri Ellsworth – Cyborg
Our pal Jeri Ellsworth got to don the telepresence rig for the Anybots robot. Cool stuff. My favorite part of the vid is this exchange: Jeri: “I’m scared to crash it” Anybots’ Trevor Blackwell: “You should be.” Now that’s no way to instill confidence! :-)
Mechanical reproduction of digitized speech on a piano
Possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen. A work by Austrian composer Peter Ablinger. [via Neatorama]
Parallax “Stingray” robot platform
Parallax has a new mid-sized (13″ x 10″ x 5.5″) robot platform, called the Stingray, that looks pretty interesting, built around a Propeller multi-core: The Stingray robot from Parallax Inc. provides a mid-size platform for a wide range of robotics projects and experiments. The Propeller Robot Control Board is the brains of the system providing […]