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!

Building Inexpensive CNC Machines

Building Inexpensive CNC Machines

Cc1J16 When I started thinking about CNC machines, I just wanted a computer-controlled machine that would be able to automatically drill all of the holes in the printed circuit boards that I made, for my Curve Tracer kits (see the link, above). But, the “good” commercially-available machines were priced higher than the amount that I could justify spending. So, I started thinking about what it would take to build one, myself. And, I didn’t want to build one that would cost almost as much as a commercial machine: Otherwise it might have been smarter to just BUY one, to begin with! So, I decided to add “low cost” as one of the design goals. I also expected to end up with one or more additional products to sell, as a result of this project, to (help) justify the time that I spent on it. Link.

Gundams for Sale

Gundams for Sale

Nn20050518F2A Uber-Review writes “If you’re in the market for your very own walking robot, Masaaki Nagumo has you covered. His robot, the single-seat Land Walker robot, standing 3.4 meters high and weighing 1 ton, can walk forward, backward or sideways at 1.5 kph by operating four pedals, and shoots sponge bullets from two air guns installed beside the cockpit. He says he’ll make you one for only the low price of $300,000 U.S. The price will be lowered if enough people place orders. So go ahead and convince a buddy or better yet, get his and hers”. Link.

Hospital Gets Medical Simulator Baby

Hospital Gets Medical Simulator Baby

Babysimon As Dr. Craig Kizewic worked on the infant, the heart rate began to drop and oxygen levels were declining, but quick work saved the baby. The baby was a new interactive medical simulator known as BabySIM. At 21 pounds and 28 inches in length, BabySIM has the physical characteristics of a three- to six-month old infant, but its fat little belly is stuffed full of computer parts. I wonder if there’s a less expensive design possible (it’s $54k) or an opensource BabySim project opportunity. [via] Link.

Game Boy Micro – Little Hackable Platform

Game Boy Micro – Little Hackable Platform

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Today Nintendo announced their super tiny 4 inches wide, 2 inches tall and 0.7 inches deep Game Boy Micro. While it’s not functionally different than the Game Boy SP, it’s a lot smaller and perhaps cheaper. I really like the Game Boy SP / Advance as a hackable platform, in issue 02 of MAKE (shipping now) we have an article about using GB’s as photo viewers, ebook readers, music players and home-brew code devices, the new micro will do all this and more- smaller. We like that. Link.