Massive 15 ton grapple controlled by a Wiimote
The guys in this video have rigged a 15 ton grapple with a 16 meter reach to be controlled by a Wiimote. The one thing to remember here is to stay at least 17 meters away when the thing is on.
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!
Simple bot with breadboard body
I love the very BEAMish practice of using the components themselves to create the bodies of your robots. Here, a standard 2-column breadboard, a battery holder, and two hacked servos create the body of the bot. The RBBB, from Modern Devices, is the brain. A Sharp IR sensor, a regular servo, some wheels, wire, and […]
Jessica’s “Field Studies”
Protozoan Flagellates from Jessica Field on Vimeo. MAKE subscriber Rob Cruickshank sent us a link to the site of Canadian artist Jessica Field. Jessica makes these wonderful, funky little robo-critters, some BEAMish, others more sophisticated, with computer-control. I like how she “programs” failures/shortcomings into her robot creations. (Wait, don’t most robots do that on their […]
Run for your lives! Its the Maker Faire beaste!
Look what happens when you go to the check out the Life Size Mousetrap…Some crazy beaste comes galumphing through the place. Yikes. Anybody got details on the build?
Eensy weensy robot picks things up
Mikey77 writes: Build a 1/20 cubic inch robot with a gripper that can pick up and move small objects. It is controlled by a Picaxe microcontroller. At this point in time, I believe this may be the world’s smallest wheeled robot with a gripper. That will no doubt change, tomorrow or next week, when someone […]
Contests on Let’s Make Robots
Let’s Make Robots is a popular site for robot hobbyists. They’ve been running two build contests on the site which are now in their finals. Rik, a community member writes: The LMR Dagu Mr. Basic Challenge invited makers to create any robot from a basic four wheel platform (provided by community sponsor Dagu Electronics). Entries […]
Brand new antique humanoids
According to a piece on BotJunkie (translating a piece on Japan’s Robot Watch), a small army of vacuum tube robots from the 50s and 60s, built by Aizawa Zirou, have been unearthed in a warehouse, many of them apparently brand new. I love the Google translation: “Were sleeping in a warehouse until it’s released by […]