Robotic ornithopter in-flight
Awesome slow-mo footage of a butterfly ornithopter from the Shimoyama-Matsumoto Laboratory, University of Tokyo, Japan. [via BotJunkie and Smart Machines] Artificial butterfly wing on a butterfly-type ornithopter
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!
Situational awareness mast “Zippermast”
Wow, the situational awareness mast “Zippermast” from Geosystems is very clever! via Hizook. The situational awareness mast (or Zippermast) from Geosystems Inc. is a telescoping linear actuator that can vertically translate a robot’s sensor suite for better visibility. In this video, a Zippermast is affixed to an I-Robot Packbot…
Robot soccer over the net
A company called Robot Services Group is running i-SOBOT soccer matches over the Internet. Using free video conferencing software called ooVoo, you control one i-SOBOT against an opponent’s bot on a soccer field. Another cool service the company provides is a robot test drive, where you can try controlling various mini-humanoid type bots. This might […]
CMU Snackbot
Travis Deyle wrote in about Snackbot, an in-progress human-robot interaction project at Carnegie Mellon: Back in May 2008 it was announced that CMU professors Sara Kiesler and Jodi Forlizzi (from the HCI Institute) and Paul Rybski (from the Robotics Institute) were awarded $500k in Microsoft’s Human-Robot Interaction funding to develop a social, snack-selling robot to […]
Crabfu on Discovery Channel
Our pal I-Wei Huang, aka Crabfu, got a nice profile on the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. Congrats, man.
Give the Gift of Robot Invasion
Here’s a project I did this Christmas. It’s the “Gift of Robot Invasion” LED Christmas Tree Ornament from The Best of Instructables, Volume 1. The bot is made out of copper plumbing parts, scrap circuit board, dead transistors for hands, the bottom of a beer can (for the bot’s satellite dish) and paper clips. The […]
i-SOBOT named “Robot of the Year”
How about that? Tomy’s i-SOBOT, which the company just discontinued, was named Robot of the Year in Japan (by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) . Judges awarded this year’s Grand Prize to i-SOBOT due to its advanced technology, its high entertainment value, and its reasonable price of under 30,000 yen (around $300). […]