Month: April 2010

Modkit at Cambridge Mini Maker Faire

Ed Baafi has been working up Modkit, a great new interface that combines the language Scratch with the ability to write programs for the Arduino. Like Scratch, Modkit provides the user with clickable and expandable code blocks. When you have the program the way you want it, you send it down to your Arduino board and test it out. All those fussy semicolons and syntax are handled automatically, no typing required.

Time capsule gallery

Time capsule gallery

WebUrbanist has an interesting gallery of time capsules old and new. The prize for most ambitious “expiration date” goes to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway–WU claims barley seed samples interred there may remain viable for as long as 20,000 years. For time capsule enthusiasts, the germane Wikimedia Commons Category also makes for interesting browsing. [Thanks, Billy Baque!]

Tentacle robot!

These Doc-Ock-like robotic tentacles by German tech firm Festo are given the fully cheesy industrial film treatment, but there is tons of cool here as well. For starters, the tentacles are covered in touch sensors (or something similar) and can be manually guided. The project is a continuation of Festo’s biology-inspired robots like the fun […]