First Chess, then Jeopardy, now the Rubic’s Cube. Mike Dobson and David Gilday’s CubeStormer II Rubic’s Cube solving robot successfully beat Australian Feliks Zemdegs’ 5.66 second record by solving a cube in a mere 5.352 seconds. The feat was accomplished using four LEGO Mindstorm NXT kits controlled by a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. The Singularity is near, I tell ya.
MAKE Volume 28 hits makers’ passion for play head-on with a 28-page special section devoted to Toys and Games, including a toy “pop-pop” steamboat made from a mint tin, an R/C helicopter eye-in-the-sky, and a classic video game console. You’ll also build a gravity-powered catapult, a plush toy that interacts with objects around it, and a machine that blows giant soap bubbles. Play time is a hallmark of more intelligent species– so go have some fun!
When a battery operated device runs out of juice, most of us reach for a fresh pair of AA’s. But when his daughter’s electronic toy piano had drained its batteries, Dominik instead installed a hand-cranked dynamo to power the instrument ad infinitum. He hacked apart an Ikea flashlight to co-opt its cranked generator and installed it inside his daughter’s plaything. Now a little bit of elbow grease keeps the tunes coming while saving the environment and a little bit of money to boot.
Make: Live episode 18 featured makers in MAKE v28, the toys & games issue! Onyx Ashanti performs and talks Xbees and sensors, and Michael Colombo explains his reflective improvement to flashlight tag. David Harris made Charlie’s bear (above), originally designed for his nephew with cerebral palsy. It’s a location aware plush toy with an embedded RFID reader, speaker, Arduino and wave shield to play sounds when it interacts with objects.
We’re broadcasting shortly! Tonight’s Make: Live, our streaming show and tell, celebrates the release of MAKE v28, the toys & games issue! Learn about David Harris’ RFID teddy bear, Onyx Ashanti’s Beatjazz controllers, and Michael Colombo’s version of flashlight tag.
Tonight! The next episode of Make: Live, our streaming show and tell, is celebrating MAKE v28, all about toys & games you can make yourself. David Harris will show us his RFID teddy bear, and Beatjazz pioneer Onyx Ashanti will perform and talk with us about is wireless electronic controllers for music performance. Our intern, Michael Colombo, will also show us his variation on flashlight tag. Don’t miss it!
This gadget, shaped exactly like a ping pong paddle, allows the user to play a rousing game against an invisible opponent.
The Self Table Tennis senses how hard you are swinging and plays an appropriate volume sound to match. There are three game styles- easy and hard rally and rhythm mode. I’m still a little unclear (even after watching the video) how you win or lose points but it looks like fun to just swing the racket around and hit invisible balls around.
It looks pretty neat, but seems more like a technical challenge to me. A microcontroller and an accelerometer could have any seasoned maker heading in the right direction toward a DIY version of this. [via Craziest Gadgets]
