Active Robotics Posts
How To: Hack together the DIY video chat robot
Sparky is a wireless, web-based video-chat robot from the Gomi Style crew. You can learn how to make your own Autonomous Telepresence robot using spare computer parts, some old toys and a bit of custom software (that we provide at gomistyle.com). This robot is operated with a Make controller circuit board. Sparky is a retired electric wheel chair with a monitor as a head.
How To: Make a working "robot" model hand
In this four-part science tutorial, learn how to make a model of a hand that works like a real hand: with tendons that move the fingers. This is a great tool to teach kids the body's inner workings. Part 1 includes an introduction and parts 2-4 include the step-by-step instructions to contruct this learning tool.
HowTo: Build a Robot That Will Clean Your House
Cheaper (and perhaps cuter) than a maid, the simple scrub bot is easy and cheap to make: "This state of the art cleaning robot is great at polishing floors and shining glass tables (provided that you soap it up first). It also disperses small particulates evenly across your floor in such a manner that your home may look cleaner than it actually is."
How To: Make miniature robots
Check out this Make Magazine segment on building mini robots. Then you can move onto huge ones like Big Dog!
How To: Make a Reprap robot
Check out this video to learn how to make a RepStrap robot. This project entails LOTS of materials. The only way you can learn what to use is by watching.
News: Mod old cell phones into robot spiders
Arachnophilia and technosexuals rejoice. This whimsical, skittering robot takes only 5 minutes of tinkering.
HowTo: Build a Dancing Robot in Ten Minutes
Though named "Walker," this robot doesn't really ambulate so much as shimmy. Which, to tell the truth, is fine by us. Lots of gross things walk. Only cute things dance.
News: HomeMade Robot!
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News: Meet SALTO, UC Berkeley's Bushbaby-Inspired Robot with Insane Leaping Skills
It's odd to see grown humans attempting to bounce off walls doing parkour. It's another thing altogether to see a robot doing it.
News: IBM's “Watson” Supercomputer Demolishes World's Top Jeopardy Players
A testament of man vs. machine will air on February 14th, 15th, and 16th when IBM's supercomputer "Watson" is pitted against the world's fiercest Jeopardy players, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, for a chance to win a cool $1 million. It took researchers four years to build Watson, a machine mastermind the size of ten refrigerators and equipped with complex algorithms capable of decoding the complexities of the human language (no small feat). Watch below as Watson kicks ass in a practice round ...
News: LEGO Robot Plays 'Little Talks' by Of Monsters & Men on Guitar
Remember back in 2011–2012 when "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men was the bumping new single being played everywhere? Well, thanks to this robot created from a LEGO Mindstorm EV3 kit, and an acoustic guitar, you get to get the iconic "hey!" stuck in your head for the rest of 2017. You're welcome.
News: Stabilizing Bracelet Helps Artist with Parkinson's Draw Again
Having control of your basic motor functions is something most people take for granted, but for individuals with Parkinson's disease, that is not the case.
News: College Kids Hack a Coffeemaker & Amazon's Alexa into a Fun WTF Robot
Leave it to some lazy college kids to attempt to figure out a way to brew a pot of coffee without leaving the couch.
How To: Make a robot spider
Here's how to make an electric motor with some wire. It looks like a cool spider.
How To: Create teenie tiny solar insect robots
Create teenie tiny solar robots with Bre Pettis of Make Magazine. Learn to make little teeny tiny robots called beambots that are powered by the sun! One of the great things about these little solar powered bots is that you can make them from scavenged materials. Use parts from broken electronics and bring them back to life as little robots! If you are not an expert in circuits, you will need books and pdf's to supplement this video.
Meet Tanky: The Super Smart DIY Tank Robot That Can Map Its Own Surroundings
There are plenty of tank robots out there, but how many of them can recognize 3D objects and map their environment? Tanky, the tracked mobile robot, can do all that and more while rolling around on his bicycle chain treads. Created as a Master's thesis project, Tanky is made almost entirely of parts you can find at your local hardware store. It was built in two "layers" with the motors, electronics, and batteries on bottom and the processing unit, a laptop, on top. The motors came from cordle...
RoboDoc: A Kid-Friendly DIY Robot That Makes Doctor Visits a Little Less Scary
Remember going to the doctor when you were a kid? If the word 'traumatizing' comes to mind, you'll love the RoboDoc by MarkusB, a robotic doctor that makes checkups a little less scary (and a lot more fun) for kids. It all started when Markus took his 14-month-old daughter for a checkup. The finger clip that the doctor used to check her pulse terrified her, so Markus decided to build a heartbeat monitor just for kids that's much more likely to make them laugh than cry.
News: This Jet-Powered, RC Dragon Can Fly Over 100mph—And It Actually Breathes Fire!
WonderHowTo has seen its fair share of dragon-related projects, from dragon wings, to dragon kites, to less-complicated origami dragons, but we've yet to see anything quite like this. Radio-control plane builder Richard Hamel built this incredible seven-foot-long, fire-breathing dragon using a JetCat P80 turbine and a 50,000 volt stun gun, with a 2.4-gigahertz touchscreen radio controller to fly it.
News: Autonomous, Solar-Powered Fijibot Only Lives to Survive Another Day
Aside from being completely adorable, Fijibot is a completely autonomous robot that automatically seeks out light sources to charge his solar-powered battery. He's built from a 1.5 liter Fiji water bottle, packed with an Arduino Uno, 6 volt solar panel, and an Arduino Proto Shield. His other parts are all off-the-shelf gear you could grab at RadioShack, while the wheels are from a discarded RC car. Fijibot isn't a particularly useful robot, but it's still fun to watch him navigate from light ...
News: Old Roomba Vac Modified into a Robot Controlled by Google+ Hangout Users
This is OSCAR, the Overly Simplified Collaboratively Actuated Robot. He's built from an old Roomba and an Android tablet, and he's about to make Google+ a lot more interesting. The robot is controllable by users in a Google+ Hangout, allowing the audience to interactively explore OSCAR's environment via his on-board camera.
News: Robot dog prepares for world domination
What is in store for the future? Flying cars? Maybe. Dinner in a pill? Perhaps. How about 4-legged army tank robot dogs? Hell ya!
News: Meet the Human-Spined Robot, Kojiro
Kojiro the robot has muscles, tendons and a flexible spine- just like you! Combine Kojiro with the doppelganger bot and you'll have something supremely sci-fi freaky.
NextGen Terminator: Indestructible Robo-Hand Withstands a Nasty Beating
The war against machines is near, thanks to Cyberdyne... I mean... the German Aerospace Center. The DLR Hand Arm System is a terminator-like anthropomorphic appendage that functions just as a normal human hand and arm would. Only it's way more durable and can take a beating from not only a hammer, but a baseball bat. Possibly the next-gen soldier?
News: Carnivorous Furniture Eats Flies and Mice for Energy
PETA wouldn't consider James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's ingenious flypaper clock very eco-friendly, but I might beg to differ. The clock doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Instead it captures flies and converts the bodies of the dead insects into energy. Eight dead flies makes for roughly twelve days of power. Not bad.
News: Robo-Pop Singer With Human Backup Band
Careful or you may find yourself crushing on this cute little Android named HRP-4C. From the head up, the Japanese robot could easily be mistaken for one of her human backup singers. Freaky! Previously, Robot Dance Off Gets Creepy.
News: DIY Video Chat Robot Lets You Be Two Places at Once
Want to keep an eye on your home while on vacation? Terrorize your family pet while at work? A homespun telepresence robot might be just the ticket! Luckily, thanks to shrinking hardware costs and the efforts of renowned hardware hacker Johnny Chung Lee, building a physical avatar has never been easier! Lee's robot has two important parts: an iRobot Create and a lightweight netbook running Skype. Notable extras include a wide-angle lens and a plastic stand to raise the computer to tabletop he...
Bubblebot: Build Your Own Gigantic Bubble Generator
Love bubbles but hate the toil and trouble of using your own lungs to blow them? Allow us to introduce Bubblebot, the latest Arduino-powered toy to attain celebrity status on Instructables. It's not an easy project by any means—even the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur has fewer steps. But come on, it's an automated giant bubble robot! It's worth it!
News: Balloon + Coffee Grounds = Robot Hands
Inspired by Cornell's new, innovative robotic gripper (a sort of shape-shifting balloon hand), Steve Norris of Norris Labs decided to go DIY and make his own home-brewed replica at a lower cost.
News: Arabian Camels Tortured By Remote Control Robot Jockeys
In the wealthy oil man's world of Arabian camel racing, the tradition of using child jockeys has been replaced with the use of small robo-jockeys in recent years. But after finally ridding the game of the mistreatment of children, the sport is now under scrutiny again. The Dubai police have discovered a new feature illegally added to the torturous, whip-endowed robots: hidden stun guns.
News: Polar Bears Play Bloody Game of Soccer With Snowball Spycam
Blizzard Cam, a 40 mph mobile spycam on skis, spies on a group of adorable polar bears (um, minus the blood stained faces) as they devour a pile of remains. Operated remotely, Snowball Cam is released from the Blizzard if scientists detect the bears may attack the device. The decoy can roll across most terrains (even up hill), and easily distracts the bears into a game of soccer. From a BBC TV program on polar bears.
News: Self Healing Chair Picks Itself Up Off the Floor... Literally
For some reason I find this hilarious. This chair's got perseverance. Sure, he's slow, but it's worth the wait. More information at Robotic Chair.
Bacarobo 2010: Video Highlights from This Year's "Stupid Robot Cup"
Can a robot be dumber than a toaster? For the answer, look no further than Bacarobo—a yearly contest that showcases and celebrates and the world's dumbest, most adorable robots. Each year, ten robots vie for first prize. Each year, only one bot wins. Who took the title of Top Blockhead in this year's competition? That's something you'll want to see for yourself:
News: Robo-Plants Respond to Human Touch
Japanese artist and visual designer Akira Nakayasu creates robotic plants that not only respond to human touch, but anticipate human touch.
How To: Make a somersaulting robot
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a somersaulting robot. You will need: a gear box, 1.5 v DC motor, battery holder for AA, and a few gem clips. First, glue the gear box onto the battery holder and then glue the motor shaft in. Next, glue the gem clip on the pistons of the gear box. From here, add a broken eraser to the gem clips. Next, add another jumbo gem clip to the motor and you will get to play with it! This is a fun little robot to play with, enjoy using it and making it do tricks!
How To: Make a robot car
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a robot car. To start, you will need to prepare the sensors by placing in the pins and soldering. After this, you will need to connect the wires to these and solder them into the correct places. Use a map to find the correct placement for everything. After this, you will take your sensor boxes and bolt them into place on the base of the car. From here, you will need to use a band saw to cut out the cover for the car and the sides/back. Glue the sensors i...
How To: Build a simple solar rope-shimmying robot spy toy
If you want to become a great robotics engineer, then you need to start out small, and this robot is a great first-time project. It's the simplest kind of robot, with only one motor and a gear box, but it moves really interesting, capable of shimmying across a rope. You can send this rope-shimmying robot tospy on your neighbors for you (when you're too lazy to do it yourself). See how it's done!
News: Tiny Robotic Curtain Thwarts Would-Be Peeping Toms
How can a small curtain cover a window three to four times its own size? With a motor and a robot brain, that's how!
News: Child-Size BattleMech Suit Strikes Fear into Hearts of Kindergarten Teachers
Goodbye, BabyBjörn; hello, cherry-red mechanical exoskeleton! Now that 400-pound steel-clawed battle suits are available in Children's Small, what kid could possibly content him or herself with getting around by stroller?
News: Gimme, the Panhandling Robot, Wants Your Pocket Change
This panhandling robot isn't too proud to beg. In fact, it's custom-built for it. And who could refuse? Get a load of that puppy-dog eye.
News: Giant Madagascan Hissing Cockroach Pilots Robot
This project has been posted on Vimeo for the past two years, and somehow has just entered my radar now. Get this: A robot is manned by a Madagascan hissing cockroach. Each movement the roach makes (perched atop a trackball type ping-pong ball) controls the movement of the robot.