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.
Legs o' LEGO: Pinocchio, the Amazing Bipedal Android
This Mindstorms NXT-based 'droid may be able to walk upright like a human being — but can he do the robot? Not without a torso, he can't! Better luck next time, Biomechanics Department of the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.
News: HomeMade Robot!
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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...
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.
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: 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.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
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...
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.
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: Synthetic Skin Allows Robots to Get Touchy-Feely
What feature would we most like to see in the robots of tomorrow? Why, the ability to interact with human beings without crushing them to death, of course. Happily, thanks to a new pressure-sensitive synthetic skin technology, the dream is within reach:
News: Is This All-Robot Band Better Than the Beatles?
Will the bot band be to 2017 what the boy band was to 1997? You be the judge! In the videos below, two such groups offer electro-mechanical renditions of the B-52s' "Rock Lobster" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Creator James Cochrane writes, "What do you get when you combine retro computer parts and an up and coming robot band? The Bit-52s! This idea has been simmering in my mind for the last couple of years and after many months of procrastinating it is finally complete. I was also motivat...
Some Dissembly Required: Researchers Teach Robot to Lie
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently set about creating what might aptly be described as a baby Decepticon — a small, semi-autonomous robot vehicle that purposely engages in deceptive behavior to achieve its ends (in this case, winning a game of hide and seek). Worried? You needn't be! The project also seeks to examine "the ethical ramifications of creating robot's [sic] capable of deception." Phew!
News: Uncle Sam, the All-American Robot Snake
Don't be fooled by the fancy monocle: this servo-powered serpent is as American as Apple Computers. So American, in fact, that his creators at Carnegie Mellon decided to christen him Uncle Sam. Boasting more points of articulation than a GI Joe, Sam's hobbies include crawlin' in the dirt and climbin' trees.
How To: Change the channel of the AI-01 Robot
In this video, we learn how to change the channel of the AI-01 Robot. First, you need to find the channels that are on the back panel of the robot. After you do this, turn the robot off, then turn it back on. Then, press both sides of the buttons together. After this, you will press the left button to choose the number and then press the right button to choose the team. After this, you will press both buttons together and then grab the remote. Select the channel on the remote by doing the sam...
How To: Use the Lego Mindstorms NXT software to program robots
Lego Mindstorms is a great way to take your Legos to the next level by adding in the flavor of robotics! But, with taking it up to the next level, it does get a hair tougher! And if you're having trouble working with the Mindstorms software, this great video with Patrick Norton and David Calkins goes over each step of using the software so you can have your very own robot ready to go in no time!
News: Casper, the Super Freaky Robot Ghost
Androgynous. Stumpy. Creepy. The horror movie robot, created by the notorious Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, is projected to be available for around $8,000 later this year.
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."
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: Remote Controlled Monster LEGO Robo-Bot
This LEGO Mindstorms NXT Rover Bot is a monster. Depending on the camera angle, the scale looks huge (check out the person in the background). 9 NXT's controlling 16 XL power functions motors! Amazing.
News: The Future of Pancakes
Here's another latest in robotics: researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a robot that flips pancakes. The most interesting aspect of the project is the use of kinesthetic teaching, in which the user "trains" the robot by example. The user grasps the robot's limb, and guides it through the motions the user would like it to adopt. This bot takes about 50 trials to get it, but in the end succeeds. Previously, I Want a Robo-Chef in My Kitchen.
News: Bicycle-Riding Robot Puts Pedals to the Metal
Robots have a long-standing obsession with tandem bikes. The first song ever sung by a computer? "Daisy Bell." If you don't recognize the title, you might nevertheless recognize the song's famous refrain: "But you'd look sweet/Upon the seat/Of a bicyle built for two." That was 1961. Fast forward nearly forty years and robots aren't merely singing about bicycles built for two, they're riding them. Take Joules, for example: