How To: Make a Lego Optimus Prime head
This is a video tutorial describing how to make a lego optimus prime head. The first step is to get all of the LEGO pieces that you will need. You will need tiles, plates, connector pieces, translucent pieces, technique pieces, and a few speciality pieces. First start by taking your plate and adding 2x2 piece, then add two 1x2 tiles, one on each side. Then add a 1x2 plate. Then add two connector pieces to hold on the chin of the head. Then add the 1x1 pieces. Then add two translucent pieces. ...
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: 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: 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.
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: Mod old cell phones into robot spiders
Arachnophilia and technosexuals rejoice. This whimsical, skittering robot takes only 5 minutes of tinkering.
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...
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."
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.
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.
Sexxxy Roxxy: World's First Sex Bot (NSFW)
Toss that blow up doll aside. An interactive sex-android might be a little more...functional. Here are the specs, via TrueCompanion's Press Release (careful about clicking that link, definitely NSFW):
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: A Pet Butterfly That Lives Forever
Everybody loves butterflies. What's not to love? They're beautiful. But extremely fragile. Touch a wing, and the butterfly is immediately weakened, if not rendered completely flightless (BTW, if you happen upon this situation, we have just the HowTo for you).
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 ...
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: LEGO + Android + Robot + Rubik's Cube!
Or otherwise known as nerd nirvana. The ARM Powered Android LEGO MultiCuber steps it up a notch to the 7x7x7 rubik's cube.
News: Dangerous Robot With Arsenal of Weapons
YouTube user Paxshikai is the owner of a particularly violent little i-SOBOT. This compilation video celebrates 100 videos of his i-SOBOT and his many, many weapons:
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: Do an i-SOBOT slapping guesture with a wiimote
Control an i-SOBOT with a wiimote. This tutorial shows how to do the i-SOBOT Slapping maneuver using Robodance and the Nintendo Wii Remote with Nunchaku attachment.
How To: Take apart stepper and encoder motors
If you are into self made robotics, chances are that you have a stepper or encoder motor at same point. Bre Pettis shows you how to take apart both of these motors so that you can see what's inside.
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.
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: 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: 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: Build a robot that delivers beer
In this tutorial, we learn how to build a robot that delivers beer. Are you tired of asking your children to bring you a beer when needed? This robot will help you out in no time! Now, to do this you are going to need to make the base of the robot. This includes following the directions off of the site: ifirobotics. You can also just order the parts from there and then put it together yourself. After you put this together and have all the circuits and wires connected, tests it out! If it work...