Hot Robotics Posts

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:

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).

News: Hello Emily. Goodbye Pamela Anderson.

There is little design artifice to this device. This EMILY (Emergency Integrated Lifesaving LanYard is a $3500 robot-lifeguard purchased for Malibu lifeguards. Remote-controlled and capable of 28 mph, product testing confirms that EMILY just might be smarter than David Hasselhoff and more buoyant than Pamela Anderson.

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. ...

HowTo: Take Photos in the Wild Without Getting Mauled

Robots are great for performing tasks that are otherwise too dangerous for man (e.g. dead body extraction bot). BeetleCam is a cute little bot that takes all the danger out of wild life photography. Controlled remotely from a Range Rover about 50 yards away, BeetleCam ventures where no sane photographer dares to go (at the feet of a charging elephant, say). "We thought that Elephants would be an easy subject for BeetleCam’s first outing. We were wrong… we quickly learned that Elephants are wa...

News: PAARRRTY! Robo-Drummers and Pole Dancing Stripper Bots

Artist Giles Walker's robot peep show/DJ installation piece gives us a little glimpse of what strip clubs could look like in the future (well, let's really hope not, guys). Walker also teams up with Frank Barnes and his robot drummers (second video in the gallery below, check it out - pretty sweet). Previously, Sexxxy Roxxy: World's First Sex Bot (NSFW).

How To: Make a talking robot mask using an iPhone

This video describes how to make a talking robot mask using iPhone. For that you need Reading scale, Cutter scissor, Box to fix into head, Cutter Knife, Screw Driver, Glue, Cello tape, Aluminum Foil, Pen, 2 Bottle caps, used paper and an iPhone with mouth analysis software. First take together, now take that Box and have to two parts for make it convenient to wear into head by sticking both using Cello tape, now we have to make the mouth with size of "50mm by 75mm" which will fit with iPhone’...

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: I Want a Robo-Chef in My Kitchen

This year's FOOMA International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition had a few robots I wouldn't mind hanging around my kitchen. The sushi-bot's hand is amazing... if only it could make the sushi, not just transport it. Oh well. There's always next year.

News: Robot Dance Off Gets Creepy

As November was coming to an end this year, the "6th Robo-One Gate in International Robot Exhibition 2009" dance competition took place. The contenders are just a little bit creepy, to say the least. Particularly exhibit A, Britney Spears wannabe,  "LOVE & JOY, Yuhi Kimura", by Doka Harumi.

News: Creepy Crawler Ant Robot

Wow, this robot has incredible movement. "A-Pod is an ant inspired hexapod robot with a 2 DOF abdomen (tail), a 3 DOF head with large mandibles. 6 legs with 3 DOF each. Total 25 servos. This video demonstrates body movement and mandible control... The robot are remotely controlled with a custom 2,4 GHz RC transmitter."

News: Battling Wii Soccer Robots

These soccer playing robots from TU Freiberg Robotics are programmed using Knesthetic Bootstrapping, which control the Bioloid's motions. Players can send commands to the soccer bots via Wii Remotes, and users abroad can control them directly online.  If soccer's not your game, robots can play chess, too.

News: Robot Rickshaw Chauffeurs Chinese Peasant

Wu Yulu's life story belongs in a Disney movie. The 46-year-old Chinese farmer has built 26 robots over the past 30 years, with no education beyond high school. He says he loves his robots more dearly than his own sons and rides around his village in a robot powered rickshaw.