Leave it to some lazy college kids to attempt to figure out a way to brew a pot of coffee without leaving the couch. Actually, this project wasn't lazy at all—quite the opposite, in fact. Created by Ohio State University students Carter Hurd and David Frank during HackOHI/O 2016, this robot can (almost) make a mean cup of joe, and it even answers questions using Amazon's Alexa intelligent personal assistant. It also has amazing goggly eyes. What more could you want in the morning? Video: . Sadly, Hurd and Frank weren't actually able to engineer the machine to brew coffee through an Alexa... more

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. Video: . The technology used to play the guitar is all part of the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit: 1 Intelligent brick (small computer) 2 L motors 1 M motor The robot's creator, TECHNICally Possible, uploaded a second video (seen below) with more information about how it was built. It's actually pretty... more

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. Emma Lawton is a 33-year-old British graphic designer who has been living with Parkinson's for the last four years. Parkinson's is a chronic disease that causes malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain that control movement and coordination. Symptoms of Parkinson's include tremors, instability, and rigidity of the limbs. As part of the first episode of the BBC's The Big Life Fix with Simon Reeve, a series focused on pairing... more

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. University of California Berkeley's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab has created the world's most vertically agile robot—capable of jumping to unimaginable heights. Meet SALTO, the Saltatorial Locomotion Terrain Obstacle that can jump up to 1 meter high from stand still, and do it faster than any other robot out there. Video: . The engineers behind SALTO drew inspiration from the galago, a small, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. These animals, also called thick-tailed... more

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 cordless drills, and the treads are made of bicycle chains and skateboard wheels. The suspension also looks... more

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. The RoboDoc has a heartbeat monitor sensor for its body and a cute LED face, inspired by the Tengu that reacts to sound... more

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. Video: . Because of the turbine, the air that comes out of the dragon can reach 500mph and 1,400 degrees, so to keep everything from melting, he made a double-walled stainless steel exhaust. The... more

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 source to light source trying desperately to stay alive. Video: . If you're interested in making your... more

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. Video: . Through a web server on the tablet, and a custom Google+ Hangout, users in the group can enter commands into a queue, giving everyone a turn to control the curious robot. Visit the creator's website to learn more, or pick up his code to give it a try yourself... more

iRobot released their new soft blob morphing robot this past Tuesday. The amazing shape-shifter has the ability to squeeze through tiny crevices. From IEEE Spectrum: "Researchers from iRobot and the University of Chicago discussed their palm-sized soft robot, known as a chemical robot, or chembot, at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems yesterday. It's 'the first demonstration of a completely soft, mobile robot using jamming as an enabling technology,' they write in a paper presented at the conference.  The concept of "'jamming skin enabled locomotion' is... more

Check out this Make Magazine segment on building mini robots. Then you can move onto huge ones like Big Dog! John Park builds some lively and inexpensive miniature robots. Starting with a simple vibrabot made from a scrub brush, John assembles a solar junkbot and a slightly more complex beetlebot, which has paper clip ‘feelers’ attached to switches that allow it to respond to its environment. All it takes are a few common electronic components and some everyday objects and you can make an entertaining robot all your own.... more

Arachnophilia and technosexuals rejoice. This whimsical, skittering robot takes only 5 minutes of tinkering. This simple toy is made possible with a bit of solder, AAA battery, copper wire and an old mobile phone's vibrating motor. Like the EvilMadScientist's Bristlebot, this SpiderBot is the creation of a fellow DIY mogul, BangBang007. Bang is the same guy who delivered great HowTo's like the bottle cap cotton candy machine and mini airplane. Mod together a Spider Bot for fun or as a tribute to the recent robotic spider infestations. Make a robot spider.... more

Here's how to make an electric motor with some wire. It looks like a cool spider.... more

Herbie the Mousebot is a very quick, easy-to-build, light-chasing robot kit, perfect for beginners. This little robot is so quick, you have to run to keep up with him! This is from make magazine. MAKE brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. This is a magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.... more

This is a three part video on how to make a swashbot robot. Check it out! Part 1 of 3 - How to Build a Swashbot robot. Part 2 of 3 - How to Build a Swashbot robot. Part 3 of 3 - How to Build a Swashbot robot.... more

Mousey the junk bot is a light sensing robot made out of an old computer mouse. Bre Pettis of Make Magazine goes over how the pieces are installed and talks about some mistakes that he wishes he could have avoided. This project requires a drill, a dremel, and soldering skills.... more

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.... more