Hasta La Gadget!

York TechFire 225 teammates Gracie Putnam and Wren Hensgen have a common love for all things robotics, which is why they are working together on the TyranoSaucer Rex. Got to give them credit for the quirky yet lovable name, where the TyranoSaucer Rex is maneuvered via remote control, and should be worth taking a look at if you happen to have a dog who loves playing fetch, as this robot is capable of accurately launching Frisbees across a large room.

In fact, you can say that York County is the place where some of the best robot-building Frisbee throwers are bred, as this team of high-schoolers managed to earn their place in a regional robotics competition this month, as a reward for turning up first a district qualifying event in March. This ongoing robotic event is somewhat akin to a “varsity sport,” where you get your cheerleaders and fans screaming behind you, and have to think of game strategy among others. We do wonder just how far this team from York County will go, but all the best to them!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Robot Plays Rock-Scissors-Paper With Humans, Samsung Robot Comes With Siri-like Features,

I’ve never been all that good at throwing a frisbee. On occasion, I’ll get off a good shot, but it usually goes like 15 or 20 feet then peters out or takes a violent turn off course. But if one inventor gets his way, we might soon be throwing around frisbees that could fly 100 feet on a single throw.

Leonid Zaytsev’s Floating Frisbee concept would have a lightweight fan built into the middle of it, giving the fan extra loft when thrown, thus keeping it in the air longer. The design envisious a circular cutout in the middle, with a fan and a cage around it to protect your fingers when throwing and catching it. I imagine there would be some sort of circuit to kick the fan in when thrown, and it would probably need some sort of stabilization to ensure the fan doesn’t throw it way off course, and the battery would need to be very light in order to not weigh it down too much. Engineering challenges aside, it’s a cool concept, and hopefully one that will eventually make it to market. If you like the idea, head over to Quirky and comment on the Floating Frisbee.