Hasta La Gadget!

Now you know you can run down to the local Home Depot and pick up a scroll saw for under 100 bucks, right? Well that didn’t stop one enterprising DIYer from building his own. Instead of using metal, this guy built his out of wood.

Japanese builder Mikiono created this scroll saw almost entirely out of wood. Pretty much everything except for the saw blade, belt, wires and motor are handmade from plywood. Even the gears are wooden. But does it work? Absolutely. You can see the saw (see what I did there?) in action in the video clip below:

While many hand tools have wooden handles on them, it seems really unusual to me that you’d build a power tool from wood. I’d be afraid that it would saw itself in half. I guess Mikiono just wanted to prove it could be done. And a fine job you have done, sir.

[via Woodgears]

About a year ago, I spotted this cool mechanical LEGO clock called the Time Twister. It was a pretty amazing build, recreating the segmented display of an LCD clock, entirely with LEGO parts. Well its builder, Hans Andersson is back with a new version – the Time Twister 2.

The updated version of the clock has a more finished look than the original, more closely mimicking the style of an LED timepiece with a light-on-dark display.

Mechanically, it looks different too, though the basic principles are the same. It’s built from LEGO blocks, Mindstorms NXT Controllers and servo mechanisms interconnected to gradually rotate and reveal segments of the digits which comprise the current time. Here, check it out in action:

Cool, no? I think so. Hans needs to figure out a way to mass-produce these – or at least sell an instruction kit along with a parts list. I would certainly love to have a clock this cool somewhere in my home or office – though the sound of the motors constantly whirring away might get on my nerves after a while. Nah, I’ll just buy some earplugs if I must.

We’ve featured a couple of cool and geeky baby strollers, but Xandon Frogget’s creation trumps them all: a stroller that can drive itself around, or let an adult or toddler steer it themselves, but still avoid obstacles. Because your baby can’t argue his way out of a ticket.

The mechanized stroller is equipped with two Kinect sensors, one facing forward and the other facing backwards. The sensors scan for surrounding obstacles and relay their scouting data to a computer, which then controls the wheelchair motors that drive the wheels. In the demo video below the computer in question is a Nook Color and the steering implement is a Wii controller on a steering wheel attachment.

You can order the other components or an entire mechanized stroller from Frogget’s website. Expect to pay $2,500-$3,500 (USD). It’s expensive, but according to Frogget the wheelchair motors can support up to 300lbs., so perhaps, when the baby – and the neighbors – are asleep, mommy or daddy can take a ride on it and imagine they’re piloting a mech.

[via Hack A Day]

Most of us weren’t born yet back in the 1950s, but it was definitely a time long before modern remote-controlled electronic playthings. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some cool toys back in the day – like this awesome old-school metal tank I spotted over on Etsy.

It’s called the Rosko Pom Pom, and this cold war-era toy tank operates using a wired remote control, which allows it to move forward and backwards and rotate the turret.

The turret even raises and lowers and makes some awesome firing sounds when activated – though the projectiles don’t actually go anywhere. See it in action in the video clip below:

Heck, that’s cooler than some of the R/C toys you can buy today. This rare collectible toy is available over on Etsy for $249.99(USD), and it’s in good condition (though it’s missing a couple of cosmetic components, and the drive mechanism can be a bit finicky). If you buy it now, you’ll also get a set of retro D-cell batteries, though there’s not a chance in hell that they still have a charge.

Advancements in biotechnology continue to amaze me. We’re rapidly approaching the point where human/cyborg combinations are becoming more and more plausible, as is evidenced by this recent accomplishment by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. This past sunday, a man wearing the first “thought-controlled bionic leg” used the limb to help him ascend 103 floors of the skyscraper formerly known as the Sears Tower.

This past Sunday, 31-year-old Zac Vawter made history by climbing countless stairs inside the iconic Chicago skyscraper, all with the help of this incredible bionic leg. This mechanical and technological marvel is controlled by Vawter’s own neurons, and was developed by the Rehabilitation Institute’s Center for Bionic Medicine, and partially-funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. You can see Zac and his amazing bionic leg in action in the video clip below:

The leg actually interacts with Zac’s nerve impulses, allowing him to climb stairs much more easily than he could with an ordinary prosthetic leg. Vawter lost his leg after a motorcycle accident back in 2009, and his trial of the leg will help him and potentially many others with disabilities to walk again.