Hasta La Gadget!

Many parts of the country are covered in a ton of snow right now. How do you get around when everything looks like the North Pole? Behold the Powerboard Gas-powered Snowboard! This strange looking vehicle combines the power of a snowmobile with the freedom of a snowboard.

It is a powerful way to navigate through winter wonderlands. It has a rugged frame and is powered by a 6-1/2 horsepower engine that effortlessly glides over snowy terrain. Its tank-like rubber track uses 1 3/4″ snow lugs and flexes as you lean in the direction you wish to go for wide, smooth turns. It will transport riders up to 250 lbs. and has a top speed of 18 mph.

It will only give you up to two hours on only 3/4-gallon of gasoline though. Too bad they can’t combine this idea with the solar-panel snowboard for some extra power. Check it out in action in the video below:

It looks like an awesome way to get around during winter, and sells for $2,500(USD) over at Hammacher Schlemmer.

[via This Is Why I’m Broke]

Some students at the LeCroy Career Technical Center have created an automated lawn mower for a national robotics competition. I say they just didn’t want to mow the lawn anymore. But no matter the reason, they have made a pretty cool lawnmower. Having it do all of the work is a nice bonus though.

This Ardumower was made from a motorized wheelchair, a push mower, an Arduino mini-computer, sensors and other parts. First they disassembled the  wheelchair, then created the metal frame and then fitted the programmable hardware that allowed them to autonomously or remotely operate it.

They used Google Maps as the coordinate locater, so that they could program the Arduino to cut grass all by itself. They have to work on obstacle avoidance next.

Or if they had about $3000 lying around, they could just go for one of these.

[via DamnGeeky]

I love flipbooks. They just have this classic and nostalgic feel to them that makes them so special, both to the creator and to the spectators of the moving art that they hold within their pages. Now bringing mechanical flipbooks to the mainstream are kinetic artists Mark Rosen and Wendy Marvel.

Mark and Wendy created a series of motorized flipbooks last year, which became such huge hits after they were released to an adoring audience. Now they’re back with their flipbooks, but this time they’re giving everyone a chance to create their own masterpieces using this unique art format through FlipBooKit. These little mechanical wonders are available in either hand-cranked or motorized versions.

FlipBooKit is currently up for funding on Kickstarter. For a minimum pledge of $43(USD), you can get your very own kit with includes a vintage-looking flipbook shell, 30 flip panels, you-print-it printer sheets, a pre-printed trotting horse animation, a single hub, and assembly tools and on-line step-by-step instructions and flipbookit creation tools. A pledge of $66 to $76 lands you one of the first of the motorized versions of the FlipBooKit, dubbed the MOTO-FLIP. (Doesn’t that sound like a phone from the 1990s? – Ed.)

They begin shipping out this December, so they’d totally make a cool Christmas gift for both budding artists and art enthusiasts.