Hasta La Gadget!

It’s sort of like Burning Man meets CES, meets a giant rideable robotic spider. eatART’s eight-legged, 1,600 metal arachnid made the trip from Vancouver in order to cruise around the grounds of the Las Vegas Convention Center — and thankfully we had a great view from our CES trailer. The big bug has been kicking around since 2006, but this is its first trip to the Consumer Electronic Show. We’d tell you more, but it’s probably best to just watch the thing in action after the break.

Continue reading eatART’s Mondo Spider cruises around CES 2013 (video)

Filed under: Robots

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Source: eatART

There’s no doubt that Samsung’s holding its juiciest bits for the stage in Vegas, but the company has been letting a few items slip on by, with an update to its robotic vacuum line representing the latest pre-CES tease. The Smart Tango Corner Clean maintains a traditional circular design, but includes the “world’s very first pop-out brush,” which enables the bot to whip debris out of corners and otherwise inaccessible spots along its mapped-out path. On the navigation front, the new cleaner appears to include Samsung’s camera-equipped Visionary Mapping System, with a front-mounted lens. There’s also a built-in LCD for programming and error code readouts, along with a handful of controls on the top and a standard removable dust bin in the rear. There’s no hint of pricing or availability — or even a model number to speak of — but if you’re in the market for an autonomous vac, you might as well hold out on your purchase for one more week.

Filed under: Household, Samsung

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Source: Samsung Tomorrow (Flickr)

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Remote-controlled cameras are nothing new — heck, some even ride atop robotic vacuums — but this Android smartphone-powered device delivers quite a bit of versatility in a petite package with a reasonable price tag to boot. Botiful, a “social telepresence robot,” serves as a roving platform for your Android smartphone. You can move the handset (and its front-facing camera) up and down as it speeds along any flat surface, responding to commands from someone on the other end of a Skype video chat. Once you connect the device to your Android phone through Bluetooth or USB, you can control its direction from a pop-up window within Skype, letting you position Botiful however you see fit. If your Android phone doesn’t have a front-facing camera, you can flip it around to use the rear shooter — of course, you won’t be able to see the display in this configuration, so it won’t be ideal for two-way chats. Naturally, this makes the duo a natural choice for surveillance and baby monitoring, but it can also be used to provide a more immersive experience during conference calls or for sending back video from locations that aren’t easily accessible, such as the undercarriage of a car.

Designed in a garage in California (no, really), Botiful is already functional, with working software as well. The current configuration requires Skype for control, though an SDK will allow developers to create other control apps for the device — and who knows, the seemingly capable inventor could release another tool of her own before it’s set to hit production later this year. With much of the design already completed, the project sponsor is turning to Kickstarter to raise the funds necessary to launch Botiful to production — the device could ship as soon as November if it reaches a $90,000 goal before August 22nd. Available in white, blue or red, the remote-controlled rig is currently only compatible with Android, though iOS support may come if funding exceeds a $100k threshold. There’s still more than three weeks to go to make your pledge, with a limited number of pre-order slots available for $199 (retail pricing is expected to come in at $299). Hit up the source link below to show your support.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Botiful telepresence robot for Android (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Robots

Insert Coin: Botiful telepresence robot for Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t unwind without the aid of open spaces? Skippy the robot might be able to help you out. The aptly named bot lets you remotely skip stones across an Idaho pond using a simple web interface. After waiting for your turn in a virtual queue, the machine lets you adjust its aim, tweak the amount of force behind the pitch and dispatch a rock. Best of all, your stone jumping exploits are automatically recorded, letting you show off your skipping prowess. Devised as a way to raise awareness for Idaho’s Sun Valley resort area during the summer months, the mechanical projectile chucker seems to be arduino-powered, and operates only during daytime hours. Check out the source to start pelting pebbles, or venture past the break for two short videos of the contraption in action.

Continue reading Browser-controlled robot lets you skip stones remotely, mentally escape the concrete jungle

Filed under: Robots, Internet

Browser-controlled robot lets you skip stones remotely, mentally escape the concrete jungle originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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