When you first watched the Transformers (the cartoon all those years ago), what went through your mind? Didn’t you wish that your regular ride was actually a Transformer in disguise, and he could actually help exemplify your sense of road […]
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When Lego introduced the Mindstorms EV3 earlier this year, it bundled building instructions for five “hero” models, several of which can be seen in our CES hands-on. But that complex kit of sensors, modules and bricks lends itself to endless possibilities, and Lego community members have come up with 12 more designs, three of which were unveiled today. These include a dinosaur, a guitar and a whack-a-mole-style arcade game.
From our brief hands-on, all three models seem worthy additions to the original lineup. We enjoyed the sauntering steps of the mini triceratops and the way it snaps and backs off from obstacles, the fun bloops and bleeps of the guitar, and delighted in the sheer satisfaction of bopping a popped “mole.” The latter two, particularly, are decidedly whimsical implementations compared to the usual ambling robot — and we can’t wait for Lego reveal the rest of the bonus models later this year.
Filed under: Robots
Waking up to go to work or school sucks. We all know it, and no one likes it. Except for your mean boss, he likes getting up and going to work because he’s mean. For the rest of us normal folk, getting out of bed is a chore – and if you have kids, you know firsthand that getting your kids up is an even bigger chore. This is where a cool alarm clock that’s on Kickstarter called tim-E comes in.
tim-E is an alarm clock that’s designed to dock your iPhone or iPod Touch into a robotic body. The screen of your iPhone or iPod becomes the face of the robot and it gives you several ways that you can be woken up. The device can wake you to a normal alarm in the form of buzz or using a song from your device, all the time dancing around and bobbing its head.
You can also be awakened to the weather report or the day’s traffic report. tim-E will also give you voice reminders to do things the next day before you go to sleep and can even wake you with a brainteaser to ensure you don’t fall back asleep. Of course, this is all done with a certain amount of attitude waking you with phrases like “Hello, lazybones! Time to get up!”
If you want your own robot alarm clock you’ll need to pledge $60(USD) or more. It’s definitely kind of annoying, which is exactly what you need from an alarm clock.
Despite being just a hovering orb, Portal 2′s Wheatley is arguably one of the greatest video game characters of all time. At least one of the greatest video game characters without arms or legs. Now, the disembodied, moronic sphere has a body of his own.
This awesome custom Wheatley action figure was made by Technabob fave toy hacker Kody Koala. His body was made using various parts from robot toys, while Wheatley himself started off as a keychain. Kody sculpted his portal gun and trusty companion cube from scratch. Yikes, Wheatley with a portal gun can’t possibly be a good idea.
If you think that Wheatley deserves a body of his own, open a portal over to Etsy where you can buy this epic custom action figure for $160(USD). Of course, knowing how idiotic Wheatley is, he’d probably trip over himself if he had legs.
When you retire, you have to keep busy. Otherwise life could get pretty boring. Mark Haygood retired as a Baltimore police officer after two decades and now he keeps himself busy building robots – robots made from old appliances.
His first creation is HEX, a four-foot tall self-standing robot that took four years to build. HEX has fully-functional hands, arms, and legs. And even though it isn’t completely stable, it can walk. Mark is constantly working on perfecting HEX.
HEX looks pretty well designed considering that he was made from a bunch of old appliances and toys. That definitely says something about Mark’s skill. We will have to wait and see what else Mark comes up with, but he is off to a great start with HEX.
[via Damn Geeky via Gizmodo via Botropolis]
We’ve seen software and even TV shows that teach younger kids about technology, but we haven’t really seen ready-made educational robots for that age group — and no, AIBO and Furby don’t count. Play-i, a new startup involving former Apple and Google employees, thinks it’s time that the younger set receives some truly helpful mechanical companions. The company tells AllThingsD that it’s developing robots that 5 to 8 year olds can program through mobile devices, teaching them about code in a more tangible way than a device screen would allow. While details of the robots are scarce, the team is shooting for sub-$100 prices that parents could afford: these bots may not be limited to classrooms. We’ll hopefully discover more when Play-i starts a crowdfunding campaign in the summer, although it will still be a long while before we’re picking up Junior’s First Automaton.
[Image credit: Alonso Inostrosa Psijas, Flickr]
Filed under: Robots
Source: AllThingsD
We’re no stranger to Matt Armstrong aka Monsterbrick’s brick–snapping prowess. Some of his newest creations are for the upcoming LEGO Star Wars Days that will be held at LEGOLAND California from June 15-16, 2013. Matt made these astromechs using the instructions on the official LEGO R2-D2 kit and parts from his own LEGO collection.
Matt calls this rainbow-colored astromech RU-KRAZY (the droid’s answer is yes, by the way). The black one is called the Death Star Droid R2-Pi while the pink, purple and beige mech is called R2-QT-Pi. Awwww.
Even if you can’t make it to LEGOLAND, you can still view Matt’s mechs up close on his Flickr page.
[via Tie Fighters]
Jumping robots must really be in demand I guess. RHex uses six curved leg-scoops to propel the robot into some incredible jumps. This 15-pound machine can even hoist itself up a vertical wall that’s taller than itself.
The RHex robot has a simple yet rugged design too. It can be completely submerged in water. And those legs are perfect for swimming too. The video here also shows it hop precisely to the end of a platform so that its front legs can catch the edge and launch off for a long horizontal jump over a gap.
It’s also creepy as hell too, thanks to those legs. It’s like you are watching some oversize insect that you just want to take down before it evolves to kill you. Maybe that’s just me. I’m always thinking ahead to our eventual robopocalyptic downfall. I mean, this thing can jump, swim and climb. Where the hell can you hide from it?
[via Geek]
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