Sep 26

Lego Robot iPad Tester Saves You Valuable Finger Energy

Posted in: Hacks, Mods and DIY, ipad 2, lego, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili

This robot is designed to test the iPad 2’s camera app in place of human fingers. Image: Pheromone Labs

There’s no better way to handle a boring, repetitive task than to let a robot do it for you.

Except, of course, if it’s a Lego robot. How much cooler can you get than that? (Answer: Not much.)

That’s exactly what Pheromone Labs did when they were tasked with manually testing the iPad 2’s camera app 10,000-15,000 times. They used a Lego Mindstorms kit to build what essentially boils down to an automated poking machine.

It works using a capacitive touch iPad stylus as a giant finger, driven by a set of motors. The finger pokes the iPad’s on-screen photo capture button over and over in what amounts to an infinite loop (so to speak). The robot setup uses a cardboard box placed on a desk with an iPad 2 secured inside, almost like a little photographic robo-cinema.

It’s a win-win situation. Developers get to work on less mundane tasks, while an unemployed robot gets put to work.

Thank goodness Pheromone Labs didn’t decide to just hire a poor intern to do this job.

The Robot (English version) from Pheromone Lab on Vimeo.

TUAW via TechCrunch


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Sep 18

Lego’s augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video)

Posted in: augmented reality, AugmentedReality, hands-on, intel, lego, Today's Chili, video

It’s not as cool as Chipzilla’s other augmented reality project, but at least this one exists out in the real world. Present at branded storefronts, the camera-based AR tech uses image recognition on Lego boxes to superimpose their brick-ladden contents in fully animated form. New at IDF was the second generation of the already existing product, which despite being functionally identical to its predecessor, has now been miniaturized thanks to second generation Core processors. Ready to see it in action? Peep the gallery below and the video after the break.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Lego’s augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video)

Lego’s augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 22

Lego Camper May Turn Children Into Hippies

Posted in: lego, Today's Chili, Toys and Games

Any still-living hippies are going to love Lego’s new VW Camper Van. Photo credit: Lego

It’s not until you actually try to build a VW Camper out of Lego that you realize it’s not as square and boxy as it seems. Still, you don’t have to worry about that, as the hard design work has been done for you. Instead, you can just drop $120 and then take care of construction when the bag of plastic bricks drops onto your front doormat.

The 1,322 piece model is a miniature version of the 1962 T1 Combi, and Lego designer John-Henry Harris has made every part of the hippy wagon as authentic as possible. An engine is squeezed into the back, the top pops open (with a custom fabric skirt never before seen in Lego), and inside you’ll find plaid curtains, a sink, a fold-down table and even a lava-lamp.

In fact, the clever, in-joke details are continue. Check the (non-embeddable) video to see Harris explaining all his little touches, along with just how he managed to squeeze in surfing and peacenik references.

This is probably my favorite Lego model in a long time, and will arrive in October, just in time for Christmas. In fact, if you know me, and are somehow reading this after October 1st, then put down you computer and go buy me one. Otherwise you might as well just go an find a new friend.

Make LEGO models, not war with a LEGO Exclusive VW Camper [Lego via Werd]

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Jul 24

Pancake-making robot is awesome, made out of LEGOs

Posted in: lego, robot, Today's Chili

Breakfast is a special meal for many of us. Sometimes we take the time to make a nice meal with eggs, bacon, French toast, or (and?) pancakes. But before we know it that Sunday morning meal is a lot of work. Problem solved! Inventor Miguel Valenzuela designed a robot that not only makes pancakes, but […]

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Jul 23

Q&A: The man behind the amazing LEGO Lord of the Rings tower tells all

Posted in: lego, Today's Chili

We’ve seen some pretty awesome LEGO creations in our time. The LEGO Star Wars Sandcrawler that took 9 months and over 10,000 pieces to make wowed us last month, but we recently came across an equally impressive and nerdy LEGO creation from one of our favorite movie and book series: Lord of the Rings. Kevin […]

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Jul 18

Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, diy, lego, sandy bridge, SandyBridge, Today's Chili
Lego Folding Farm

Sure, this Lego monstrosity isn’t as cute or agile as some other plastic brick creations we’ve seen, but can those works of snap-together art cure cancer? OK, this folding farm might not actually put an end to tumors, but it can churn out 135,000 points of crunching power per-day in IBMs World Community Grid. Inside are actually three separate PCs powered by a trio of Core i7 2600ks and a single, massive 1,200-watt power supply. But who cares about that — just look at all those bricks! About 2,000 of them, along with a few aluminum bars, make up this DIY case. And, thanks to the over-sized supply and modular design, creator Mike Schropp can easily stack another system or two on top, should it tickle his fancy. We’ll leave you with some advice from Mr. Schropp — should you ever be working on a project and unable to find exactly what you’re looking for, just stop and ask yourself, “can I use Legos?”

Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 15

Wall-E gets a LEGO Mindstorms NXT makeover, tears up the dance floor (video)

Posted in: canada, lego, mod, remote control, RemoteControl, robotics, Today's Chili, video
Alright, let’s all be upfront here. When you saw this Pixar masterpiece you caught yourself thinking, “Destruction of the Earth? Not so bad… if that means I get my own Wall-E.” It’s ok, other more robotically-adept Quebecers had the same idea. Except they managed to mix it up with a LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit and create a waste-collecting romantic of their own — sans the devastation of our world. The brainchild of Montreal-based creator Marc-André Bazergui, project w.5 incorporates six NXT bricks, 17 motors and over a thousand parts that let the lovelorn bot reanimate his motorized chassis back into our hearts. It’s an impressive feat you can watch below, but note the video has been sped up — you didn’t expect building bricks to move that fast, did you?

Continue reading Wall-E gets a LEGO Mindstorms NXT makeover, tears up the dance floor (video)

Wall-E gets a LEGO Mindstorms NXT makeover, tears up the dance floor (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 13

Google Science Fair winners announced: grilled chicken, ovarian cancer, asthma take center stage

Posted in: education, lego, Today's Chili, video

Google’s first-ever science fair came to a close yesterday, as 15 finalists, ranging in age from 13 to 18, showed off their smarts at Google HQ. Top honors went to three young ladies — score one for the girls — in three separate age groups, but there could only be one Highlander Grand Prize winner. The big win went to Shree Bose for an experiment which focused on improving treatment of ovarian cancer, following accumulated resistance to chemotherapy drugs. Lauren Hodge and Naomi Shah also took home trophies for their experiments which dealt with carcinogens in grilled chicken and reducing reliance on asthma treatment, respectively. Along with trophies built of Legos, these young brainiacs took home prizes that included lifetime subscriptions to Scientific American and big-money scholarships ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. A very long video documenting the award ceremony can be found — featuring a shocking lack of baking soda volcanoes — after the break.

Continue reading Google Science Fair winners announced: grilled chicken, ovarian cancer, asthma take center stage

Google Science Fair winners announced: grilled chicken, ovarian cancer, asthma take center stage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 12

Holy Batman and His Bloody Amazing 9,000-Brick Lego Batcave!

Posted in: lego, Today's Chili, top

I’m glad Lego genius Alex Schranz has made this 9,000-brick Lego model—which includes multiple levels, a Batmobile, security systems, elevator and everything else—of the actual Batcave I’m planning to build with 9 billion Lego bricks. More »

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Jul 04

Transformers Kre-O construction kits arrive in stores

Posted in: lego, Today's Chili, toy, Toys

In February of 2011, Hasbro announced a new addition to its line of toys. Called Kre-O, the building sets followed in the proud tradition of Lego and MegaBlocks, offering click-together assembly of all kinds of cool things. And since it’s Hasbro taking a stab at brick building toys this time, it was no surprise to […]

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