Jan 03

DIY telepresence robot uses PrimeSense Kinect drivers for extremely awkward push-ups (video)

Posted in: diy, hack, Hacks, kinect, mod, open source, opensource, robot, Today's Chili, video
From enhancing your WoW game to putting you in Tom Hanks’s shoes, DIYers the world o’er really do seem to love Kinect. And what do we have here? Taylor Veltrop’s Veltrobot remote telepresence ‘bot uses the PrimeSense open source Kinect drivers for tracking the user’s skeleton, with a modified Kondo KHR-1HV mirroring the operator’s movements (which are received via 802.11n WiFi). Right now he is only controlling the arms, but with any luck we should be seeing complete control over all the robot’s movements soon enough. Once the thing is finalized, Veltrop plans on releasing an open source development kit. And then? That’s right: robot avatars for everyone!

Continue reading DIY telepresence robot uses PrimeSense Kinect drivers for extremely awkward push-ups (video)

DIY telepresence robot uses PrimeSense Kinect drivers for extremely awkward push-ups (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 29

Putin orders Russian federal agencies to switch to open source software, galavant topless in the out-of-doors

Posted in: Linux, Microsoft, open source, opensource, os, Today's Chili
Never one to pass up the opportunity to run a hunkitudinous (look it up!) picture of Vladimir Putin, we were thrilled to hear that the Russian Prime Minister and ex-KGB man has signed an order specifying that “federal executive bodies and agencies of the federal budget” should transition to open source software beginning in Q2 2011. That’s right — it looks like there is something, at least, to those recent rumors that the country was dissing Redmond and contemplating a national open source OS. There’s a lot more to it that appears to be of little interest unless you’re a member of the apparat, in which case you’ll probably be reading this thing in the original in Russian soon enough. As for us, we’re just curious to see how the new software will be used to bedevil dissident groups once Microsoft is out of the picture.

Putin orders Russian federal agencies to switch to open source software, galavant topless in the out-of-doors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC World, Open…  |  sourceCNews  | Email this | Comments

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Dec 22

Indamixx 2 music tablet now on sale: $699 for beta hardware

Posted in: audio, intel, Linux, maemo, meego, multitouch, Music, now available, now shipping, NowAvailable, NowShipping, on sale, OnSale, open source, opensource, ship, shipping, ships, slate, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows7

So, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that $699 is $300 less than the purported $999 price tag we had originally heard would be affixed to the Indamixx 2 slate. The bad news? It’s just a rebadged iiView M1 Touch, which can be had for around $500. That said, those who fork out the premium will get a copy of Transmission 5.0 running atop MeeGo, not to mention a 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a mini HDMI output and a 250GB hard drive. Those who’d prefer to snag a model that dual boots into Windows 7 can do so if they’re willing to part ways with $779, with both models including a mouse, free shipping and a gratis carrying case. Not exactly a bargain, but for those in desperate need of a music-centric tablet, it ain’t like you’ve got a ton of options.

Indamixx 2 music tablet now on sale: $699 for beta hardware originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 17

Android 2.3 Gingerbread’s source code now available

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, gingerbread, Google, open source, opensource, Today's Chili

Want to dig through 2.3 and see what all the fuss is about for yourself? Well, you’re in luck, because Gingerbread has just hit the Android Open Source Project’s repository, which means you can set up your machine to download the code. It’s great news for hardware companies that don’t care to get Google’s certification to include Android Market access — but it’s also great news for casual and serious hackers alike who are looking to craft some seriously wild, wacky custom ROMs. So, what are you waiting for? Get to it, folks.

[Thanks, Mike]

Update: Eager coders are being asked to “wait a few hours or a few days” before downloading to balance out the server load — and while you’re likely not interested in doing that, it’s probably in your best interest to heed the advice.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread’s source code now available originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 15

PrimeSense’s OpenNI provides the best Kinect drivers yet, from someone who would know

Posted in: hack, Hacks, kinect, open source, opensource, Today's Chili, video

We’ve been so wrapped up in Kinect hacks lately that we actually missed a Kinect non-hack that emerged last week. PrimeSense, who built the initial Project Natal reference hardware for Microsoft, has released its own open source drivers for the Kinect. PrimeSense is working with Willow Garage (best known for its open source ROS robot operating system), and Side-Kick (a motion gaming startup) through a new OpenNI organization it set up, and the trio will be combining their powers for good. The OpenNI framework will cover low-level hardware support (drivers for actual cameras and other sensors), and high-level visual tracking (turning your body into a 3D avatar that kicks ass in a virtual world). This should be a boon to an already vibrant Kinect hacking community, and if the video above is any indication, we aren’t far from Kinect-level interaction and gameplay on our lowly PCs.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PrimeSense’s OpenNI provides the best Kinect drivers yet, from someone who would know originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 08

AR.Drone gets Urbi open source robot interface drivers, tracks a red rubber ball like nobody’s business (video)

Posted in: augmented reality, AugmentedReality, hack, open source, opensource, remote control, RemoteControl, robot, robotics, Today's Chili, video
Just when we thought that Parrot’s iPhone-controlled airship couldn’t be any more of a blast, a gentleman named Psykokwak (yes, really) has been hard at work on an implementation of the URBI (Universal Robot Body Interface) for the AR.Drone. And what’s more, he’s gone and written a twenty-five line script that lets the thing to pick out — and shadow — a red rubber ball. Pretty awesome, right? You’ll need an AR.Drone of course, as well as a computer (clients are available for PC, Linux, and Mac), the interface of your choice (joystick, keyboard, whatever) and of course — for the current demonstration — a red rubber ball. For the technical nitty gritty, check out the links below. But before you do make sure you peep the demonstration video after the break.

Continue reading AR.Drone gets Urbi open source robot interface drivers, tracks a red rubber ball like nobody’s business (video)

AR.Drone gets Urbi open source robot interface drivers, tracks a red rubber ball like nobody’s business (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceUrbi Forge, Psykokwak  | Email this | Comments

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Nov 29

Neato XV-11 robot vacuum gets its very own open source LIDAR hack

Posted in: diy, hack, hands-on, household, laser, open source, opensource, robot, Robots, Today's Chili, video
There’s nothing like a little bounty to light a fire under a group of open source fanatics, is there? We saw this principle applied recently when Adafruit offered up cold, hard cash for an Open Source Kinect driver, and now one enterprising reader over at robotbox.net has gone and hacked the LIDAR unit on a Neato XV-11 robot vacuum — and won $401 for the effort. What’s this mean to you? Well, the gentleman (who goes by the nom de hack Hash79) can now read data sent from the optical ranging hardware on the vacuum to a PC. There has been a pretty enthusiastic group of hackers surrounding the device for a while now and now with a little hard work (and a $399 autonomous robot vacuum) you too can have a 360 degree scanning LIDAR with one degree accuracy and a 10Hz refresh rate. Pretty sweet, right? Video after the break.

Continue reading Neato XV-11 robot vacuum gets its very own open source LIDAR hack

Neato XV-11 robot vacuum gets its very own open source LIDAR hack originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 28

DARwIn-OP humanoid revealed, ready to open source your robotics program

Posted in: open source, opensource, robot, Today's Chili

The next version of the RoboCup-famous DARwIn bot is about ready to give the Nao a run for its money. The new DARwIn-OP from Robotis and Virginia Tech’s RoMeLa (led by Dr. Dennis Hong, who joined us on the Engadget Show earlier this year) is just about to land, and the first pictures of the finished thing have started to circulate. While the bot is designed to perform, with sensors and servos suitable for higher-end robotics, the main thrust of the design is the open source and modular nature of the hardware and software. The bot can be purchased as a product from Robotis, but the CAD files are publicly available, and its plastic parts can be fabricated by the end user to save money (you do have a 3D printer, right?). Rumor has it the robot will retail for around $8,000, around half the cost of its closed source Nao competition. The full unveil of the robot is due at the IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots a couple weeks from now.

DARwIn-OP humanoid revealed, ready to open source your robotics program originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Nov 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 27

Symbian Foundation axing websites on December 17th, source repositories available ‘upon request’

Posted in: nokia, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, symbian, Today's Chili

We’d heard that the Symbian Foundation would undergo some drastic changes as it transitions to a licensing body, and here’s number one — every official Symbian website will be shuttered on the 17th of next month. That goes for every page from symbian.org down to the Symbian Twitter and Facebook feeds, and the source code itself will be shelved. If you want access to any of it, even the databases of user-generated bug reports, you’ll have to ask the Foundation for a hard copy and pay a nominal media and shipping fee after January 31st. We’re trying to reach Symbian right now to figure out the full repercussions of this move, but assuming Nokia’s promise to keep Symbian open-source still rings true, you might want to start stashing away the repositories and setting up mirrors before the Foundation drops off the face of the web — and perhaps the Symbian crowdsource community, too.

Symbian Foundation axing websites on December 17th, source repositories available ‘upon request’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 22

Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video)

Posted in: hack, Hacks, kinect, Microsoft, mod, mods, open source, opensource, Star Wars, Today's Chili, video, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

What, you didn’t think the Kinect open source community would just take a break for the weekend, did you? Microsoft certainly wouldn’t want that, and after seeing how much shadow puppetry warmed our hearts, we wouldn’t want it either! Thankfully, someone in this world can now track a wooden stick to emulate a lightsaber in real time, bringing one classic meme that much closer to actuality (and the promised Star Wars Kinect game not even parsec closer to release). If that’s not enough, we also have a demo made that converts hand-waving to MIDI notes — which, as creator Ben X notes, puts him one step closer to Ableton Live integration — and a pretty pretty wild visual of body dysmorphic disorder (and a chubby cat) courtesy of the powerful open source Cinder library and a Vimeo user who goes by “flight404.” If those were appetizer and two-part entree, respectively, our post-meal coffee would be a pretty sharp critique on Kinect Joy Ride — where it seems, on at least one track, you can nab a bronze trophy by staying as still as humanly possible. All the footage you seek is after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video)

Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink technabob, Create Digital Music, Reddit  |  sourceYouTube (1), (2), (3), Vimeo  | Email this | Comments

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