Hasta La Gadget!

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu today announced the launch of the designated official website for the Kibo Robot Project today, which aims at putting a communicative robot into space by 2014.

As of today the website is open for the public to enter their messages which the robot will carry into space to be read out to astronauts. Messages of encouragement and simple communication from the public around the world are aimed at boosting the emotions of the astronauts who will be living on the Japanese Experiment Module, aboard the International Space Station that will orbit earth. Messages can be submitted via twitter or email and there is a ready made logo users can download to add to their Twitter avatars also. Visitors to the site can also browse other messages of support before adding their own.

The site also links to a twitter account, @space_GAL , which will give regular updates to the projects events, and in male dominated Japan it is interesting that the creators have chosen a female figure to be the official twitter reporter. Trying to make the project more “approachable” the idea is to widen the reach of the project to demographics that wouldn’t normally be interested.

The collaboration effort between Dentsu, JAXA, University of Tokyo and Robo Garage is not only aimed at the space program however, but with the wider aim to “help solve the social problems of the future through communication”. With the growing aging society in Japan and a rise in social problems the whole project is trying to address future concerns regarding a lack of communication in a “society of singletons.”

Thanks to Plastic Pals

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While some of you may be relaxing in hammocks and grilling up burgers, robots will be massacring each other until only one robot is left standing. No, we’re not talking about some hostile robot planet somewhere, the Science Channel will be airing a special show called Killer Robots: RoboGames 2011 this Memorial Day. Hosted by […]

A number of artistically inclined robots showed up at this year’s Maker Faire, but The Drawing Machine really stood out among the competition.

Winner of a Maker Faire Editor’s Choice ribbon, Harvey Moon’s Drawing Machine takes any black and white JPEG image and transforms it into a robot-drawn work of art. The machine is controlled by custom software that runs on an Arduino, and due to a degree of randomization in the code, each piece ends up being completely unique.

Moon didn’t expect to be at Maker Faire this weekend — Make magazine invited him to attend the event just two weeks prior.

Check out the video above to find out more about how The Drawing Machine works.

The rapture has come and gone, but the Maker Faire powers on. Despite warnings of a May 21st doomsday, folks came out in droves for the annual celebration of all things DIY, and we were there to bring you the best in homespun inventions. This year’s Maker Faire was light on robots and big on corporate sponsorship. Among the giants supporting the little guys were Google, ASUS, and HP, but El Goog’s presence extended beyond its dedicated tents. The new Android ADK was big with at-home tinkerers this year, spawning a number of little robots and at least one DIY alternative.

Perhaps no other trend proved more pervasive than 3D printing, however — every time we turned around there was another MakerBot or RapMan pumping out everything from statuettes of attendees to cutesy salt shakers. There were robotic building blocks, a Heineken-themed R2-D2, DIY drones, custom keyboards, and a ton of repurposed gadgets, but it was an arena of destructo-bots, tucked away in the farthest corner of the San Mateo County Event Center, that really blew us away. We came away sunburned and bedraggled, but lucky for you, we did all the dirty work so you don’t have to. To see what made this year’s Maker Faire, hop on past the break for a video of our favorite DIY finds.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Maker Faire 2011, in pictures: Arduinos, Androids, and angry robots (video)

Maker Faire 2011, in pictures: Arduinos, Androids, and angry robots (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some emotional robots dip deep into the dark recesses of the uncanny valley, where our threshold for human mimicry resides. Emoti-bots on the other hand, manage to skip the creepy human-like pitfalls of other emo-machines, instead employing household objects to ape the most pathetic of human emotions — specifically dejection and insecurity. Sure it sounds sad, but the mechanized furniture designed by a pair of MFA students is actually quite clever. Using a hacked Roomba and an Arduino, the duo created a chair that reacts to your touch, and wanders aimlessly once your rump has disembarked. They’ve also employed Nitinol wires, a DC motor, and a proximity sensor to make a lamp that seems to tire with use. We prefer our lamps to look on the sunny side of life, but for those of you who like your fixtures forlorn, the Emoti-bots are now on display at Parsons in New York and can be found moping about in the video after the break.

Continue reading Emoti-bots turn household objects into mopey machines (video)

Emoti-bots turn household objects into mopey machines (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 06:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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