Making a robot can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s the perfect combination of creativity, engineering and problem solving. However, if you’re just getting started in robotics, it can also be overwhelming. To make things easier for those who are just starting out, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to help makers bring robots to life! From the basics of assembling your robot to software implementation, these pointers will give you everything you need to get started on your robotic adventure!
It’s not every day you get to see a demonstration of something that previously only existed in works of fiction. I’m sure we’ve all seen the clunky video of highly stylized humanoid robots like the Asimo or the eerily visceral quadruped Big Dog. Nothing will prepare you for the life like movements of Boston Dynamic’s PETMAN. The closest approximation would be the CGI animations of the robots from the 2004 blockbuster ‘I, Robot.’
Developed by the research department of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, the Spherical Flying Machine is a first of its kind remote control vehicle that can perform a vertical take off and landing and has the ability to use its surface for locomotion.
Hans Andersson, whose Tilted Twister was one of the first (if not the first) Lego Rubik’s cube solvers, created this elegantly engineered Mindstorms clock. [Via The NXT Step]
Our pals over at RoboGames are already…um… gearing up for another great robot bash-up next year and they want you to be there when the bolts burst and the wheels come flying off (’cause isn’t that what it’s really all about?). Once again they’re generously offering MAKE readers discounted advanced tickets to their 2012 games, their eighth annual international robot olympics.
Combining a double pendulum, spray paint, and motorized wheels, So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi created a Senseless Drawing Bot, which chaotically paints a gallery wall. See it in action below: [via Creative Applications] UPDATE: Check out this blog, where the artists documented the construction and testing of The Senseless Drawing Bot. More: Pendulum Pr0n Weekend […]
The box contains nothing more than a few sheets of die-cut foamcore, a dozen plastic ball joints, and instructions. But what they create, after some punching out and slotting together, are some of the coolest-looking posable robot action figures on the market today. Available in an all-white “prototype” version ripe for customization.
This latest version of Lego’s popular Mindstorms robotics kit includes a new 3-in-1 color and light sensor with LEDs; a new ball shooter; and tank treads. On the software side, an image editor now lets you convert your own images to fit the LCD display, and a sound editor records and converts sound clips, to play […]
