Robotics

Maple seed-inspired flying vehicle

When we did our Alex Rider contest, one of the kids proposed a tiny spy cam built into a faux maple leaf one could launch with a slingshot. We thought it was a clever idea. Some researchers at the University of Maryland’s Dept. of Aerospace Engineering were similarly inspired by samara seed pods and created […]

Make: Robot Build project submissions

Becky’s preliminary robot build. Note the use of a sewing bobbin as an idler wheel. We’re absolutely thrilled with the response we’ve gotten to the Make: Robot Build! The participation on the Forums, Flickr, and on contestants’ personal project blogs has been so inspiring. We’ve heard from a lot of people that this project inspired […]

Gorgeous CoasterBot build

Gorgeous CoasterBot build

Spotted on the MAKE Flickr pool is this wonderful rendering of a CoasterBot, using the plastic CD spindle spacers. Other parts used include: Pololu Baby Orangutan-168 robot controller, Solarbotics GM6 gearmotors, salvaged push buttons, LiPo battery from a broken RC helicopter, Pololu ball caster, some scrap perf board, screws, nuts, and aluminum pipe cut for […]

CoasterBot experimentation vids

I love the extent to which people are… er… thinking outside the bot in pursuing ideas beyond the standard layered cake approach to CDbots. In the first vid above, YouTube member eschulma shows a folding three-CD design using one full-size CD, two mini-CDs, and two attachment points, to create a folding CD assembly. Fascinated to […]