$2000 Homemade Airplane
The romantic and makery allure of building and flying your own airplane.
Transportation
“Low-Impact Vehicles” grant program
This is rather last minute (the deadline is 5pm PST Monday), but it was just sent to us and we thought some of you might find it interesting: Seattle, WA + aLIVe: a Low-Impact Vehicle exhibition 4Culture is seeking ideas that will inspire and engage the broader community in a conversation about transportation. This opportunity […]
Measuring alternator current with a Hall Effect Sensor
Josh from imsolidstate built this circuit to answer the age old question,
how much electric current does a truck really use?
Awesome wall-climbing robots, including a “snail”
Roboticists at Israel’s Ben Gurion University, led by Dr. Amir Shapiro, have posted a cool video on YouTube showing four of their wall-climbing bot designs in action:
First, a magnetic climber that has compliant magnetic wheels and is capable to climb on ferromagnetic surfaces. This robot can be used for inspection of ship hull or bridges. Second, is a Snail inspired wall climbing robot capable of climbing on non metallic surfaces using hot melt glue. The robot secretes the adhesive at the front and peels off the track from the wall at the bottom leaving a trail behind just like the snail does. Third, is a robot that uses sticky wheels in order to attach itself to the wall. It simply has 3Ms sticky tape on the wheels. It can climb on smooth surfaces like glass. Fourth, is a four legged wall climbing robot for climbing on rough surfaces. It has 12 claws made of fishing hooks mounted on each footpad, and it climbs like cat or other rodents.
I think the second bot, the “snail” one, is my favorite. It starts around 0:30. [via Bot Junkie]
Anamorphic parking garage signage
The positive response to my earlier anamorphic Pac-Man post led me to dig up this oldie-but-goodie from Boing Boing. This “UP” signage is only one of several anamorphic signs from The Eureka Tower Carpark in Melbourne, Australia. The anamorphic projections, designed by Axel Peemöller, only read properly when viewed from the correct angle.
Got a parking spot for a discounted spaceship?
The schedule for transferring the orbiters may be six months earlier than originally anticipated. NASA also desires to make selections a year before receipt of the orbiters, so recipient organizations will have sufficient time to conduct any fundraising activities necessary to support preparation and ferry costs.
NASA is planning to transfer space shuttle Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum. Shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis will be available for placement no earlier than July, 2011.
Where would you like to see the Space Shuttles end up? Check out the RFI for specifics.
Fordson Snow Machine handles drifts with ease
Here’s a cool video demonstrating the Fordson Snow Machine, a 1920’s screw-propelled vehicle. I’m just glad it doesn’t snow that much where I live!
