Thanks to Gareth Branwyn and his 2006 Holiday Gift Guide on Street Tech our new "Herbie the Mousebot" is featured on BoingBoing. For those who don't know BoingBoing is "A Directory of Wonderful Things."
Don't even bother reading this introduction - skip on ahead and go to the first link in the list. It'll blow your mind.
Medusa -Proximity Aware Multi-Touch Tabletop This interactive surface (which is actually a version of Microsoft Surface) uses a mind-boggling 138 proximity sensors to detect people around and using the table. As far as we can tell, they're using some type of Sharp IR sensor, as well as some Phidgets interface devices. |
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The ShakerBOT - Snakeboard inspired robot This is a insanely hypnotizing wheeled robot, that travels big zig-zagging around. Apparently it was inspired by something call "Snakeboards", which I've never heard of. We have a similar wiggle cart for kids in the office, that we often like to hop on and drive between the aisles of inventory. It does not always go very well. Make sure you click through and check out the video! |
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1000 Fireflies - Electronics for 1000 Bicyclists Says the website, these are "interactive blinking LED devices outfitted with microcontrollers and radio units that allow them to mutually and observably synchronize with others, as do certain species of firefly." It's an ambitious undertaking, and the results look gorgeous. It's not too far off our own version Firefly (well, not really, but kinda). |
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Creating Illuminated 3D Objects with a Laser Cutter - Instructables Tutorial We like lasers, acrylic, 3D objects, AND lights. So needless to say, this is right up our alley. Instructables author theseeker did a great job using two-dimensional objects to create something three-dimensional. As a bonus, it even looks somewhat pixelated. The tutorial is pretty comprehensive, going all the way through the design, production, and final assembly. |
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Iscar Chip Formation - Slow Motion During Steel Cutting Solarbotics has some Sherline equipment we use for machining fixtures and the like (yeah, machine tools are cool...). We tripped over this link that shows magnified and slowed video of what it looks like when a machine tool cuts steel. Looks like putty. Hypnotic! |
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Mobile Lorm Glove - Communication Glove for Deaf-Blind Persons Some German developers have come up with a really great solution to help those that are deaf and blind to communicate via Lorm, a tactile sign language, through a glove with vibrating motors and a Bluetooth connection. It's a really ingenious use of technology to make communication more accessible for those that have multiple impaired senses. |
Hopefully there was enough neat stuff in there to keep you distracted for a little while on our way to the final stretch before the weekend.
Thanks to Gareth Branwyn and his 2006 Holiday Gift Guide on Street Tech our new "Herbie the Mousebot" is featured on BoingBoing. For those who don't know BoingBoing is "A Directory of Wonderful Things."
"What gives, where are all the newsposts this week?" Well, let me tell you. We've been running around like crazy people (which comes disturbingly easy to most of us) getting ready for the Vancouver Maker Faire, which many of our staff (including your humble poster of news) will be attending. So you'll have to hang […]
A decent website is a core of a web-centric store like ours. Back in the early days, I hand-coded HTML (yeah, go back to waybackmachine to admire that work), and what you got is what you got. Since then, we rebuilt Solarbotics.com through 3 more iterations of totally refactored hand-coded platforms, and then 2 aborted […]
HELLO EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THIS WEEK'S EDITION OF STUFF THAT'S NEW. But before we get started, how about some light-hearted entertainment, yes? Chances are you've heard of the Toronto International Film Festival. It has something to do with those fancy moving pictures that seem to be all the rage these days. You might recognize […]
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Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.