Here's a funky motor for you - the GM19! Slightly larger than the other metal gearhead series (GM11-14), and with a larger motor, this 35:1 beasty looks like a good contender for building mini-sumos or other small, speed-hungry robots! But be warned: It is a bit strange. The gearhead is mounted askew to the motor, […]
Wednesday Cool Links: Nook Hacking, Kerf...
Solar botics
September 27, 2012
Hey, looks like we are still being late with the Wednesday cool link posts. Our busy days at the office are filled with fighting the multiple misbehaving lasers (with other lasers), conquering fridges stuffed with food (curtsey of Solarbotics bosses) and withstanding the unexpectedly good weather (or so I've heard…). Today's link collection is random at its best, almost as if it was made by a miniature sheep grazing on a green sled dog that dreams of being a pirate... that is interested in fluorescent lamp sculptures, carrot guns, pixels and espresso machine-generated images. We're not even going to pretend to justify this assortment of links aside from the fact that they're kinda cool, so hopefully everyone can find something they can enjoy and be distracted by:
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Fluorescent Light Moon Sculpture Chinese artist Wang Yuyang constructed his own Artificial Moon using thousands of differently shaped fluorescent lights. |
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PlayStation gaming on a NOOK Simple Touch Improvements in processing power really hit home when you see an eBook reader playing PlayStation games. Sure, we’re talking about a system which launched more than 15 years ago (the original PlayStation launched way back in 1995), but this is a $99 device which seems to be playing the games at full speed! |
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Kerf Bending Patterns For all those of us who like playing with lasers! Kerf bending is a method of bending plywood by burning patterns along the desired bend. Here you can find some interesting patterns that not only work, but are visually appealing as well... And just to complete this section, another link on Laser-cut Lattice Living Hinges, with a mathematical modelling twist to it. Or torsion, I should say. |
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PIXELS by Patrick Jean Here's a clever and overall pretty impressive animation on 8-bit creatures overtaking NYC. PIXELS is Patrick Jean' latest short film, shot on location. |
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The Naked Espresso A really interesting take on a coffee ad campaign that involves hacking the espresso machine with an Arduino to output both analogue and digital signals. These signals are then converted from voltage to the relevant units and displayed through a processing application as the generative art animation. |
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Carrot Gun Improves Eyesight Just in time for your garden’s carrot harvest, Lou shows us how to make a carrot firing rifle. It’s cheap, easy, and quick. If you’ve got 15 buck and 15 minutes you can have one to call your own. |
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Mechanical Typewriter Keyboard for iPad If you like the old-time tactile quality of a classic manual typewriter, but have come to appreciate the ease of use of an iPad, you’ll dig Austin Yang’s iTypewriter mechanical typewriter keyboard. Each key is mapped to match up with the built-in iOS keyboard, so as you type, a mechanical arm tipped with a conductive pad swings out and taps the capacitive screen to render a character. |
Well I hope this post was as well-balanced as a calorie-counting vitamin-supplemented health freak diet and as lighthearted as popcorn with rainbow unicorns (hmmm, corn?) sprinkled with pink feathers… Yeah, let the random things rule, and happy (day after) Wednesday to everyone!
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Misc Tidbits, Closed for Good Friday
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Junkbots available!
We're proud to announce that we just got our shipment of 'Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels' tonight! The first 100 books will come signed by Dave Hrynkiw, and come with a free GM2 or GM3 gearmotor!
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
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Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.