Hmmm, April first has come and gone, and we've missed a chance to pretend we are now switching to selling electric squids powered by rabid honey badgers on brooms. To compensate for that disappointment here's an overview of the best April first stories. Underwater Basketweaving This is a new course where students explore the ancient […]
Wednesday Cool Links: Spiderbot, Solar S...
Dave Hrynkiw
October 17, 2012
It's Wednesday! Hooray! Huzzah! We're celebrating because... Well, ok, we have nothing big to celebrate right now. So we're going to celebrate having nothing to celebrate with the traditional and only appropriate way possible... BROWSING THE INTERNET! Indeed, we've been celebrating this time-honoured tradition with steadfast dedication, and it's our pleasure to share it with all of you.
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Four-Legged Spiderbot As the website puts it, this is "a walking machine, radially symmetrical, having four legs with two degrees of freedom each, controlled through a wireless link from a hand-held controller based on two Wii Nunchucks." Very impressive articulation and range of motion. Be sure to check out the video. |
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The Almost Useless Machine A solar-powered... Reciprocating saw? Make sure you have lots of patience and a cold one to enjoy while you "work"! Seriously though, while this might not be too functional, it certainly has some great craftsmanship. |
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Solar "Death Ray": Power of 5000 suns! Mirrors. Lots of mirrors. 5800 of them, to be precise. It's pretty cool (and a LOT scary) what kind of power can be harnessed by arranging mirrors onto a fiberglass satellite dish and aligning it to the sun. |
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6 Rubens Tubes Visualizer Hrm, a flame visualization for music? SIGN ME UP. Turn it into a handy-dandy plug-in accessory for the iPod, for the best on-the-go pyrotechnics you can possibly imagine. Might want to make sure you turn it off before tucking it away in your pocket, though. |
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Solar Engineer Badge on DIY So, you think you like DIY? Well, it's time to prove your chops by completing challenges over at diy.org. They even have a Solar Engineer Badge that features a bunch of project ideas, including our Instructable for the Solar Powered Miniball. |
We were once hoping that we could instead celebrate by racing giraffes through obstacle courses, but that didn't pan out. Too bad. I was planning on decking mine out with some sweet black and white racing stripes, to make it look like a very oddly proportioned zebra.
MORE POSTS
Web Links Friday
A Batman Jacket Made With 10,000 Lego Bricks Lego and Batman rolled in one? Geek factor level 80. (Via Fashionablygeek.com) Japanese Scientists Artificially Pollinate Flowers with a Bee drone Lookit this electric thing smacking the poor lily up the face! Bees are much more gentle. Save the bees. Technology is cool, but bees are better. […]
New Inexpensive Gearmotors!
Woohoo! We're thrilled to announce that Solarbotics is the exclusive importer for these Mark Tilden-designed gearmotors. 224:1 ratio, lots of torque, modifiable - these are idea for high-torque applications like walkers and turbots. Check the "New Items" listing on the left side for details, or view them directly here: GM2 (offset) or GM3 (90 degree) […]
Friday New Product Post - New Arduino, M...
Stupid calendar! I almost wanted to congratulate everyone on surviving Friday the 13th... But the dumb calendar did not cooperate. So I have no choice but to complain. Maybe even submit a report to the calendar. Those stubborn days and their numbers, they will answer for such a misbehavior. Arduino Due $58.95 The long awaited […]
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Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.