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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

March 19, 2015
Ringo - the great-grandson to the Photop...

We were pleased to see the Kickstarter for Ringo, the Photopopper-ish but much smarter version of our own ~17 year old design robot kit. The video showcases some pretty cool behaviors, and is easily one of those projects where we think "Jee, why didn't we do that?"

May 14, 2004
GM5 Escaps are back (for now)

Well, we've got a limited supply of GM5(b) escap gear motors available. These really sold quick last time, so get them while you can! See you at the Western Canadian Robot Games tomorrow!

May 3, 2011
Zendulums for Japan - results!

We've wrapped up our "Zendulums for Japan" support drive, and we're happy to announce we've sold 84 kits for a total of $2,396.07. A donation of $2400 is being processed to Red Cross Japan. Thanks  to all for assisting in our little effort to give some help!

July 4, 2012
Cool Link Wednesday: Nixie Chess, Makerb...

It's July 4th! That means all of our pals to the south of the border are having a grand ol' time celebrating their independence from British colonialism and extra-terrestrial invasion. So in honour of their national holiday and the fact that it's a Wednesday, we have another round of neat links to sift through. Nixie […]

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