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

May 31, 2006
Solarbotics at MAKE Faire - Proof!

See, I was actually there! Well, at least there's proof that I was. Here's an interview with Bashiba Grossman, showing off her 3D printed artwork. About 1/4 the way in, you'll see a suspicious man show up in the background. Nice hat, eh? Thanks to Floyd on the BEAM-List for pointing this out!

October 25, 2005
Pogo Pins are back!

After a long hiatus, our PP3 chisel-tip pogo pins are back! And it looks like they're here to stay, so no more drop-outs in supply. I know that we use them for robotics applications, but there's a lot of people using them for other electronics purposes. Now you can get them reliably, and in quantity, […]

December 17, 2018
Christmas DIY LED Jar Gift

Christmas DIY LED Jar Gift What is this? A Christmas Tornado? A Santa Storm? Yes... or simply even just a pleasant centerpiece (with a wee bit of catnip) to taunt the kitty with. Our staff has been putting on their elf hats, browsing the isles and creating some festive technobling-in-a-jar with by adding some LEDs […]

December 9, 2004
Harold's "Tank"

Harold Ilano built this SW2.2 / VBug inspired 5 motor walker named "Tank", and just recently announced it on the BEAM mailing list. It's a very effective and quick device - nicely done, and well worth a look-see. It still impresses me what we can do without a microcontroller...

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
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!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

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.

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