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 24, 2008
"Little Drum Machine"

First of all, let me apologized for the delay in getting any posts up lately. For those who may not know, Solarbotics Ltd. purchased HVW Technologies just over a year ago. This past year has gone by very quickly, and I've had to put down the soldering iron, and sit in front of a keyboard […]

October 16, 2004
Sumovore Captures 1st at NAIT

From the BEAM mailing list, we're happy to report that Tom Gray managed to win 1st at the NAIT robotics challenge in Edmonton!: "Thanks again to all who endured my wails and made helpful suggestions earlier this year when I couldn't get my BS2 brained Sumovore to run. " "Grant M. of Solarbotics finally traced […]

October 16, 2012
New Product Friday: Cables, Adapters, Ju...

Well, I'm officially out of words, and again reverting to non-verbal expression.  I already tried to interpretively dance the new product post before. That leaves me completely out of options here. So how about I sleep interpretively? Or breathe... Now, that's just plain weird. Better I sleepwalk then: 4-conductor, 20AWG ribbon cable (Blue, Green, Yellow, […]

June 11, 2014
Wednesday Links: Marble Clock, Robot Arm...

It's the summer! Or something somewhat similar... And this is the summer issue of the new links. Not the last one, of course. Mechanical Ball Clock Wood? And marbles? And it's a clock?! This needs to be shown! (Via Dangerous Prototypes) Magnetic Sand Hourglass Don't we all love things to fidget with? This one will […]

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.