About Robot

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Gadget Master in the Robot category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

Resource is the previous category.

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Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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Robot Archives

September 18, 2009

Video: Robot cyclist pulls its weight



Fancy sharing a tandem with a robot? Would be good for going up hills.

Maybe this was the thinking behind Joule the Robot, which caught my eye on Engadget today.

Continue reading "Video: Robot cyclist pulls its weight" »

October 19, 2009

Steampunk R2-D2 rusts its way into the future

R2-D2.jpgWe like the SteamPunk ethic here on Gadget Master - see the Steampunk Xbox 360, iPod charger and keyboard - but I'm not sure this one really works. R2-D2, the fictional droid from Star Wars*.

But I don't really know why. A retro vision of a fictional futurism? Hmm. It's too far removed from any reality. Past, future, or future past... Besides, I don't believe this one is really home made.

What do you think? Leave a comment below. (Thanks to BoingBoing for this one, btw)

* Trivia question: R2-D2 is one of only four characters to appear in all six Star Wars films. Which were the other three?

Continue reading "Steampunk R2-D2 rusts its way into the future" »

November 9, 2009

Robot plays Rock Band on an iPhone



Here's one to brighten up a Monday morning - it is described as an Arduino-based robot that plays Rock Band on an iPhone, its little arms hitting the drums on the display in time to the music (Blondie's Hanging On Telephone, in this case).

I think 'robot' may be stretching it, but the machine is quite neat, involving synthetic fingers (to work with the iPhone's capacitive touch screen, which is apparently expecting "a finger sized touch, from living flesh"), ambient light sensors and a Pelican case...

Continue reading "Robot plays Rock Band on an iPhone" »

November 20, 2009

Robo lamps light up your workspace

robo lamp.jpg
You've got to love these - cute looking "robolamps". Made by Croatian artist Robert Matysiak from common or garden plumbing supplies, along with what is apparently his trademark, the green lightbulb.

Thanks to PocketLint for flagging these (check out the range of different roboto styles), but there is more on Robert's Facebook page.

Continue reading "Robo lamps light up your workspace" »

January 21, 2010

Robot BigDog gets a BigBrother

Petman Concept jpg.jpg
What shall we use to fill the empty spaces?...Keep people as pets, race dogs, train rats, fill the attic with cash, bury treasure, store up leasure, but never relax, at all...
Empty Spaces, Pink Floyd (The Wall)

We like robotics on Gadget Master, but what is it with these headless robotic beings they keep building at Boston Dynamics? The robot dog was rather disturbing, and the PETMAN prototype - a torso-less robot capable of walking - seems equally creepy.

Maybe BigBrotherish is the word I'm reaching for - the device is headlined 'BigDog gets a Big Brother' on the BostonDynamics website.

Continue reading "Robot BigDog gets a BigBrother" »

April 8, 2010

Top Ten Robots You Won't Believe Exist

Toyota robot.jpgAs mentioned previously, we like robotics on Gadget Master, and here's an interesting 'Top Ten' of Real-Life Robots You Won't Believe Exist...

1. Roxxxy

2. Mahru-Z

3. Toyota's Trumpet-Playing Robot (pictured)

Continue reading "Top Ten Robots You Won't Believe Exist" »

May 17, 2010

String robot pulls on your heart

violin playing robot.jpg
Following on from the recent Top Ten Robots You Won't Believe Exist, this one caught my eye over the weekend. One for the Robot Watch category (one day, they will take over the world...).

Number #3 in that list was Toyota's trumpet playing robot, and now, make way for his violin-playing sibling.

Check out the video below of the Toyota droid playing a tradional tune at the Japanese Pavilion, in the Shanghai World Expo 2010, which is currently underway. 

Continue reading "String robot pulls on your heart" »

September 16, 2010

Swinging robot climbs like an ape

GM wallclimber blog.jpgROCR from the University of Utah climbs carpeted walls with very little effort.

The trick is a swinging action, and two claws.

The brainchild of Mechanical Engineer William Provancher, the half kilo machine is 30cm wide and can climb at more than 8m/s.

Until now, says Provancher, the prime design objective of most robots was not falling off.

Continue reading "Swinging robot climbs like an ape" »

August 11, 2010

Dare you rise to the Robotics challenge?

Arduino Duemilanove.jpg
Interested in Robotics? Like to rise to a challenge? Well, all Gadget Masters take note of the Roboteers programme at Embedded Live. Best-in-class prizes are up for grabs for robots that can pass the tests.

The programme includes two technical workshops - one on embedded Linux and one on embedded programming for robotics - to give people the basic development skills. There is also a live event, for any attendee, to come and have a go with their own robotics kits.

Continue reading "Dare you rise to the Robotics challenge?" »

August 24, 2010

Meet the Robotics Challenge (Basic) at Embedded Live

small humanoid.jpgSprint to the edge, Remember the journey, Dancing robots...

We first flagged the Roboteers programme at Embedded Live at the beginning of the month, but here is the full low-down on the Basic Level entry requirements, for all budding Robotics Masters.

As mentioned, there are three levels in the robotics challenge, where prizes will be awarded for outstanding achievements and the best in class robots: Basic (Letry Arduino-based robots, for example, see www.robotiq.co.uk), Intermediate, and Advanced.

Continue reading "Meet the Robotics Challenge (Basic) at Embedded Live" »

September 23, 2010

Robots to "Hunt The Easter Egg" at Embedded Live

lego mindstorms 175.jpgWe've already flagged the Basic-level challenges of the Roboteers programme at Embedded Live, but maybe Gadget Masters should be aiming higher. At the Intermediate-level, perhaps?

Check out the latest Embedded Live blog post, that gives full details of the tougher challenges. They centre around: "Hunt the 'Easter egg'", "Dancing Robot" and "Robot Tag"...

Continue reading "Robots to "Hunt The Easter Egg" at Embedded Live" »

March 14, 2011

Young Engineer of the Year, Gadget Master first rank!

Big Bang fair.jpgAll hail the new Young Engineer of the Year! Congratulations to one Andrew Cowan - a Gadget Master of the first order - who was named Young Engineer of the Year at the British Science Association's Big Bang Fair. This was held in London to mark the start of National Science and Engineering Week.

Andrew won the award for his Search and Rescue Robot, which was built during his A level Systems and Control coursework at Sutton Grammar School. The project took two years.

Pictured is (l-r): Kate Bellingham (engineer and television presenter), Professor Brian Cox (particle physicist and television presenter), Hannah Eastwood (Young Scientist of the Year award-winner), and Professor John Beddington (Government Chief Scientific Adviser).

Continue reading "Young Engineer of the Year, Gadget Master first rank!" »

April 13, 2011

Skeletonics build running exoskeleton

A very impressive exoskeleton project from a team of Japanese students. They are called Skeletonics and their prototype is still evolving! (The action starts 2:30 in.)



Continue reading "Skeletonics build running exoskeleton" »

April 14, 2011

LockCracker robot always finds the combination

lockcracker 1.jpg
What combination locks can resist the LockCracker robot? A group of Gadget Masters have ingeniously constructed this device as part of a student project - the four are studying Mechanical Engineering at Olin College of Engineering, and I can only take my hat off to them!

When you see the level of detail they have applied you can only applaud the application. And it is shared online via olin.edu.

How can the system tell when a lock has been opened? Basically, they attached a limit switch to the baseplate just in front of a latch connection to the pull-in solenoid. When the limit switch is pushed back far enough, it closes an open circuit and this signals that the solenoid has pulled far enough - the lock is open - and this can tell the stepper motor to stop...

First, a video of the device in lock pulling and cracking action:

Continue reading "LockCracker robot always finds the combination" »

August 15, 2011

Video: Raid of the robot swarm

Thanks to our sister site, New Scientist, for highlighting this rather sinister one - a co-ordinated raid by "eye-bots", "foot-bots", and "hand-bots" to grab a book from a high shelf.

They are many, and they work together. And they are getting more clever...

(The award-winning film is by Mauro Birattari and Rehan O'Grady)



Continue reading "Video: Raid of the robot swarm" »

October 11, 2011

Stupid Robot Championship mocks our future rulers



Do you think that robots are going to take over the world, with remorselessly efficiency and cunning, unarguable logic? Well, reassurance, of sorts, comes in the form of the Stupid Robot Championship, the next instalment of which is taking place at the end of this month...

Relax from the imminent threat by watching poor, tired, confused and smoking apologies of robotic enterprise. It is a funny video, worth a watch.

Continue reading "Stupid Robot Championship mocks our future rulers" »

November 17, 2011

PETMAN press-ups - the robotic humanoid evolves!

We like robotics on Gadget Master, but what is it with these headless robotic beings they keep building at Boston Dynamics? The robot dog was rather disturbing, and the PETMAN prototype - a torso-less robot capable of walking - is equally creepy. [Robot BigDog gets a BigBrother]

We've written about PETMAN and Boston Dynamics before, but they have released an updated video of their robotic (headless) humanoid. And it's just as compelling as it's predecessor. Watch PETMAN crouch and twist and do press ups!


Continue reading "PETMAN press-ups - the robotic humanoid evolves!" »

December 2, 2011

Robotville, livin' la vida robot



On the Culture Lab blog on our sister site, New Scientist, deputy news editor Celeste Biever decsribes the European robot exhibit currently running at the Science Museum in London.

Rob Knight tugs Eccerobot's arm to the side, and it springs back, swiping my right arm. "If that was an industrial robot, it would have broken your arm," says Knight, of The Robot Studio in Divonne-les-Bains, France. It doesn't hurt at all though - instead the robot reacts to contact with me and springs backwards.

From a distance, the life-size Eccerobot (pronounced ecky-robot) torso resembles the skinless human bodies biology textbooks use to illustrate our internal musculature and vasculature. But as you get closer you realise that this similarity has limits: what look like blood vessels are actually electric wires and ligaments, elastic bungee cords. The head, meanwhile, is a giant eyeball.

Continue reading "Robotville, livin' la vida robot" »

February 3, 2012

Robot explores, seeks and destroys!



We highlighted a neat sound-activated light system recently - How to build a whistle-activated light switch - and the Gadget Master behind it has plenty of other projects under his belt. His website is well worth exploring >>

Take for example this exploratory robot, which he developed as part of an independent-study project in Computer Engineering at the Universirty of Illinois. The basic idea for it is that the 'robot', or something similar, "could conceivably be used by SWAT teams or the military to enter buildings where bad people are and shoot/Taser them".

Check out the video, above, of the device in operation, including the robot's eye view of the test action.

Continue reading "Robot explores, seeks and destroys!" »

February 7, 2012

Create your own Terminator Arm!

robot arm 0.jpgAre you up to the challenge of creating your own Terminator Arm, complete with LED lighting effect?!

I ordered an Android IOIO board from SparkFun recently - for the current Gadget Master compo - and this tutorial on the same site caught my eye.

It's a tutorial by one "T Zero", taking us through the creation of afore mentioned robotic arm....

They begin:
Being a solder jockey, I'm not the best at programming and making things light up and blink. But, I am a wiz with a soldering iron. I enjoy making sculptures and little objects you can set at the edge of your desk to strike up a conversation. For this tutorial, I was trying to come up with the best sculpture or desk ornament - something every nerd or geek like myself would be proud to put on display. Something that didn't cost much and was a good rainy afternoon project. This project was done with trashed parts I found around the shop, and if your workstation looks anything like mine, you should be able to find these or similar parts.

Continue reading "Create your own Terminator Arm!" »