Robotics Blog » Fun

Awesome Homemade Automatic Crossbow!

Dan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:45:27 +0000

This is a homemade automatic crossbow. Quite the custom built piece of machinery.

Slightly off topic, but awesome!

http://www.awhite.fsbusiness.co.uk/x_bows.html

RoboBuilder Robots do a Christmas Dance – Video

Dan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:18:01 +0000

Creepy Singing Android Heads

Dan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:26:28 +0000

These animatronic heads move their mouth with the sounds which appear to be produced by a speaker behind them. Watch the eyes, they go looking off in separate directions! Cool, but I think I’ll hold off on dropping the $75,000 the artist who made these wants to sell them for.

These three animatronic heads are part of an art piece being sold at Art Basel Miami Beach 2009 for $75,000. The heads are connected to servos behind the mold of the artist’s face that are controlled by a computer. The movements and sound are on a 15 minute loop and both sing together and uncomfortably look around the room individually.

Roomba’s Playing Pac-Man!

Dan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:28:37 +0000

Roombas and humans play real life Pac-Man! The Pac-Man is controlled remotely while the ghosts are autonomous. Positioning systems tell the robots whether where they are on the map and determine whether they are allowed to turn and where the pills are located.

It would be perfect if they made Pac-Man look more like this Pac-Man with several hundred LEDs, we wrote about earlier!

Check out the creator’s website: http://pacman.elstonj.com/
Found at [Botropolis]

BattleBots Deathmatch Videos now available on YouTube

Dan — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:27:55 +0000

The robotics death-match TV show ‘BattleBots’ launched a YouTube channel showcasing some of their best episodes of robotic destruction. Launched two weeks ago, the youtube channel “BattleBotsTV” has uploaded five of their season’s episodes episodes. While not technically robots, since they are remote controlled rather than autonomous, these ‘bots still put up a wicked cool fight.

Transformer Robot Turns From Car to Walker

Dan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:30:20 +0000

Watch this robot change from a four wheeled car to a two legged bipedal robot.

Battlebot “Ziggy” Flips and Destroys Dryer

Dan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:10:52 +0000

340 lbs and gold medal winner at the RoboGames, Ziggy throws this hunk of metal several feet in the air with its high powered wedge.

Botropolis

Controllable BristleBot Stays Within the Lines

Dan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:14:42 +0000

Remember the bristlebots? Those toothbrush and pager motor robots that buzzed around? Here’s a version that is controllable. Watch it turn around after it goes past the black line.

You can make one too.

59-foot Tall Japanese Gundam Robot Looks Menacing

Dan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:56:57 +0000

New video posted: 60ft Gundam Japanese Robot Statue Update – It’s Animated

Crazy pictures from Japan show a nearly 60ft tall life-size RX-78-2 Gundam robot. Apparently, this statue was made for the 30th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam (Thanks for the comment, Panda) and will only be up for about two months. People have indicated that this is the location of the humongous robot. Word so far is that the rocket packs are NOT operable. What a relief.

59 foot Gundam Robot in Japan

More high-res photos available here and here.

Breakdancing Robot Busts Impressive Moves

Dan — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:55:38 +0000

A simple, walking robot would be impressive enough. This robot is has a full array of breakdancing moves that the small, bipedal style robot can perform. The robot appears to be a Manoi AT01, which sells commercially in Japan for about $1500 USD.

I’m taking a guess, because I can’t read Japanese, but the breakdancing moves may not be a standard feature for the Manoi.