Comments on: Maker Faire 2008: SWARM

By: kc!

kc! — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:23:35 +0000

I am SOOOO bummed I missed the swarmbots! Next time, I guess... Do they run autonomously? Not really sure.... I did however get some good video like yours for LEGENDmag TV: http://legendmag.net/thelegendonline/2008/05/14/maker-faire-2008/

By: jarrod

jarrod — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:23:13 +0000

@11
>I thought I had a fairly original idea
>when I thought of it on my own, now I
>see everyone's doing this. :/

lol thats exactly what i thought when i invented it, and then found out that it had already been done.

By: hannes

hannes — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:06:19 +0000

http://www.rotundus.se

By: starphire

starphire — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:17:45 +0000

These orbs are best appreciated at night, as seen by thousands at Burning Man last year. RGB LEDs inside the orb project colored light patterns through the meshlike frame onto the ground as they roll along.

By: Tuck

Tuck — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:16:52 +0000

I was there! Those things were scary with their noises!

By: Dosbomber

Dosbomber — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:36:09 +0000

I’m not dealing with “swarm” networked multi-bot technology, but I built a similar sphere-bot some months ago, that has the same method of locomotion. It turns not just the batteries but the whole system (motors, batteries, custom control boards) around a central axis, and leans one way or the other while moving to turn (it just leans if it isn’t moving).

I thought I had a fairly original idea when I thought of it on my own, now I see everyone’s doing this. :/

By: Keithb

Keithb — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:03:02 +0000

For some reason these remind me of a reel style mower, only spherical instead of cylindrical, scary as hell if the edges were sharpened.

By: jarrod

jarrod — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:21:03 +0000

heh, I actually made something very similar to these back in year 10 high school.
it was inside a hamster ball and it worked in exactly the same way, with batteries rotating around an axis, and a servo to make the batteries sway to steer it.

i think NASA was looking at using inflatable ball robots to explore mars, or maybe it was an independent company i can't remember

By: Apothus

Apothus — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:08:43 +0000

I have pondered that myself. Either its a Joke, everything covered is pretty much beta. Or it will somehow be improved and will be hosted inside large rolling spheres in the future!

By: max

max — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:00:42 +0000

why is hackaday still in beta

By: Eliot

Eliot — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:43:56 +0000

@binome that xkcd reminds me of this http://www.hackaday.com/2005/07/30/defcon-day-2-hamster-ball/

By: Andrew Pollack

Andrew Pollack — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:05:59 +0000

Who is number 1?
You are number 6!
I am not a number, I am a free man!

(Yeah, the remind me of the white capture bubbles from The Prisoner)

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:26:12 +0000

When I saw these things rolling around on the grass at the Makers Faire, the only thing I could think about was how to make them into lawn mowers. You know, kind of like the old push powered reel mowers. I guess you could sit on your porch and use the remote to control it. What can I say, I’m a little strange.

By: Binome

Binome — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:17:31 +0000

Totally reminds me of this xkcd
http://xkcd.com/413/

By: Abbott

Abbott — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:16:55 +0000

holy crap, its not a black and white photo!!