RobotsEverywhere

July 4, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 10 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWh6MFUCZ-U]

[Spiritplumber] has been sending us updates on a promising project he’s working on called RobotsEverywhere. We’re not completely sure if that name covers the project itself, or just the name of his group that is selling robots (and giving us schematics and source code). Either way, they have some really cool stuff. The really cool part about many of the bots is that they are using Android phones as their brains and they use the same system on land, air, and water. There’s tons of information sprinkled around the site and the Wiki, take a few minutes and look around.

OLED Hack Saves Juice On Nexus One

July 2, 2010 by Mike Szczys 35 Comments

Want to really stretch the battery life on your phone? If you have an OLED display [Jeff Sharkey] may have the answer. He did some testing with his Nexus One to see if color alterations can save on current. Darker colors draw less amperage and he found that the red pixels are the most efficient. He did a little work with SurfaceFlinger, which handles the display on Android devices to make this easy, but what will you get by going red? He measured that using only the red pixels dropped the current use down to 35% of what the full color display was pulling. This reminds us of those efforts to save energy by running a black background with Google. Whether you use it or not his post is an interesting read.

Project Apex, Apad Mod

July 1, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 17 Comments

[Carnivore] tried to break as many (unofficial) records as possible when he modified his Apad/M002 into what he calls Project Apex. Record number 1: [Derek] claims this is the first Apad mod, ever. Record number 2: 8500mAh battery, giving the device a 12 hour life which is longer than any other Android slate. Record number 3: beautiful factory-looking finish. Okay, so that last one isn’t really a record, but we thought Project Apex deserved it anyway. There are a few other modifications done to the device as well; click the link or catch a video of him showing off the slate after the jump.

[Thanks Derek Hughes]

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Careful! That Gas Pedal Is A Nexus One

June 16, 2010 by Mike Szczys 13 Comments

Indeed, the gizmo above is meant to be used as a gas pedal. [Grant Skinner] came up with the idea to control slot cars using an Android phone as a gas pedal. He coded the software for the handset and a computer using Adobe AIR. Once connected, the computer is sent the accelerometer data from the phone, relaying the speed control to the slot car track with the aid of a Phidgets motor controller. See it ‘go’ after the break.

We’ve seen the Phidgets board used in several projects like the augmented vending machine and the plotter white board. What we haven’t seen is hacks that make use of AIR, a framework we looked at two years ago. If you’ve got hacks that make use of AIR we want to hear about them.

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Using IPod Docks With Droid Via An Adapter

June 16, 2010 by Mike Szczys 14 Comments

Standard connectors in portable devices would be great for the consumer, but then you wouldn’t purchase separate peripherals for ever portable you buy (lining the pockets of the companies licensing said peripherals). [Thijs] isn’t taking it lying down any longer. Realizing that the shape of the connector is one of the only things standing in the way, he built an adapter to use iPod docks with Droid. The hardware consists of a USB connector, audio jack, iPod connector, and a magnet. After working out the wiring it was just a matter of building a chassis using polymorph material. As you can see above, his expensive dock has no problem playing nicely with Droid because of his handy work.

Android Meets Arduino

June 15, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 17 Comments

This new toolkit, called “Android” meets Arduino, allows you to connect an Arduino to your device and communicate back and forth. You could trigger external events at the Arduino end when an event happens on your phone, or even trigger things on your phone side when something happens at the Arduino. We can’t wait to see the stuff people come up with beyond simple notifiers.

[via littlebirdceo]

Augmenting A Cheap Android MID

June 7, 2010 by Mike Szczys 20 Comments

We’ve been on the prowl for a low-cost Android MID that, you know, works well. We were originally excited by the Eken M001 but early reports about poor battery life, coupled with the fact that it only runs Android 1.6 soured our interest. [Carnivore] didn’t let those things turn him away, instead he modified the M001 to meet his needs. He added a USB hub and flash drive inside as well as a few additional connectors for external devices. He’s also inserted a front-facing camera and improved battery life from a 1600 mAh capacity up to 5200 mAh. This means he can now depend on 7-12 hours of use depending on the power saving features he chooses. This does come at a cost, he had to add room inside the case so he annexed a project box for the back cover. As you can see above, he did a beautiful job of making it look right, but it’s lost that thin-sexiness it once had. See [Carnivore’s] feature walk through after the break.

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