Project J.A.R.V.I.S.

April 7, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 59 Comments

[brightcove vid=76029544001&exp3=16977198001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=245991542&w=470&h=325]

Project J.A.R.V.I.S. is an attempt to create a digital life assistant, or DLA. The name comes from the version in the movie Iron Man. While the details of the build are pretty slim, you can see that he’s using a mac mini for the base with an Arduino controlled RFID reader at his door. What is really interesting is how functional he has actually made it. Watch the video on the site to see a pretty good explanation of features.

[via Gizmodo]

(the) FIRST Robotics Competition

March 30, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 37 Comments

What weighs 120 pounds, can fly at you near 20mph, score soccer balls, climb 90inch tall towers and more all while remotely controlled? If you said a robot from this years FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, competition congrats you’ve won one internet.

This past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (March 25-27 respectively) the Oklahoma FIRST regional competition took place. Once again I, HaD writer [Jakob] was lucky enough to not only attend, but compete! Check out our full breakdown after the jump. Continue reading “(the) FIRST Robotics Competition” →

Robots From Dolls

March 26, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 20 Comments

Here at Hackaday, we may be somewhat divided in our opinions of Anime and Manga. We were all pretty impressed by this robot build(translated) though. We’re not totally clear on who actually did this build, but we can see a few pictures and a video on the site. The original doll looks to be roughly 3 or 4 inches tall, judging by the Eeepc keyboard that it is standing on. We counted 7 servos stuffed into this thing with a controller board hiding in the back of its hair. You’ll have to watch the video to see most of the details. It looks like there is one in the head, one in each shoulder, both hip joints, and both feet. Though the motion at the end of the video is limited, we still think it is impressive. Creepy, but impressive.

note: the video is not embedded in the translated version. Just go to the non translated to watch it.

[thanks Francesco]

Theo Jansen: Like The Professor From Gilligan

March 24, 2010 by Mike Szczys 57 Comments

[Theo Jansen] is building lifeforms that will live and thrive on the beach. He calls them StrandBeest and uses PVC electrical conduit, plastic tubing, and lemonade bottles as building material. The many-legged creations are amazingly advanced, able to count steps, sense and flee from the water’s edge, and protect themselves from high wind. He gave a TED talk back in 2007 that we’ve embedded after the break; it’s uncanny. See examples of his creations using fans and sails to store wind energy as compressed air in the lemonade bottles, then use that pressure for locomotion. He also demonstrates a binary step counter and water sensor. Continue reading “Theo Jansen: Like The Professor From Gilligan” →

All Terrain Roomba

March 23, 2010 by Mike Szczys 16 Comments

This little rover gets around on rough terrain pretty well. [Dean Segovis] built it using parts from a Roomba. The Roomba uses wheels in conjunction with gearboxes that handle a lot of the dirty work in getting this prototype going. [Dean] grabbed four of them, as well as the motor controller board and batter, and installed them on this Rocker-bogie suspension. In the video after the break he mentions that this would be quite a good climber if the batter were relocated to the center of the body. An ultrasonic sensor adds obstacle avoidance with and Arduino taking care of the processing. We can’t wait to see future versions of the Roomba’s rough-and-tumble outdoor cousin.

Continue reading “All Terrain Roomba” →

RoBo Blower Sure To Become Stephen King Novel

March 20, 2010 by Mike Szczys 17 Comments

Snow removal ranks right up there with laundry as one of the least-enjoyed chores. [Herb Spencer] sought to automate the process while terrifying his neighbors as the same time by building a robotic snow blower, the RoBo Blower. The heavy lifting is still handled by a gas motor which propels the snow auger. Two batteries power the electrical system that takes commands from a remote control, moving the show chute and managing the navigation. He’s done what he can in the way of safety, adding a grate at the front, flashing light atop, an operator-controlled horn, and kill circuitry (to shut it down, not to kill the unsuspecting). All of this is wrapped up in a nice package, especially when compared to the snow blower push platform from last month.

Maybe next year he’ll work on making it autonomous? Take a look at the RoBo Blower clearing a driveway after the break.

Continue reading “RoBo Blower Sure To Become Stephen King Novel” →

Quad-copter Controlled With Voice Commands

March 17, 2010 by Mike Szczys 25 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nUq28utuGM]

In the video above you’ll see two of our favorite things combined, a quad-copter that is voice controlled. The robot responds to natural language so you can tell it to “take off and fly forward six feet”, rather than rely on a cryptic command set. The demonstration shows both an iPhone and a headset used as the input microphone. Language is parsed by a computer and the resulting commands sent to the four-rotor UAV.

This makes us think of the Y.T.’s robot-aided assault in Snow Crash. Perhaps our inventions strive to achieve the fiction that came before it.

[Via Bot Junkie]