robot

993 Articles

Robotic Platform Is Open Sourced And User Friendly

September 26, 2022 by 9 Comments

Having a 3D printer or a CNC machine available for projects is almost like magic. Designing parts in software and having them appear on the workbench is definitely a luxury. But for a lot of us, these tools aren’t easily available and projects that use them can be out-of-reach. That’s why one of the major design goals of this robotics platform was to use as many off-the-shelf components as possible.

The robot is called the OpenScout and, as its name implies, intends to be a fully open-source robotics platform for a wide range of use cases. It uses readily-available aluminum extrusion as a frame, which bolts together without any other specialized tools like welders. The body of the robot is articulating, helping it navigate uneven terrain outdoors. The specifications also call for using an Arduino to drive the robot, although there is plenty of space in the robot body to house any robotics platform you happen to have on hand.

For anyone looking to get right into the useful work of what robots can do, rather than spending time building up a platform from scratch, this is an excellent project. It’s straightforward and easy to build without many specialized tools. The unique articulating body design should make it effective in plenty of environments. If you do have a 3D printer, though, that opens up a lot of options for robotics platforms.

Robots Chase Down Balls In Fun Outdoor Game

September 22, 2022 by 1 Comment

Art installations aren’t always about static sculpture or pure aesthetics. In the case of Operation Kiba, they can be fun games for everyone to enjoy.

The aim of Operation Kiba is for the players to collect all the “balls” on the playing field, which are intended to represent scoops of ice cream. Collecting the balls is done via robot. Each player is ostensibly tasked with collecting one color of ball or the other, but players often decide to work together in harmony instead. The balls are released at the start of the game by tipping over a big bowl. This is half the fun, and is achieved by tugging a string which upends the vessel and scatters the balls.

The remote-control robots themselves come from an earlier art installation the group built called Bubble Blast. They’re built using a 3D printed chassis, with wheels on each side driven by DC gear motors. With tank-style steering, they can rotate on the spot, providing good maneuverability. An Arduino Nano runs the show, receiving commands over a 433 MHz radio link. Power is via DeWalt cordless drill batteries, and the robots are controlled via arcade sticks. They’re color-coded to match the balls in the game.

As far as art installations go, it may not be fancy or pretentious, but it certainly looks like a lot of fun. We’re sure it could eventually guide many players towards the exciting world of antweight combat robotics. Video after the break.

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Hackaday Links: September 18, 2022

September 18, 2022 by 21 Comments

We always love when people take the trouble to show information in new, creative ways — after all, there’s a reason that r/dataisbeautiful exists. But we were particularly taken by this version of the periodic table of the elements, distorted to represent the relative abundance on Earth of the 90 elements that make up almost everything. The table is also color-coded to indicate basically how fast we’re using each element relative to its abundance. The chart also indicates which elements are “conflict resources,” basically stuff people fight over, and which elements go into making smartphones. That last bit we thought was incomplete; we’d have sworn at least some boron would be somewhere in a phone. Still, it’s an interesting way to look at the elements, and reminds us of another way to enumerate the elements.

It’s wildfire season in the western part of North America again, and while this year hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as last year — so far — there’s still a lot of activity in our neck of the woods. And wouldn’t you know it, some people seem to feel like a wildfire is a perfect time to put up a drone. It hardly seems necessary to say that this is A Really Bad Idea™, but for some reason, people still keep doing it. Don’t misunderstand — we absolutely get how cool it is to see firefighting aircraft do their thing. The skill these pilots show as they maneuver their planes, which are sometimes as large as passenger jets, within a hundred meters of the treetops is breathtaking. But operating a drone in the same airspace is just stupid. Not only is it likely to get you in trouble with the law, but there’s a fair chance that the people whose property and lives are being saved by these heroic pilots won’t look kindly on your antics.

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Robot: Will Draw For Food

September 14, 2022 by 2 Comments

Biological systems often figure out the best ways to get what they need to survive. Now a robot created by researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Imperial College London, and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign can make the same claim. The robot operates in front of a plate that has electrical terminals on one end and various obstacles between those terminals and the robot.

The robot can pick up and rearrange some of the items on the plate and then draws paths to the terminals using conductive ink. The effect is the robot gets to “eat” if it solves the connection puzzle.

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Robotic Surgeons Are Showing Hints Of One Day Outperforming Humans

September 12, 2022 by 31 Comments

When it comes to fields that are considered the most complex of human endeavours, the most typically cited are those of rocket science and brain surgery. Indeed, to become a surgeon is to qualify in a complex, ever-changing, and high-performance field, with a pay scale and respect to match.

The tools of surgery have changed over time, with robotic assistants becoming commonplace in recent decades. Now the latest robots are starting to outperform human surgeons in some ways. Let’s look at how that’s been achieved, and what it means for the future of medicine. Continue reading “Robotic Surgeons Are Showing Hints Of One Day Outperforming Humans” →

Hackaday Prize 2022: A Sun-Chasing Robot

August 31, 2022 by 5 Comments

There’s plenty of power to be had from the sun, but you need to be out of the shade to receive it. [Dennis] built a robot by the name of Sun Chaser that has the smarts to go where the sun is shining.

Sun Chaser is essentially a robotic solar panel, tasked with filling up its batteries as much as possible. It can then be used as a power supply for campsites or other remote areas, and used to charge devices as required.

A Raspberry Pi runs the show, paired with a Squid motor controller to run the drive system. Sun Chaser has a motorized solar panel onboard which can track the sun for maximum output, with the aid of six photoresistors to guide the positioning. A camera is used to image the area around Sun Chaser, too, and processing is used to identify sunny regions which will provide the most energy.

Even outside of its useful applications, the idea of having a robot that can run around and keep itself juiced up is a fun one. Solar power gives a robot a greater sense of autonomy, after all. This author has experimented in this field to great enjoyment, too. Video after the break.

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I’m Your Overlord, May I Take Your Order?

August 18, 2022 by 44 Comments

If you’ve ever been at an eatery and thought the server was a bit robotic, you should try San Francisco’s Mezli. The restaurant claims to be the first one to be totally automated. There are no humans in there. The restaurant serves Mediterranean grain bowls. Honestly, it is hard to decide if Mezli is a restaurant or a very sophisticated vending machine.

Then again, that makes sense. Only in science fiction do you have androids flying spaceships. In real life, the robot probably is the spaceship. Obviously, someone is still loading ingredients into the machine — some precooked — but that’s about it. Some restaurants let you order from a computer while a human makes your food and we’ve seen a few automated chefs, but nothing with this degree of mechanization.

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