Tag Archives: Video

Star Wars Landspeeder Ride-On Children’s Toy Modded with Jet Engine

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Because almost every mode of transportation is improved with more horsepower, inventor and YouTuber Joel Creates replaced the pathetically underpowered 12-volt motors of a children’s Star Wars Landspeeder toy with a small jet engine. And, I think I speak for every speed-lover here when I say, where was this when I was a kid? Also, where the heck was the Bigfoot Power Wheels that was on the top of my birthday list every year?

The modding included locking the back wheels in place to prevent the landspeeder from only doing donuts and adding an R/C controller so the person riding in it (or somebody else you trust with your safety) can steer. Now that looks like fun. I wish my friends did fun stuff like this on weekends. Or maybe they do, and they just don’t invite me.

I was just thinking of adding a jet engine to my nephew’s Radio Flyer wagon; now, I can show this to my sister as a proof of concept. Will she actually let me add the engine? Of course not, but that won’t stop me from telling my nephew I was going to, but his mom wouldn’t let me. I really hope he takes that into consideration while casting his ballot for World’s Greatest Uncle.

[via TechEBlog]

Robotic Dog Uses AI to Learn to Walk in Under 20 Minutes

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A group of researchers at the University of California Berkeley have trained a dog to walk on various terrain in under twenty minutes using machine learning. Using a ‘deep reinforcement’ form of artificial intelligence, the robot can quickly acclimate to traversing almost any ground cover it finds itself on. Obviously, there’s never been a better time to build a treehouse.

Using a Q-learning algorithm, the robot doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the terrain; it just immediately starts the learning process from the ground up, being rewarded for successful actions. Wait – what are they giving it, digital dog treats? How do you reward a robotic dog? I’m so confused right now. Granted, I’m confused most of the time, but right now included.

For reference, it took me a solid three years to learn how to walk. Before that, I could only crawl in reverse and get stuck under the sofa. You never heard my parents complaining, though; apparently, it made me incredibly easy to babysit.

[via TechEBlog]

Building and Riding a 297-Pound Bike Made Entirely Out of Concrete

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Apparently firm believers that no ideas are bad ideas, the YouTube channel Play To DIY constructed a bicycle almost entirely out of concrete. The behemoth bike weighs an incredible 134.5 kg (~296 lb), and actually balances and rides pretty smoothly, all things considered. Those things to consider are it being made entirely out of concrete and weighing 296 lbs, just to be clear.

I like how it doesn’t have a brake. I feel like with the momentum you could gather on a 296 lb bike headed downhill, brakes might be important. I guess maybe that’s why they decided to construct a concrete bike helmet instead. Fight fire with fire! Or, in this case, concrete with concrete.

For reference, my street bike weighs 19 pounds, so this thing is almost 16 times heavier. Wow! And it’s already hard enough to get motivated to exercise on my bike; I can’t even imagine trying to convince myself to get on this thing. But you can rest assured it would 100% end with me easily talking myself out of it and taking a nap on the sofa instead.

[via TheAwesomer]

A LEGO-Powered Water Vortex Machine

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Because there are very few things you can’t create with LEGO, YouTuber Brick Technology has constructed a collection of transparent, spherical LEGO machines capable of spinning their orbs fast enough to produce water vortices inside. How about that! I wonder what the liquid inside tastes like. My guess is water. Disappointingly, it’s almost always just colored water.

One of the LEGO Technic machines is operated by a Playstation controller, can spin the orb in any direction, and in the video creates a very impressive water vortex, as well as a water band (seen above) by spinning the orb vertically like a car tire. Centripetal force! Science! Or dark magic?

I really want one of these as a executive desk toy, that way everyone who enters my office immediately knows I’m high-level management. Granted I’m not high-level management, and the only people who come into my office are my dogs and cat, but still, maybe I can convince myself that I’m high-level management.

[via The Awesomer]

Dropping a Giant 2-Ton Thor’s Hammer on Objects from 100 Feet

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Remember that 2-ton Thor’s hammer the folks at YouTube channel Hacksmith built? Of course, you do. If you were a superhero, you would be The Memory Master. Well, now the fun-loving builders have taken that hammer and dropped it from 100 feet on various objects, including a minivan. The results are every bit as glorious as you’d expect, provided you expected very glorious.

They begin by crushing some everyday household objects like a refrigerator, dresser, and television, slowly working their way up to the big ticket items like a truck and minivan. They also nail a giant nail, destroy a kiddy pool, and wreck a cinder block castle. I only wish I’d been invited to witness the carnage.

The fun doesn’t come without its risk of serious injury, though, and the crew almost gets taken out by splintered 2 x 4’s when dropping the hammer Gallagher style on a pile of watermelons, and at one point, the decorative metal grating comes off the side of the hammer and almost hits a crew member. So yeah, if you’re going to try this yourself, definitely stand behind somebody.

Tiny Drone Swarm Navigates Bamboo Forest Autonomously

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Because the robotic apocalypse can’t come soon enough for some people, researchers at China’s Zhejiang University have programmed a swarm of small drones to navigate autonomously to avoid obstacles. In this case, those obstacles are the entirety of a bamboo forest. It’s been real, folks, but there is officially nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

All of the ten-drone army “are equipped with depth cameras, altitude sensors and a small computer, all running a custom algorithm for collision avoidance, coordination, and flight efficiency.” Wow, so not only are they flying around, not crashing into things, but they’re doing it efficiently. The future, ladies and gentlemen! Humanity doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in the devil’s butt.

The drones were allegedly developed to be utilized for aerial mapping applications, as well as conservation and disaster relief. Maybe they originally were, but all that goes out the window when they become sentient and decide the only disaster that needs relief is the planet wiped clean of humans. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a rocket to the moon to build.

[via TechEBlog]

Man Builds Custom Fish Tank Stroller to Take His Goldfish on Walks

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Taiwanese Youtuber Huang Xiaojie had a dream: a dream of taking his beloved goldfish for walks around town with him. So what did he do? He built himself a custom fish tank stroller, of course! I think we can all agree it was the logical decision and way better than just filling a backpack with water and hoping for the best.

The stroller consists of a sturdy metal chassis that holds a cylindrical acrylic tube for the fish, with an integrated filter system, oxygen pump, AND under-tank light for showing off his fish at night. How about that! Just make sure you don’t push them past any seafood restaurants and traumatize them.

I swear, the things people do for their pets. Take me, for instance – I sleep dangling off the side of a king-size bed because my two 14-pound dogs like to starfish right in the middle of it. Remember: healthy relationships are all about compromise. I just had no idea I would be the one doing all the compromising.

[via OddityCentral]

Skeletonics Kinetic-Energy Exoskeleton: Humans In Disguise

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Determined to win the costume contest at this year’s Halloween party? Look no further than the Skeletonics kinetic-energy powered exoskeleton – perfect for taking your Transformer costume to the next level. The next level being the 1st place pedestal at the costume contest, just so we’re clear. I can practically feel that $100 gift certificate to Spirit Halloween in my robotic hands!

Unlike some other exoskeletons, the Skeletonics relies on no outside power source, instead using a wearer’s kinetic energy to mirror their movements on a larger scale – including hand and finger movements like grasping. The whole thing stands approximately 9-feet tall and weighs only 88-pounds, making it easy to strap to the top of your car like you just bagged yourself a Decepticon.

The video demonstration really is impressive, considering the lack of an external power supply. Granted, the Skeletonics exoskeleton might not be capable of picking up a car or battling an alien queen like a Power Loader, but I really don’t want to be battling alien queens anyway – I just want to win a costume contest for once.

[via TechEBlog]

Carving and Build a Kinetic Whale Sculpture: A Whale of a Good Time

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Have you always dreamed of building your own wooden whale kinetic sculpture? Who hasn’t? It’s one of the dreams that unifies humanity. And thankfully, photographer and artist Sylvain Gautier documented the process in which he built this particular model, so you can follow along and build your own. Or fail horribly and wind up with a bunch of blood-stained kindling as I did.

There’s a six-and-a-half-minute short version of the build video (above) for those of you with some existing knowledge of carving and building who only need the basics to get started, but there’s also a 26-minute extended version (below) for those of you who need their hand held a little more. Honestly, I don’t even think a six-hour version could have helped me.

I absolutely adore stuff like this – I’m a huge fan of whimsy. As an added bonus, Sylvain created a 10-hour looping video (below) of him cranking the sculpture and the whale swimming. So relaxing. I’m four hours in, and it just keeps getting better and better.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

Robotic Hands Taught to Delicately Peel Bananas

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What good is a robot servant if it can’t even peel your breakfast banana without smashing it to bits? With that in mind, researchers at the University of Tokyo’s ISI Laboratory have used AI to teach a pair of robotic hands how to delicately peel bananas. What a time to be alive and not a banana!

To achieve banana peeling success, the researchers first recorded 811 minutes of humans peeling bananas, with the process divided into nine stages, “from grasping the banana to picking it up off the table with one hand, grabbing the tip in the other hand, peeling it, then moving the banana so the rest of the skin can be removed.” The how-to data was then fed to the robots, which can now successfully peel bananas without damaging the fruit a relatively unimpressive 57% of the time. Hopefully, those bananas are going into smoothies, because they certainly wouldn’t pass inspection for banana splits.

There was probably a time just years ago when scientists thought robots would never be able to peel bananas but look at us now. Welcome to the future! We may not have hoverboards, but at least we have banana-peeling robots. Just to be clear, I’m rolling my eyes right now in case you couldn’t tell.

[via Laughing Squid]