Tag Archives: machines

This Tiny Robot Bug Swims and Walk Underwater

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Harvard University researchers have been working on a miniature robot called the Harvard Ambulatory Microbot (HAMR) for a while now. The insect-inspired, waterproo microbot recently received an upgrade, and now it can swim and walk underwater – on land, too. While it’s not the most graceful looking robot on those huge foot pads, it is quite capable.

 

The foot pads use surface tension and related buoyancy to float on the water, while electrowetting (reducing the contact angle between a material and a water surface under a voltage) helps it break through the water and also walk on the ground below. Plus, its circuits are coated in Parylene to prevent them from shorting out.

When it’s time to return to land, HAMR overcomes the surface tension force with a stiffened transmission and soft pads that redistribute the friction while it climbs out of the water. The robot weights only 1.65-grams. If it were larger it would have a hard time staying above-water. This guy may be tiny, but he can even haul cargo in the form of a 1.44-gram payload.

They still have to find a way to return HAMR to land without a ramp, but I’m sure they will accomplish that soon enough. The team is thinking about a jumping mechanism or gecko-like adhesives so it could climb walls too. I’m sure they have some other big ideas for this tiny robot down the road as well. Stay tuned.

[via Engadget]

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LEGO Roomba Sweeps Bricks off the Floor

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You know you’re a LEGO fanatic when you have to build a sweeper out of LEGO just to clean all of the other LEGO pieces off your floor. The LEGO Rumba is just such a device. It’s part street sweeper, part dump truck, all awesome.

The Brick Wall’s sweeper is made of LEGO Technic pieces and it’s designed to clean up their room so they don’t step on any of those pointy bricks. It has an arm with a claw that can be remotely operated to pick up larger pieces, and a collection bin that gets emptied dump truck style when it’s full.

It seems to work pretty well, and that arm can pick up some very large pieces. If anyone out there is thinking about building a large LEGO city, you’re gonna want this thing to roam the streets, cleaning them up and picking up plastic trash from the curb. So I guess you’ll need a LEGO landfill too.

LEGO really needs to sell this to keep all of our feet safe. There’s nothing worse than stepping on LEGO pieces. Owie! This should be a mandatory accessory whenever a kid gets a LEGO set.

[via Laughing Squid via Geekologie]

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10 Minutes of Robot Porn from Hannover Messe 2017

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Robots can do some pretty amazing things these days. Sure, there are concerns about humans losing their jobs to automation, but you have to remember that there are lots of high-paying jobs created for engineers and roboticists to design, build and program the robots themselves, and many of the jobs robots take on are laborious tasks that can be harmful or stressful to humans anyhow. Sure, there’s always a chance there will be a robotic uprising, and they’ll decide they don’t need us anymore, but that’s more likely to be science fiction than fact.

If you think robots are as awesome as I do, then check out this amazing highlight reel that HD1080ide posted from this year’s Hannover Messe exhibition. This annual German expo offers up the latest and greatest in industrial automation technology, and features lots of cool exhibits where robots demonstrate their functions live and in person.

In the course of this 10-minute video, you’ll see robots doing everything from serving up cold beer, to dueling it out with lightsabers, moving like snakes, and even lifting a car. It’s an amazing look at some of the machine technology that companies can use to build, handle, and ship products faster and more reliably than ever before.

That was so cool. I could watch this kind of thing all day long. Also, I want a robot bartender now.

[via Reddit]

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Every Instrument In This Rock Band Is Played by Rocks

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Last year, artist and inventor Neil Mendoza turned a hamster running in a wheel into art. How do you follow up such a feat? By creating a rock band of course. Powered by real rocks.


In his latest work, Neil turned rocks into an actual rock band that plays a cover of The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun. You would think that something by the Rolling Stones would have been more appropriate.

The band is basically a bunch of electromechanical devices that make music by firing small rocks at aluminum keys, spinning rocks and hurling them against a piece of marble, or by slapping larger stones with fake leather. The rocks are both the musicians and the instruments. The band’s lead is a computer with a MIDI player.

Want to build one yourself? Mendoza has created an Instructables tutorial showing you how. This is true rock music.

[via Sploid]

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This Under-the-bed Television Lift Lets You Put Your TV to Rest

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The Auton Dream Machine under-the-bed television lift is a device which can store a flatscreen under your bed, so it takes up no wall, floor, or cabinet space. The mechanism pulls it out and puts your big screen at the foot of your bed with the push of a button. Why get out of bed when you are filthy rich and need to binge watch your favorite show?


The systems start at $7,600(USD) and go up from there. Damn! That’s a 7K TV. Beats 4K. Still, I think I’ll just keep my TV where it is. Besides if I get this then I need to get all kinds of gaudy gold furniture to go with. I’m not ready to make that commitment yet until I stock up on gold paint. Still, it looks cool in the videos below:

Damn rich people!

[via The Awesomer via Geekologie]

LEGO BOOST Makes Building Interactive Models Fun and Easy for Kids

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved LEGO bricks. While the basic blocks are great for all ages, sets like Technic and the mechanised Mindstorms kits have a tendency to be a bit complex for kids – especially when it comes to programming Mindstorms. Now, LEGO has announced a new series of mechanised, programmable components designed for ease of construction and programming.

LEGO BOOST kits make it easy for pre-teen kids to build interactive machines like robots, musical instruments, vehicles and more. The blocks work in concert with a drag-and-drop touch based app that runs on iOS or Android tablets, and allows builders to create programming sequences with ease.

Initially, LEGO BOOST will come in a $159.99(USD) starter kit that includes 3 BOOST bricks and 843 other LEGO elements, along with a special playmat that can be used to help practice programming and offering various mini challenges.

The 3 BOOST bricks include a move hub with a built-in tilt sensor, a combination color and distance sensor, and an interactive motor. The kit will include instructions for five models, but like all things LEGO, experimentation is encouraged.

LEGO says BOOST will hit shelves in August 2017.

LEGO BOOST Makes Building Interactive Models Fun and Easy for Kids

Posted on by

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved LEGO bricks. While the basic blocks are great for all ages, sets like Technic and the mechanised Mindstorms kits have a tendency to be a bit complex for kids – especially when it comes to programming Mindstorms. Now, LEGO has announced a new series of mechanised, programmable components designed for ease of construction and programming.

LEGO BOOST kits make it easy for pre-teen kids to build interactive machines like robots, musical instruments, vehicles and more. The blocks work in concert with a drag-and-drop touch based app that runs on iOS or Android tablets, and allows builders to create programming sequences with ease.

Initially, LEGO BOOST will come in a $159.99(USD) starter kit that includes 3 BOOST bricks and 843 other LEGO elements, along with a special playmat that can be used to help practice programming and offering various mini challenges.

The 3 BOOST bricks include a move hub with a built-in tilt sensor, a combination color and distance sensor, and an interactive motor. The kit will include instructions for five models, but like all things LEGO, experimentation is encouraged.

LEGO says BOOST will hit shelves in August 2017.