Crash Testing LEGO Cars with an Air Cannon

Not long ago we watched a video of a LEGO Porsche being strapped to a real crash test sled and smashed into an obstacle. The LEGO Porsche was thoroughly destroyed in the test. Now we have another LEGO car being crushed into blocky bits after being fired out of some sort of air cannon.

Beyond the Press loaded up their pneumatic cannon with a couple of different LEGO cars and sent them flying. The car was busted up well and good. In fact, it seems that most of the video consists of picking up LEGO pieces scattered across the landscape.

The slow motion footage actually shows how the force of the air from the cannon was enough to start the car breaking into bits long before it hit the rocks. The last time I saw a LEGO car get smashed up this good, it was shortly after it was thrown at my brothers head and hit the wall instead.

[via Laughing Squid]

This Pneumatic Robot Dog Runs Like Its on Crank

What is it about scientists creating terrifying robot dogs? Meet the latest mechanical mutt, who goes by the name PneuHound. It is a pneumatic-powered quadruped being developed at Osaka University‘s Adaptive Robotics Laboratory by Koh Hosoda and his team.

robot_dog_1zoom in


The way this dog moves is creepy as hell. It doesn’t run so much as he skitters across the floor, like a killer robot all hopped up on uppers. If it had a mouth, it would be foaming. And it would bite you.

The machine’s name is derived from its resemblance to an excited running puppy, while it skitters about at a top speed of about 6 mph. Okay, you could probably still outrun it, but it just looks crazy fast on that treadmill.

[via RocketNews24 via Laughing Squid]

DIY GoPro Cannon: Be a Cannonball

Action cameras let us see through the eyes of athletes, daredevils, and professionals, including human cannonballs. If you’d like to record that unique point of view without risking your life, check out Eclectical Engineering’s debut project.

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Eclectical Engineering is a new website where tinkerers David and Ryan showcase their bizarre contraptions. They launched their site by making a pneumatic PVC cannon that can launch a variety of small objects.

But the cannon is just half of their debut project. The other half is a 3D-printed spring-loaded missile housing for GoPro’s smallest camera, the Hero 4 Session. Skip to 2:47 in the video below to see the missile’s point of view.

Head to Eclectical Engineering for more details on the cannon. As of this writing they haven’t shared the missile’s 3D files, so you’ll just have to keep an eye on the site’s downloads section.

[via 3D Print]

DIY 3D Printed Portable Hybrid Railgun: Harder to Obtain than Sleeper Simulant

The railgun is one of the most popular sci-fi weapons, perhaps eclipsed only by the lightsaber and anything with lasers on it. Part of its appeal is that it’s based on real physics. It could exist, and it does exist! Though naturally its fictional counterparts are absurdly efficient, compact and destructive. That being said, Redditor NSA_Listbot deserves a ton of karma for making a self-contained pneumatically-assisted railgun.

3d_printed_portable_railgun_by_NSA_listbot_1zoom in

In very simple terms, a railgun has three main parts: a pair of parallel metal rails, a power supply that can deliver a high current and a highly conductive projectile. The rails on NSA_Listbot’s weapon are made of aluminum on the outside and copper on the inside.

3d_printed_portable_railgun_by_NSA_listbot_4zoom in

Its power supply is a 12V battery rigged to a micro-inverter, a transformer, a rectifier and six 350V capacitors. 

3d_printed_portable_railgun_by_NSA_listbot_6zoom in

3d_printed_portable_railgun_by_NSA_listbot_5zoom in

The image below shows some of NSA_Listbot’s projectiles, a pair of copper-plated tungsten pieces.

3d_printed_portable_railgun_by_NSA_listbot_2

The projectile is passed along the surface of the rails as the power bank delivers the current. The current goes from the power supply to one rail, across the projectile and through the other rail. The resulting magnetic field violently pushes the projectile away from the power supply. Here’s NSA_Listbot’s railgun firing in slow motion:

As you’ll see in the gallery below, this isn’t actually a “pure” railgun. NSA_Listbot gives the projectiles a boost with a 900 psi pneumatic system that rockets pellets to a little over 220 mph just as they reach the rails. So it may not be as strong as the Quake railguns, but it’s no mere BB gun either.

First portable railgun

[via Reddit]

 

Sticky Actuators Use Air to Move Inanimate Objects: Noobmatics

A group of researchers from the MIT and the University of Tokyo managed to breathe life into everyday objects with a cheap and easy-to-use pneumatic device. They call their invention the Sticky Actuator, a small plastic pouch that moves objects when air is pumped in or out of it.

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The researchers created two main types of Sticky Actuators. An individual pouch and a strip of pouches that are all inflated and deflated through a single tube. The researchers made Sticky Actuators using a CNC machine that’s been fitted with a heated metal tip. The machine can seal a pair of plastic sheets into pouches of varying shapes.

sticky_actuators_air_pouches_for_animated_objects_MIT_university_of_tokyo_2zoom in

Here are a few examples of Sticky Actuators in action:

Sticky Actuators provide an easy and fun way to prototype or play with animated objects, and could be useful in puppetry as well. They can be operated with a gamepad-like controller and are so simple even children can install them.

Although the researchers’ controllers can only switch Sticky Actuators in two states – deflated or inflated – it’s entirely possible to gradually control the air flowing into or out of the pouches. They can also be automated with the help of sensors. Inflate a browser and read the group’s paper on MIT’s website for more information.

[via Laughing Squid]

Awesome Dad Builds a Pneumatic Tube System to Send Teeth to the Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy is one busy lady! She flies from house to house every night, collecting teeth that kids have left under their pillows and leaving a dollar or two (or a special surprise) in exchange for it.

So that’s the story our parents told us, and I’m sticking with it.

Tooth Fairy SystemBut with the growing population, the Tooth Fairy is probably having a hard time keeping up. Awesome dad Jeff Highsmith wanted to make sure his kid’s teeth are received in a timely manner, so he built a vacuum-powered pneumatic tube system that’ll “send” them straight to the Tooth Fairy. An adult can hang out at the receiving station to return some cash or gifts back to the child waiting on the other end of the line.

pneumatic tube diagrammagnify

Jeff built an easy-to-navigate interface using Hype and used Raspberry Pi to power the whole thing. Aside from the Tooth Fairy, other recipients to choose from include Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, so just think of all the wish lists and letters your kid will be sending when those holidays roll around.

[Make: via Hack a Day via Neatorama]

Pneupard Robotic Leopard Not as Fast as Robotic Cheetah

We’ve seen plenty of robots based on animal designs. Nature knows what it is doing after all. Researchers, much like leopards, don’t change their spots. They are still working on robot designs that will run us down and devour us. Like the Pneupard, a robotic leopard from Osaka University.

robot leopard
This robot is driven by compressed air. It is still a prototype, which is why this thing doesn’t seem very fast or certain on it’s feet. Plus, its front legs and spine are incomplete right now. Regardless, the artificial muscles that it sports are impressive and when this robot gets further along, it will be more nimble, I’m sure.

It’s movements were based on the movements of a cat walking on a treadmill. I’m guessing they’re not talking about these cats.

They are hoping that capturing movements this way instead of programming the system by hand will lead to a more authentic movements.

[via IEEE Spectrum via Geekosystem]

Pneumatic Tool Lamps: Nailed It.

Are you handy with tools? Well you could head to your workshop and make yourself a lamp, I suppose, or you could buy one that’s actually made out of a power tool.

pneumatic tool lamps

These unusual lighting fixtures are made by Aaron Jarry of JEngineering using pneumatic nail guns mounted to an ebony-stained oak base, and come with an appropriately masculine black lampshade to top them off. Aaron cleverly conceals the power cord inside the air hose to complete the look.

pneumatic tool lamps 1

I’m guessing that they no longer function for firing nails or staples, but it would be cool if that’s how you attached them to your table. You know – press the trigger and it nails itself in place. That’d be cool.

DIYers and Tool Timers can improve their home with one of these lamps over on JEngineering’s Etsy shop for $180 to $200 (USD).

Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles (video)

Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by neumatic artificial muscles video

What can one do with a robot suit? Well, it's certainly not limited to just lifting sacks of rice, but that was exactly what we got to do at CEATEC courtesy of Koba Lab from Tokyo University of Science. First seen in 2009, the magic behind this 9kg kit are the pair of pneumatic artificial muscles (aka McKibben artificial muscles) on the back, which are made by industrial equipment manufacturer Kanda Tsushin. When pressurized with air using electrical components from KOA Corporation, the lightweight, loosely-woven PET tubes contract and consequently provide support to the user's back, shoulders and elbows. As such, our arms were able to easily hold two more sacks of rice (making it a total of 50kg) until the demonstrator deflated the muscles. Check out our jolly hands-on video after the break.

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Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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