Why buy a Transformers toy, when you can build your own? That’s what this engineer did. The end result is completely awesome and the best actual transforming toy ever.
It’s called the Humvee Biloid. A fully transformable robot that comes equipped with a camera for surveillance tasks. Just push of a button and it will go from a car into robot mode. Unfortunately, it’s just a prototype..for now.
Damn, I can’t wait for the robot toys of the future. Hit the link for an awesome video that unfortunately will not embed here.
Instructables recently posted a tutorial on how to build a robot that is remotely operated via cell phone. I know you have a cell phone, and I know you love robots, so you should start building this immediately.
If you’re a robotics noob it might be kind of hard finding some of the components needed–capacitors, resistors, crystals, controllers, etc. Bust open the toaster and see what you can harvest. I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you; building this robot will be a major mindfrick, for a number of reasons. The Instructable reads like it was written by a 13 year old girl on her iPhone. Many of the steps don’t have photos accompanying them. Oh yeah, and the complex circuit diagram is a blurry photo of a circuit diagram.
You could view the overall crappiness of the Instructable as a factor that would prevent you from even attempting to undertake this project, or, if you’re a real man, you could take this half-assed tutorial and build the cellphone robot, which would be way more hardcore.
So grab your soldering iron, your friend’s new Android, and build this thang. Of course, without a video-feedback mechanism you’ll need to memorize the entire floor-plan of whatever building you’re trying to infiltrate with the bot, but after actually building it, that should be a walk in the park.
We told you about the cool Transforming RCRC car earlier this month. Here’s a video of the vehicle/bot in action. Makes you look forward to driving a real Transformer one day on the road.
These toy robot kits from Japan are devoted to beating the crap out of each other. Tamiya’s Robocraft boxing robots come in a kit that’s easy to assemble. Each robot boxer is operated using a wired remote, which lets you control two gearboxes which drive the robot’s punches and movements. The same gears drive the punching action and forward/backward movement, which makes them wobbly and unpredictable. That means awesomeness.
You can even switch between two punch types: upper-cut and straight jab. This ain’t your granddad’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots. Tamiya USA sells individual blue boxing ‘bots, along with a little punching bag for $37. Pairs come in colorful pink and yellow for $67. Check out 2 videos below. Read the rest of this entry »
This one combines two awesome things in one. RC vehicles and robots. Make that 3 as it also transforms. It’s from Hammacher Schlemmer and converts from a 13-inch tall two-wheeled robot to a four-wheeled sports car/truck. A four hour charge will give you enough juice for 30 minutes of play with the internal rechargeable battery. The controller has a 100-foot range and requires just one 9v. Go into upright mode by holding down two of the joysticks, and the robot can dance and spin with flashing LED lights. $89.95 and it’s available now.
What could be better then having a droid ready to roll on your watch? The R2-D2 Whizzwatch while not heavy on style, lets you control a miniature version of R2-D2 with a special wristwatch IR transmitter. R2 is attached to it’s strap.
Just unclip the little droid, put him on your desk and watch him go. The watch supposedly has a variety of digital readouts, and you can switch between 12/24 hour displays. It costs about $36. My concern with this watch would be running into some dude with a Jawa watch. If the two should fight, your little droid might end up in a Jawa sandcrawler. That would not end well for R2.
The MechRC is a user-friendly, fully-programmable robot that uses a gamepad to control 17 precision servos that provide 180-degrees of movement. It looks all stealth-like and kinda like Optimus Prime. It has an electronic and mechanical expansion system, so you can build your own version if you like. The price is a bit steep at $760, but if you know what you are doing, it’s a cool badass robot body to mod and manipulate.
Wall-E is the cutest robot of all time. Just look at the box office numbers if you don’t believe me. The Ultimate Wall-E remote control robot is now available for pre-order. Wall-E can chat with you, dance, play music, even sense / avoid obstacles. He won’t get you a date, but that’s life. They don’t expect to ship him until October 16th, so you may be lonely for awhile.
With the infrared controller, U-Command Wall-E comes to life with animated movements, voice, sound, and light effects as you maneuver him forward, turn in reverse–or make him dance. Program options enable over 1,000 action combos. What’s cuter then Wall-E?
Hate Parking your car? Maybe you just hate multi-level car garages. Why not have a robot do it for you? Skypark systems in Budapest, Hungary, will be able to handle all of your parking woes via remote control. This will save you time and gas and probably spare you a headache. They say that the Skypark system can double the amount of spaces available in a conventional garage.
Why buy a Transformers toy, when you can build your own? That’s what this engineer did. The end result is completely awesome and the best actual transforming toy ever.
Instructables recently posted a tutorial on how to build a robot that is remotely operated via cell phone. I know you have a cell phone, and I know you love robots, so you should start building this immediately.
