Hobbies & Toys News
News: Just Released! Freaky Human-Soldier-Bot: PETMAN
Remember Big Dog? Or Big Dog's counterpart, Little Dog? Well, Boston Dynamics has added a new member to their creepily-moving-calvary.
News: Battling Wii Soccer Robots
These soccer playing robots from TU Freiberg Robotics are programmed using Knesthetic Bootstrapping, which control the Bioloid's motions. Players can send commands to the soccer bots via Wii Remotes, and users abroad can control them directly online. If soccer's not your game, robots can play chess, too.
News: Play Foosball With LEGOs
Stretta considered investing in a foosball table for his son, and ultimately decided to go the (much more fun) DIY route: a LEGO foosball table. Very nice work: Previously, Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8.
News: DIY Gear Clock
Alan Parekh's latest creation is a clock made from wooden gears. Parekh says on Hacked Gadgets:
News: Play Robot Chess Via Twitter
With Facebook and Twitter dominating the world, playing chess opposite a real, touchable person is no longer necessary. With the ChessBot, you can now play on a real chessboard remotely - the next best thing to in-person play.
News: Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8
Crazy! Real working v8 32 valve engine, made completely from LEGOs. Not made from a set, and apparently took about 300 hours to construct. Click through to YouTube description for link to parts list (PDF). 4500 Brick LEGO Pop-Up.
News: 4500 Brick LEGO Pop-Up
YouTube user Talapz has built a LEGO Pop-up Buddhist temple. Jaw dropping construction. Made from 4500 bricks, the structure is a representation of actual temple Kinkaku-ji (video below): Previously, Lego Mindstorms Puts the Fun Back Into Number Two.
News: Tokyo Yo-yo Master
Vive Cool City (a crew of raucous Aussies who decided to make internet TV) tour the world featuring marvels, oddities, and cultural anomalies. This particular episode features Minoru, veteran Yo-yo World Champion. This dude is good. Skip ahead approximately half way through to see his moves.
News: MLB Robot
University of Tokyo and MIT join forces to create a high speed, three fingered, robot pitcher. From Pink Tentacle:
Edgy Balloon Art: Lose the Clown
Twisting balloon animals is no longer soley carney-clown art. Fun medium, endless possibilities.
Just Released: Blob Morphing 'Bot
iRobot released their new soft blob morphing robot this past Tuesday. The amazing shape-shifter has the ability to squeeze
News: World's Tiniest Electric Train Set
Allegedly the world's smallest model train, Stan's Trains' TY-Scale train is built at the scale of 1:900.
News: Real Life Transformer Caresses Derrière of Japanese Boy
Real life transformer, OmniZero, can climb a ladder, perform somersaults, jump rope, crack eggs, battle other robots, and best of all, carry a person. Witness all of these actions of the various OmniZero prototypes in the video gallery below.
News: Transform Dirty Dumpster Into a Swimming Pool
Skip Conversions = guerilla art + recycling + creative urban upcycling. My three favorites below (particularly the pool, which literally interprets the term "dumpster diving").
News: Pee Wee Hermanesque Breakfast Machine
First thing's first. Remember Pee Wee's amazing breakfast machine? For those who missed out, watch (best YouTube version dubbed in Italian): Who dares compete with Pee Wee?
News: Alpha-not-Numeric
Make your own version of the $1500 Qlocktwo, a clock that literally spells out the time for you. Instructables member drj113 shares instructions for making a much cheaper alternative. Click through to do-it-yourself.
News: No-Fail Robot Catcher Astounds
This amazing ball catching robot named TOTO (Tracking of Thrown Objects) has been built to speed up "fully automated production systems...where parts will be transported between workstations by robotic throwing and catching".
News: Deviously Clever Prison Contraband
We've featured Temporary Services before, but we thought they deserved a full spread. In this post, we've included some of their How-To drawings and examples of recreated prison art.
News: Self Healing Chair Picks Itself Up Off the Floor... Literally
For some reason I find this hilarious. This chair's got perseverance. Sure, he's slow, but it's worth the wait. More information at Robotic Chair.
News: Gigantic Bubbles
According to the Telegraph's interview with world record setting bubbleologist (who knew such a thing existed?!) Samsam Bubbleman, "It's all about having the right bubble solution. If you have the right mixture then your tools don't matter..."
News: Dice Stacking Virtuosos
Wikipedia's definition of dice stacking: "Dice stacking is a performance art, akin to juggling or sleight-of-hand, in which the performer scoops dice off a flat surface with a dice cup and then sets the cup down while moving it in a pattern that stacks the dice into a vertical column via centripetal force and inertia."
News: YouTube's Hottest Bubblegum Blowers
And by hottest, I mean most popular. These ladies have got skills. I want to be as good as them, and I've already begun my research. If you're also interested in joining the ranks of hottest bubble gum blowers, go here for some beginners tips.
News: World's Only $68,000 RC Hummer
As Hummer puts it, it's "The Ultimate Gadget for Grown-Ups." Dr. James Brighton from Britain's Cranfield University has converted a full-size Hummer H3 into a working remote control vehicle.
News: Truly Ingenious CD Bubble Trick
Sometimes the simplest things yield the most fun results. This clever trick creates long, condom-esque plastic bubbles.
News: 3 Million Brick Lego House - Demolished
With many internet/Lego nerds anxiously awaiting the completion of the world's first full size Lego House, Barnaby Gunning Architects and British TV personality, James May, finally unveiled the finished product this past Friday. The house (was) 100% Lego, "including a working toilet, hot shower and a very uncomfortable bed".
News: Pesky Housefly + Paper = Insect 747
That's right, fly powered aircrafts. Forget drowning and reviving a fly, why don't you make it slave for you instead?
News: Robot Rickshaw Chauffeurs Chinese Peasant
Wu Yulu's life story belongs in a Disney movie. The 46-year-old Chinese farmer has built 26 robots over the past 30 years, with no education beyond high school. He says he loves his robots more dearly than his own sons and rides around his village in a robot powered rickshaw.
News: Boing! Notebook Sized Robot Jumps 25 Feet
Sandia National Laboratories of New Mexico has developed the Precision Urban Hopper, a robot that uses one powerful leg to propel itself over barriers up to twenty-five feet high.
News: World's Greatest Etch-a-Sketch Artist: George Vlosich
George Vlosich, considered the world's greatest Etch-A-Sketch artist, has been perfecting his craft for the past 20 years. Vlosich works with one continuous line, which means one mistake and he's forced to start over. Each piece takes 70-80 hours to complete.
News: Little Dog Gears Up For War
The web's favorite robotics company, MIT's Boston Dynamics, never fails to instill truly animal-like qualities into its famed creations. We giggled (slightly guiltily) when poor Big Dog took a tumble on the ice. Now as we watch Little Dog climb, cautious as a puppy, and subsequently drop, exhausted, at the end of each run, we can't help but anthropomorphize Big Dog's counterpart. Previously, Robot Dog Prepares for World Domination.
News: Turn your vegetables into articulating robotic digits
Hell, yeah! Play with your food. This android hand is the brainchild of a collaboration including Robo250, the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, the Mattress Factory and MAYA Design, Inc.
News: Make electricity with plastic cups, tin cans and a TV
Michael Faraday knows how to harness static electricity. The television sends enough static electricity to the aluminum to spin the cup between the polar charged cans.
News: Blow anti-gravity floating bubbles
Defy logic and gravity with this quick magic-science illusion. All you need is lighter fluid, a bowl and some bubble solution. The butane gas from the lighter sinks to the bottom of the bowl, below the oxygen. The bubbles then float in the oxygen atop the heavy butane creating a magical hover effect!
News: Hack a Nerf gun for superior fire power
Store bought Nerf guns don't always achieve the velocity necessary for an effective assault. Zach Scott's solution: mod the toy. Known for his fantastic cat videos, Zach claims this hack increases trajectory by at least 25%! Every bit counts when you're in an all out foam war.
News: Build a 2/5 scale Sherman tank
Let me be clear. I don't like this guy. I love him.
News: Float across the floor on a personal hover board
Hovercrafts! Make your own magic carpet ride! Find your inner George Jetson! The World's Hovercraft Speed Record was set on September 18, 1995 by American Bob Windt. He got his air cushion vehicle up to a speed of 85.87 mph!
News: Robot dog prepares for world domination
What is in store for the future? Flying cars? Maybe. Dinner in a pill? Perhaps. How about 4-legged army tank robot dogs? Hell ya!
News: Mod old cell phones into robot spiders
Arachnophilia and technosexuals rejoice. This whimsical, skittering robot takes only 5 minutes of tinkering.
News: Hack a toy from a VHS tape
Pachinko originated in Japan as large casino machines that were similar to video slot machines. Players gambled on them for prizes. They were then adapted and became popular in the US as handheld kids' toys made of cardboard, a couple of BBs, some plastic and a rubber band.