Miniature "balancing" robot is sad, hilarious

What could possibly provide us more joy and mirth than a Segway? How about a Segway-inspired bot that fails spectacularly on a consistent basis? The tech in play here is quite simple, and the fact it can stand as long as it does being that top heavy is actually pretty surprising. The best news? Hit the read link for a guide to making your very own fail bot at home. It's fun for the whole family.

[Via technabob]

[heinrich @ Aug 16th 2008 10:56PM]

aww.. poor robot :(

[imacmatt09 @ Aug 16th 2008 11:54PM]

It looks like its having a seizure.

[Flashpoint @ Aug 17th 2008 12:26AM]

the first Metal Gear

[Nytrojen @ Aug 17th 2008 12:27AM]

Can there be anything cuter and more pathetic? Only drowning puppies... and it would have to be a lot of them

[ShogunMaster @ Aug 17th 2008 2:02AM]

But I already knew how to make a robot that wouldn't work. I don't need plans to make one.

[Timerider @ Aug 17th 2008 8:54PM]

I think the problem is that it can't vary the motor speed and spazes out. If it worked better I'd want to build my own.

[Zinger314 @ Aug 16th 2008 10:57PM]

You'll be laughing once it saves humanity in the future.

SEGW-A

[AndrewP @ Aug 16th 2008 10:58PM]

Such Big Fail for such a Tiny Bot.

[Homeslice @ Aug 16th 2008 11:01PM]

So exiting!
NOT

[Charlie @ Aug 16th 2008 11:18PM]

Actually, it DOES exit a few times, considering that it's constantly moving...

[GhettoTron9000 @ Aug 17th 2008 12:36AM]

lol!

[La Panda @ Aug 17th 2008 9:09PM]

exciting is the word I think your looking for.

[urpwnd @ Aug 19th 2008 2:01PM]

and "you're" is the word you are looking for.

[Yevon @ Aug 16th 2008 11:01PM]

That was very oddly adorable. I can't wait for the robot uprising now!

[chris @ Aug 16th 2008 11:07PM]

i feel bad for it for some reason...

[Darkest Daze @ Aug 17th 2008 9:07PM]

The fact that it just keeps on trying over and over, despite failure, makes it both inspiring and saddening at the same time. The little segway that could.

[AxelFury @ Aug 16th 2008 11:12PM]

There's a tiny voice coming from it saying "Please kill me!"

[John @ Aug 16th 2008 11:12PM]

"Singular purpose is to not fall d. . . Damnit. Must stay uprigh. . . Crap. Balance is importan. . . Damn. Failure is not an optio. . . Sh*t. Just turn me off. Please."

[Timerider @ Aug 17th 2008 8:56PM]

lol

[therpham @ Aug 16th 2008 11:13PM]

You won't feel pity toward it when it becomes HUMPBOT RAPER OF WORLDS

[DWells55 @ Aug 17th 2008 2:43AM]

Oh my God, I almost spit my soda out when I read that.

[Zeus.:God @ Aug 17th 2008 7:24AM]

LOL!

[Grant @ Aug 17th 2008 2:33PM]

well,
you win the internet today.

[Alex @ Aug 17th 2008 3:32PM]

Comment of the Month.

[Adam @ Aug 16th 2008 11:16PM]

Nice rims.

[Alex @ Aug 16th 2008 11:17PM]

Aww, it's just a little baby

[Ayman @ Aug 16th 2008 11:20PM]

If changed Batteries to a lighter type, then it wouldn't be challenging.
Personally I liked it

too bad it would fail the crash test in germany

[Victor @ Aug 17th 2008 1:48AM]

That's actually incorrect. Heavier batteries would make it easier for the robot to control itself. Lighter batteries or even a lower center of gravity would require even a faster response time from the motors.

[D0rk @ Aug 16th 2008 11:21PM]

I did this in high school with the LEGO Mindstorms RCX brick and some IR sensors. Was fun burning out a dozen or so motors over the course of a semester.

I still can't believe I actually got graded for playing with LEGOs.

[Fernando @ Aug 16th 2008 11:21PM]

awwww, cute, makes me feel sorry for it.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Aug 16th 2008 11:21PM]

WTF!!!!


Anyway, what I had written was, "Why did the builder put the heavy batteries so high up?"

[Juster @ Aug 16th 2008 11:25PM]

?

[Anthony @ Aug 16th 2008 11:26PM]

Ha. it haz seizures. poor thing.

[getStringFromObj() @ Aug 16th 2008 11:28PM]

it strangely reminds me of my dog, humping something.

[Jeff @ Aug 16th 2008 11:36PM]

Aww, poor little guy. I guess I would feel worse if he had a soul though. Or a gender for that matter, dunno why I'm calling it a "he".

BTW, the music is from the Half-Life 2 OST (the only video game music I've actually placed in my iTunes library). One of my favorite tracks.

[Alex @ Aug 17th 2008 1:34PM]

Dude, which track is it. The Russians have it but there's like 43 tracks.

http://musicmp3.ru/ssn.html?al=6235

[g3n3tix @ Aug 17th 2008 3:32PM]

Track is "triage at dawn" (number 17).
That OST kick ass, as the other VALVe games', and the Fallout ones.


Cute robot, It's simple and funny.

[anonymous @ Aug 16th 2008 11:44PM]

Why is sad Half-Life music playing? :(

[Bunson @ Aug 16th 2008 11:52PM]

I think you just failed worse then this robot does.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Aug 17th 2008 12:00AM]

neato and failo poor little bugger fallin on its face. you people are all nuts. ^__^

[Reader @ Aug 17th 2008 12:05AM]

What the hell... Did you seriously not write that or did you mean to post that on another article? Would be trippy if it put someone else's post under your name.

[Stiv @ Aug 17th 2008 12:13AM]

The balance problem could be solved if the designer added a third wheel.

[zaphod @ Aug 17th 2008 12:50AM]

That would just throw away the projects proposal, becoming just an ugly tripod...

[ryan @ Aug 17th 2008 1:09AM]

@zaphod:

joke

[sean @ Aug 17th 2008 12:19AM]

that thing makes me sad :( poor robot

[Arthur @ Aug 17th 2008 12:56AM]

So there is a misconception that needs to be addressed:

Simple physics shows that the higher up the center of gravity, the easier it is to balance. The batteries are up high so that the bot can balance at all, otherwise it would just fall over all the time (the distance actually changes how fast a response time is needed to keep the bot balancing) Try balancing a long broom and then a pencil. If you can balance the pencil you're a super hero...or something.

In short: Batteries high = Good.

-A

[ryan @ Aug 17th 2008 1:08AM]

Do us all a favor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics

[puhsitch @ Aug 17th 2008 1:33AM]

I've always said that bobo dolls are products of black magic.

[ccunning @ Aug 17th 2008 1:39AM]

@ryan: Wow that was a concise explanation of why he was wrong. Oh wait. It wasn't. I'm not a physicist, but I tend to agree with his point. If you want to sway my opinion, you're going to have to work a little harder than that.

[Travis @ Aug 17th 2008 1:55AM]

@ryan

He is definitely right. It's called moment of inertia. An object with a higher moment of inertia will respond more slowly to a given moment than one with a smaller moment of inertia. So, if you had lighter batteries or moved them closer, the moment of inertia would be less and it would tip over faster, probably too fast to balance.