DiyRobot
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Simple DIY cellbot ditches Arduino, jousts poorly (video)
Want an adorable little Android cellbot to call your own, but aren't quite ready to tackle Arduino code? Darrell Taylor's got you covered with an audio-controlled, jousting cellbot: no muss, no fuss, no microcontroller. The Make project, called TRRSTAN, accepts commands via Google chat, web browser, or Wii remote piped through the headphone jack of your Android phone -- the robot's brain, of course. Tack on a few makeshift weapons procured at the local dollar store, and you've got a homemade warrior you can be proud of. Want one? Taylor has a ready-made kit available for just shy of $50, and offers a 'fully assembled' option for the extra-lazy robot enthusiast. Of course, you could always go back to playing Android-bots with your Legos if you aren't quite ready to big-boy world of DIY. Just sayin'.
Self-balancing Domo-kun WobblyBot looks drunk, won't tip over (video)
He may look like he's had a few too many sake bombs, but this animated Japanese superstar is actually built to teeter about. The Domo-kun WobblyBot comes to us by way of Eastern Geek and uses a relatively simple pendulum, with the pivot situated at the axle, to keep the balancing bot from tipping over. As is the case with punching clowns, the bottom part of the WobblyBot is significantly heavier than the top, serving as a counterweight to maintain balance. It also sports DC Geared Motors and two D cells, and, as its creator points out, you can customize its shell to give your favorite cartoon character the tipsy treatment -- hyphy Hello Kitty anyone? Check out the source link to make a WobblyBot of your own, but only after having a laugh at the video just beneath the break.
High school senior builds walking robot, the VSR-2: Talos FG (video)
These days, you don't have to be a whiz kid to build robots in your basement: off-the-shelf microcontrollers, Arduino boards and Lego Mindstorms can take care of the hard work. Adam Halverson, however, is the real deal -- he built his first robot at the age of twelve, and after six years of failed attempts, he's crafted a full-size humanoid that can walk. Filed with pistons, servos and an assimilated laptop, the VSR-2:Talos FG cost the South Dakota high school senior $10,000 to build with fellow student Anthony Winterton; he claims he could reconstruct it for half now that he's done. The hulking metal machine won him an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2010 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, where he's competing for up to $75,000 in prize money. We'll be watching to see if he recoups his investment -- awards will be announced this afternoon. See how the Talos FG's gears mesh in our gallery, or watch the bot take its first steps after the break. Update: The awards are in, and though Talos FG's grippers didn't manage to pull down that $75,000 grand prize, they did manage to net Halverson $5,500 in cash and savings bonds from Intel, the Cade Museum Foundation and the U.S. Army. %Gallery-93014%
DIY 'Giger' robot walks after 100 hours of human work
Alright, so this so-called "Giger" do-it-yourself robot may not truly be Giger-esque, but it did cost upwards of $10,000 and take more than 100 hours to build, which is enough for us to forgive a little mis-naming. The biggest expense (and time sink), it seems, came as a result of the builder's decision to use professional-grade servos instead of the usual DIY fare, which are both finicky and pricey (between $200 and $300 apiece). After a bit of fine-tuning, however, our pal "Tyberius" was able to get the bot to show off a few moves for the camera, and even walk across the desk without toppling over (he's apparently looking to give it a more natural gait next). Head on past the break to see for yourself.
Video: Chris the Carpenter shows off Walter the Robot's servo-powered head
We love us a good robot, the more clearly home-built the better, and it's hard to get more DIY than a bot-to-be called Walter from Chris the Carpenter at Let's Make Robots. Right now Walter exists in halves: a torso comprised of a custom chassis powered by some DeWalt drill motors, and a head with a small LCD display turned on three axis by a collection of servos. As of now everything is controlled by a remote, but the ultimate plan is for Walter to be able to locate a person, face them, and display a list of functions. We're not sure what Walter's purpose in life is to be in the future, but based on the second video below we're reasonably sure it won't be serving as a shuttle for reluctant wives. [Via Hacked Gadgets]
DIY biped robot makes your desk a happier place
While some DIY bots understandably creep us out, there's just as many that bring a smile to our face, and this so-called BiPed robot V-3 from Alex V of Instructables definitely falls into the latter camp. Further adding to our appreciation is the fact that this one is built almost entirely from scratch, right down to the custom made framework cut by a CNC machine. You'd be hard pressed to pick it out from line-up of kit robots, however, with it boasting a full range of movement designed to mimic the human lower body which, as you can see above, even extends to it being able to stand on one leg with ease. Be sure to hit up the link below for a couple of videos and, of course, the instructions for building your own.
Homebrew robots reach dime size
While we're a bit skeptical of its claimed status to be "quite possibly the world's smallest robot," this so-called Pico bot is certainly impressive enough in its own right -- especially considering that it's the result of a DIY project. As you can see above, the bot is small enough to sit on a dime, yet it still packs enough brains (and power) to move around autonomously (if a little recklessly), motoring about at a top speed of 0.5 feet per second and lasting about 15 minutes before its battery runs dry. While it currently doesn't seem to be capable of much more than the antics on display in the video after break, its creator does see plenty of room for improvement, including adding ZigBee wireless communication, as well as an on-board camera and built-in GPS. Of course, there's also the possibility that someone could take things one step further and amass a pint-sized robot army, letting them annoy their co-workers on a hereto unheard of scale.[Via MAKE:Blog]
