Burning Man -- Engadget

burning man posts

Video: Orb Swarm gets a brain, going autonomous at Burning Man

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 6th 2008 at 5:46AM

Remember Orb Swarm, that merry band of rolling semi-autonomous spheres? Well, they've seen the open-source wizard and came back with a brain. In other words, they've gone autonomous, or mostly so as they are now capable of navigating within a pre-defined GPS course. Besides navigation, these orbs feature an embedded processor, accelerometer and ZigBee wireless communication all of which allow the rolling spheres to "flock , flirt, dance and interact," say their creators. They're set for release en masse onto the Burning Man playa at the end of this month where they're sure to punish chemically-influenced revelers with a sense of panic suitable to the uprising. Check the video after the break for a taste if participating in pagan festivals celebrating experimental living is a bit beyond your sense of sheltered sensibility.

[Via Hack A Day and BotJunkie]

Continue reading Video: Orb Swarm gets a brain, going autonomous at Burning Man

Mondo Spider robot walks, consternates onlookers

by Darren Murph posted May 1st 2007 at 8:03AM

Joining the Land Walker, Robotic Giraffe, and the Anchorage Mecha as some of the most exotic, over-the-top ways to get from point A to point B is the Mondo Spider, which required a team of skilled engineers and "thousands of hours" in order to assemble. The creators seemingly spared no cost on the mechanical arachnid, as it boasts an impressive array of gears, linkages, and sheer quantities of metal to bring it all together. The man-driven beast cranks up like your average vehicle, but slipping it into first gear gets the spidey's legs a-crankin', and before long, it actually gets up to a respectable pace and commands respects from anyone close to its path. It may not shoot rubber balls or pass a state inspection, but we can't imagine too many vehicles standing up to this intimidating monster. Catch the videotaped demonstration in the links below.

[Via Wired]

The Robotic Giraffe

by Paul Miller posted May 20th 2006 at 8:04PM

It's a bit hard to get noticed in all the mayhem of the Burning Man festival, so Linsday Lawlor did what any other self respecting engineer would do and built himself a 17-foot tall robotic giraffe. Named Rave Raffe, the huge robot runs off of three 450-amp batteries that are charged by a 12-horsepower propane engine. The whole unit can run for about 8 hours at Raffe's top walking speed: 1 mile per hour. The 1700 pound robot has a pneumatic powered 8-foot neck, 40 strobe lights, 400 LEDs and a killer speaker system. The bot walks by moving two of its wheeled legs forward at a time, and then locking them with hydraulic brakes while the other two shuffle ahead. Lawlor (a laser-light-show designer, can you tell?) isn't done yet though, he's working on computerized flashing giraffe spots, a light up circulatory system, and a gas grill to get Raffe ready for this summer's Burning Man. If we weren't allergic to sunlight this might be worth a trek down to Nevada all on its own.

[Via MAKE]