grasp
Latest
Meet Grasp, a wearable that helps instructors micromanage you
Can you imagine having an instructor who peers over your shoulder all the time while you practice, say, cooking or coding? Awkwaaard. But if that's the only way you can force yourself to learn something, then this device called Grasp was made for you. It was designed to perch on your shoulder like a parrot, so an instructor can monitor and guide your every move from anywhere in the world. It has a mic, a camera and a laser pointer, all powered by an Arduino Yún board, to make real-time remote teaching more hands-on.
GRASP Lab quadrocopters learn to follow the leader and fly in formation
The University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab has already recklessly taught its autonomous quadrocopters to move in packs, fly through hoops and build things on their own, and it's now for some reason decided to teach them yet another trick they'll surely use against us one day. As you can see in the video above, the quadrocopters are now able to take cues from a leader and fly in formation. What's more, they can even continue with the formation if one loses communication and falls out of the pack, which the researchers note is key to the success of any swarm. Isn't that reassuring?
Watch-controlled robo-tot grasps small objects, the meaning of life (video)
It may seem like there's an abundance of robot news lately, but we're just trying to please our mechanical overlords deliver the latest in gadget and technology news. What we've got here is an Arduino-based robo-gripper that serves only to move around and use its 3D printed claws to grab tiny objects that we'd otherwise be too lazy to pick up ourselves. The robot, infused with a Texas Instruments CC1110 dev kit, is controlled using an accelerometer-based Chronos watch and can move in all directions by simply tilting the timepiece. If you want to take a gander at this little guy in action, check out the video past the break -- it's always warming to see humans having the upper hand against the machine.
Motorola Grasp reminds us company still does Android-free gear
It may not be the EX112 / EX115 they seem to be getting down in Brazil, but the Motorola Grasp isn't far off, proving that Motorola's still committed to delivering non-Android phones in market segments where... well, Android might kinda be overkill. The CDMA / EV-DO phone is capable of operating both on 800 / 1900MHz and on AWS bands, meaning we wouldn't be surprised to see it land on regionals like MetroPCS where AWS has started to play a prominent role. It's got a 1.3 megapixel cam, 3.5mm headphone jack, AGPS, stereo Bluetooth, microSD expansion to 8GB, and -- something Moto has been playing up since the Renew -- an eco-friendly design with a completely recyclable shell when you've finished texting on that QWERTY keypad for the last time. Look for it to launch this quarter.
