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Disney’s spray-painting drone could end the need for scaffolding
We've seen some pretty interesting work come out of Disney Research in the past, like techniques for digitally recreating teeth, makeup-projecting lamps, a group AR experience and a stick-like robot that can perform backflips. One of its latest projects is PaintCopter -- a drone that can autonomously spray paint both flat and 3D surfaces. Disney Research says the goal is to be able to paint large surfaces without the need for scaffolding and ladders.
Smart spray can turns photos into large-scale street art
Don't worry about needing artistic sensibilities to produce street art -- if researchers have their way, all you'd need is a good photo and the right tools. They've developed a robotic spray can that produce large murals based on pre-supplied images. By tracking the can using a PC, two webcams and QR codes, the system automatically knows when to spray to replicate the intended picture. All you have to do is wave the can over your target area and let the hardware do the rest -- if you're producing a multi-color image, you just swap cans.
Mischievous drone sprays paint, silly string and flames
We're still not really sure what a "creative technology studio" is, but it sure seems like a damn fun place to work. Apparently your job at one, like Chaotic Moon, is to just think of "awesome" ideas with little practical purpose and make them a reality. Why? Because you can. Last year the firm used a drone to tase a poor intern, and married an Oculus Rift to a Leap motion so we could punch sharks. This year it decided to try something a little less dangerous (and far less likely to end in a lawsuit). Tyrone Drone is a pretty standard drone with some simple modifications. Instead of holding a camera, he's holds and fires a spray can.
Spray-painted solar cells promise cheap power on seemingly any surface
Scientists have dreamed of painting solar cells to generate energy on just about any surface, but efficiency has been a problem; researchers were happy to get one percent just a couple of years ago. At last, though, it looks like viable paint-on power is close at hand. A team at the University of Sheffield has developed spray-on cells that should be both cheap and capable. The trick is to coat an object in perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral -- it's inexpensive like organic solar cells, but absorbs light nearly as well as silicon.
Notre Dame heralds paint-on solar cells, wants to smear your home with its goop (video)
Leave it to the Fighting Irish to take a stab at solving the world's energy woes. Notre Dame researchers have successfully developed solar cells that can be easily painted on to any conductive surface. Imagine, for a moment, applying this solution to your home rather than attaching solar panels to the roof. The paint mixture incorporates quantum dots of titanium dioxide, which is then coated with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide, and is then suspended in mixture of water and alcohol to create a spreadable compound that's capable of generating electricity. While its efficiency isn't currently much to crow home about -- which hovers around one-percent -- scientists are now actively pursuing ways to improve this aspect while making a more stable compound. Most importantly, the paint can be made cheaply and in large quantities, which suggests that even if efficiency remains in the doldrums, it may be a very worthwhile pursuit. Touchdown Jesus is already watching the video after the break.
Quantum dots could coat the world in nano-sized solar panels
We've long believed in the mystical power of quantum dots, so it makes perfect sense to us that one day they'll be used to fully harness the Sun God's rays and thereby save the planet. The nano-particles turn light into electricity, and could potentially be manufactured cheaply and abundantly enough to coat surfaces in current-generating paint. The main obstacle to this has so far been efficiency: the clever little dots just don't work very hard. However, scientists at the University of Toronto now claim to have discovered a fix. Instead of using a single layer of particles, which can only harvest one meager wavelength from the full gamut of solar light, they added a second coat on top and configured it to be sensitive to an additional part of the spectrum. By adding third and fourth layers, the researchers hope to achieve a commercially viable efficiency of 10-percent within the next five years. We humbly call on Ra to be pleased with their efforts.
World of WarCrafts: Cataclysm's Edge
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.Ever wanted to wield an epic weapon from the game in real life or at least put one up on display to promote your geekdom? With a few simple supplies from your neighborhood hobby merchant and a bit of elbow grease you could be the proud new owner of your very own Cataclysm's Edge... replica. Or you could just spend close to 4 Benjamins and order this fine piece of weaponry. Here is what you will need: Balsa Wood x2 Wood Shapes (squares) Spray Paint (black, red, silver, orange/yellow) Acrylic Paint (black, brown, silver) Paintbrush Xacto Knife (with new blades) Ruler Wood Glue Click on the images below to view a gallery of step-by-step instructions. %Gallery-27921%
DIY DS: custom paint-job
Jealous of the myriad different colors the DS is available in, while you're stuck with boring old silver? The introduction of the Nintendo DS lite is sure to find plenty of current DS owners evaluating the aesthetic value of their trusty, though humble, handhelds. Why bother with a stock, off the shelf variation when you can custom paint your own?Flickr user inajamaica has undertaken the laborious task of dismantling and painting his DS, and was thoughtful enough to photograph the entire process and put it online. Many of the images have captions and info boxes, helping to decipher what's what. Everything looks great, but the final color is... uh, bright? Hopefully the set will be updated with the finished product.[Via DS Fanboy]
