Natrium42
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Nintendo DS bots in full force
What? You still only play video games on your NDS? It's time to look and learn from these restless DS owners who've promoted their trusty handhelds to robots on a mission. Natrium 42's homebrew kit is an open robot platform that lets you control your RoboDS (pictured right) with an NDS WiFi connection through a web browser interface. You can add a wireless camera to use it for remote spy tactics or strap on a laser pointer to burn enemies' corneas play mean-spirited red dot target jokes on your friends. On a lighter note, Bob Sabiston's bot takes a more poetic route and makes up for those art skills you never had. Sabiston, a professional programmer and engineer, got Nintendo to send him a DS software development kit which allowed him to pump out a sweet painting and animation app to make his DS bot a visual virtuoso (example pictured left). Hopefully with more bot-mods to come, the DS is really blossoming from what we know and love into the task droid we've always wanted.[Via DS Fanboy]Read - Bob Sabiston's artiste botRead - Natrium 42's RoboDS
Your very own RoboDS
We are sure that Natrium42 had the best of intentions when he put together RoboDS, an open robot platform that uses a Nintendo DS as an electric brain to receive commands via its Wi-Fi Connection, but we fear his creation might be what eventually spells mankind's doom. The homebrew superstar has not only brought this mechanical monstrosity to life, but he has ensured the robot army's dominance over earth and the enslavement of the human race by allowing curious tinkerers everywhere to pre-order their own RoboDS war machines.Natrium42 has a prototype RoboDS in his basement that you can watch and control from your internet browser. With the three-camera setup, you can either view snapshots of the wheeled handheld's movements or watch streaming video from its two affixed webcams when it's your turn to navigate the futuristic beast. There is even an attached laser that would be perfect for PowerPoint presentations or tearing down our cities.At this early stage, the prototype RoboDS is prone to malfunctions which can leave the platform moving in circles or completely unresponsive. While we would like to attribute these glitches to coding errors, our distrust of technology has convinced us that RoboDS is actually reprogramming its AI ... for murder![Via Drunken Coders]
