rc
Latest
Traxxas X0-1 RC car can reach 100 mph, decimate your bank account in under five seconds (video)
In the off-chance that you haven't already started holiday shopping for your favorite Engadget editors, we'd like to turn your attention to the new X0-1 from hobby RC car manufacturer, Traxxas. This little speed demon can do zero to 60MPH in 2.3 seconds and zero to 100MPH in a cool 4.92 seconds. The diminutive sports car also has built-in speed, voltage and RPM monitoring. It'll go on sale December 30th for $1,100, for a slightly belated -- and rather expensive -- gift for the Fast and the Furious reenactor in your life. Video of this sucker in action after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
First manned multicopter takes flight, brave human sits amidst blades (video)
What could have ended in human chop suey, instead resulted in victory for German engineers at e-volo as they successfully completed the first manned flight of an electric multicopter. The human death trap multicopter uses multiple mini helicopters to lift the passenger upwards -- who's snuggled in the center of the carnage, firmly strapped to a squishy exercise ball. Like an UAV, the hovering device is controlled via radio control from the ground -- talk about trusting. The passenger was able to hold on for one minute and 30-second of flight victory, causing raucous celebrations from the Wright brothers in aviation heaven. Click past the break for the video.
Rotor Concept HPQ-1 quadcopter eyes-on (video)
We're here at the PhotoPlus show in New York, and as usual, the stranger products are being showcased on the outskirts of the show. A company called Rotor Concept out of Southern California was showing off the HPQ-1, a quadcopter designed to lug around your digital camera.The copter itself is surprisingly quiet and steady, the latter of which is no doubt helped out by the presence of four propellers and advanced stabilization system (put the controller down and it will automatically hold its position). The HPQ-1 can hold payloads of up to 12 ounces, so users can use standard digital cameras to live stream events or a pair of smaller shooters to capture arial 3D clips. According to the company, SWAT teams are looking into using the product for surveillance. The other recommended usage? Weddings, of course. The copter can reach a max altitude of 2,000 feet and has a theoretical maximum flight radius of up to a mile. It's available now for an MSRP of $899. Peep a quick video after the break. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report. %Gallery-137708%
K-MAX unmanned chopper delivers Air Force salute to Afghan danger (video)
It's a year since Lockheed Martin won the contract to provide an unmanned cargo delivery system to the US military and now its first K-MAX helicopter is just about ready for duty. The 6,000-pound RC chopper is scheduled to journey to the manifold fronts of Afghanistan next month, where it'll get busy ferrying its own bodyweight in ammo and supplies to needy anthills up to 200km away. And, if things get too sticky for laptop flying, there's always room for a brave soul to jump in there and grab the controls. You'll find a fresh demo video after the break, plus we've also stuck in that fancy clip from last year to rotor your memory.
iOS-controlled iW500 RC car defies gravity, paint job may drive you up the wall (video)
Driving cars on the floor is so passe, which is exactly why you need iHelicoter's wall-scaling iW500. We've seen similar gravity-defying propositions in the past, but this is the first to be controlled by your iOS device. Belying its 90s toy looks, the car attaches itself to vertical surfaces with a sealed vacuum that even has enough suck to drive upside-down across your ceiling. As you'll see in the video after the break, controls are handled using the built-in accelerometer on your phone or tablet as well as the touchscreen interface on the dedicated app. It'll join a crowded starting grid of iPhone-friendly RC cars, helicopters and monster trucks, priced at $59.99.
Artists hack Sony Ericsson's Xperia phones to see the unseen universe, use fire as a flash
For most of us, cellphones are for texting, calling and maybe the occasional tweet, but what happens when you hand them over to some of the world's most creative minds? Giving hackers, artists and intellectuals free reign to mess with the various Xperia phones, Sony found out just how capable its handsets really are. Using a few tweaks and hacks, artists were able to create an installation that breathes fire when you snap a photo, a remote-controlled boat with GPS and a bike that uses colored lights to spell out secret words only visible when captured on camera. When Sony asked astrophysicist Joshua Peek to give it a go, he took full sky maps and telescope image data to build an app with an up-close view of electromagnetic patterns in the sky. To round out the project, musician Annabel Lindquist composed a song based on the sounds of Paris she recorded with an Arc. Now, if they could just mod one to avoid dropped calls, we'd be all set. Videos of their ingenuity in action after the break.
FPV servo controlled plane grabs epic vacation footage, puts old family videos to shame (video)
By the time winter rolls around, Alistair Roberts will probably remember his summer vacation a heckuva lot better than the rest of us. Why? Because he brought an FPV plane to record his mountain biking holiday in the Spanish sun. With a GoPro camera mounted on the servo-powered cradle, Alistair piloted the plane by moving his head and using a remote control -- all while streaming first person video from the cockpit into a pair of goggles. By pairing the high tech toy with another GoPro on his dad's mountain bike, and a stationary camera on the ground, Alistair was able to create a truly amazing vacation video from 1200 - 1500 feet in the air traveling around 20kmph (12mph) -- way cooler than any of the ones our dads recorded back in the day. Check out the video after the break. [Thanks, @btudor]
LG Hom-Bot 2.0 Smart Robot Vacuum Cleaner hands-on (video)
Smile, you're on Vacucam! LG's Hom-Bot (RoboKing in the US) was zipping around its own special playpen on the stage at the company's IFA booth today, picking up the occasional speck of dust and using its dual cams to spy on bloggers and Germans, while also diligently avoiding a plastic family dog along its ten-square-foot cube of real estate. The bot's Smart ThinQ technology enables it to interact with an Android or iPhone app, which you'll use to watch a live video feed from its built-in cam, send it rolling to a specific point in the house in "Patrol" mode, or adjust settings. You can also log in remotely, assuming your Hom-Bot is powered up and has a WiFi connection. Official US and Euro pricing and availability hasn't been announced yet, but an LG rep suggested we'll see it in the €500-700 range (about $710-995 US). Cameras and interactivity are nice and all, but that's a lot to spend on any vacuum cleaner. Today's trade show sneak peek is probably the closest we'll be getting to this pricey little vac, so roll past the break for some super action footage.%Gallery-132520%
LG launches 'RoboKing Triple Eye' smartphone-controlled vacuuming robot
You won't have to leave your post on the couch, but you will have to lift a finger to your smartphone in order to tidy up with LG's 'RoboKing Triple Eye' VR6180VMNV robot vacuum. Unlike it's purple cousin who spends his time looking inwards, this little guy is always looking outward with its three cameras, capturing video and sending it to your smartphone or PC over WiFi. The robot uses sensors to create a plan of attack map of your home, allowing you to move it around by clicking the filthiest parts. Like a well-trained puppy, the dust buster also responds to voice commands from up to 5 feet away and it doesn't even bark -- only emitting 48dB of sound while sucking up dust. Of course, laziness of this caliber doesn't come cheap, as it costs 899,000 Korean won, or around $840 bones.
3D-printed Mario Kart turtle shells race to rescue American economy
As soon as you see these little RC Koopa shells, you know that life can't be that bad. In fact, they've already had a hallelujah-inducing impact on the world of the 3D-printing genius who created them. Ten days ago, Michael Curry (aka Skimbal) was among America's 13.9 million unemployed, having been unceremoniously booted out of his ailing architect's firm. All he had was a $700 MakerBot printer to stop his hands from idling, but he made the most of it. MakerBot saw his stuff and were as bowled over as we are, so they just gave the guy a job. We're dusting off our Wii controllers and even those little plastic steering wheels in celebration.
Android trash can robot begs the question: 'Why are you hitting yourself?' (video)
We've seen robots that look like they've had one too many, but we're pretty sure this little guy needs to check into rehab. Despite its absolutely adorable appearance, this Android seems hell-bent on destruction, literally beating itself up, and eventually falling on its face. Built using the requisite Arduino, a trash can, some LEDs, and a slew of other components, this little guy was apparently created in three days on a budget just barely exceeding $100. You can see a video of the waste-bin bot hitting rock bottom at the source link below, but please refrain from laughing; Android alcoholism is a serious issue.
Windows Phone beta app plays nice with WHS 2011, streams media from your network
Fancy accessing your Windows Home Server directly from your Windows Phone? Then you might want to experiment with the Phone Connector add-in for WHS 2011 beta (aka Vail). This lets you connect you to core network functions and settings via an app on your handset, including alerts, user accounts and connected devices. Crucially, it also streams all your lovely media, so long as it's in WP-supported codecs. And if you pin the app to your home screen, you'll get a nifty live tile with your network's name, free disk space and a breakdown of network health alerts. Sure, you might have a bit of fuss to get this RC working, but then that's half the fun.
Japanese ball drone knows how to make an entrance (video)
Japan's Ministry of Defense is pretty good at its hovering drones, but we're not entirely convinced that this one will be fit for purpose. The RC reconnaissance scout reminds us of a spherical Iain M. Banks Culture drone, which is neat, except that this one's more conspicuous, dies after just eight minutes and was constructed not by an intergalactic artificial consciousness, but by a bunch of geeks who went foraging for parts in Akihabara. Nevertheless, it can do 40MPH and is surprisingly agile, as you'll see in the video -- watch out for the kissogram moment.
RC car enthusiast shows his Horde pride
WoW Insider reader Rene is an RC racing enthusiast and Horde at heart. He sent us some awesome pictures of his Mugen Seiki MBX-5T RC racer done up in true Horde fashion. I have no idea how you would get a tauren behind these wheels, however. After taking an extended WoW break, Rene picked up RC car racing as a hobby and, well, I think the above shot says all that needs to be said.
Six-rotor drone counts trees, not kills
Relax everybody, unlike its antonymous quadrocopter cousins, this six-rotor drone isn't here to kill, only to count plants. Researchers from Oregon State University are hanging cameras from reasonably-priced RC aircraft to help nurseries track inventory -- a task often performed by workers wandering the orchards and keeping tally by hand. Image analysis software automates the process and, with the addition of other sensors (such as infrared), it could one day be used to spot irrigation problems, identify diseased trees, and estimate crop yield. The machines themselves can climb to over 80 feet and stay aloft for up to 40 minutes while hauling 5-pounds of photo gear. At around $10,000 it's a safe bet that no one will be shooting bottle rockets at balloons with this thing, but it should be well within the reach of farmers who spend that much in money and manpower to track their trees anyway. Two more photos after the break.
RC car runs on soda can rings, Doc Brown approves (video)
Many a future engineer was inspired by Back to the Future's Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, and not just because he proved that unkempt eccentrics could truly change the world. No, he also pioneered Mr. Fusion, the coffee maker/cold fusion reactor that turned garbage into energy. And while we're still waiting for cold fusion and time travel to become a reality, today we're all one step closer to waste-powered cars. A pair of Spanish engineers have recently unveiled the dAlH2Orean (see what they did there?), a R/C car that runs on aluminum. Dropping a few soda can tabs into a tank of sodium hydroxide produces enough hydrogen to power the little speedster for 40 minutes – at almost 20mph. Hit the video above to see it in action, along with your daily helping of the Chemical Brothers. Fitting.
Man steers R/C car with his hands, not to mention an HTML5-based web app (video)
With the right Arduino board, an R/C race car, a couple paperclips and the MacGyver spirit, we imagine most anyone can hack together a creative remote control these days... but how many can open-source an HTML5 web app that'll do the deed from any tablet, phone or PC? Gaurav Manek crafted just such a thing, and he'll demonstrate it for you on an Apple iPad in the video immediately above. What's more, he's also got a Kinect hack that uses Microsoft depth camera (with Code Laboratories' NUI SDK) to control the very same with the wave of a well-placed hand -- we're already envisioning fisticuffs should he and a lab partner try for some head-to-head racing action. That said, you don't need to wait for an illustrious creator to have all the fun. Why not download his source code at our links below and give it a go yourself?
Mozilla Firefox 4 RC for Android and Maemo now up for grabs
If you're liking what Firefox 4 for mobile already offers in its previous beta builds, then you'll certainly want to check out its release candidate that went live on Monday -- just less than six months after the browser when beta. According to Mozilla, this new build provides a better overall user experience with faster scrolling and improved Firefox Sync, along with other goodies like Awesome Screen smart shortcuts, tabbed browsing, Firefox Add-ons, and Persona themes. Sounds a lot like its desktop sibling (which has a healthy 4.9 million downloads already), doesn't it? Head over to the source page for the Android and Maemo download links, or you can have a look at Mozilla's latest video after the break if you need some convincing.
Homebuilt UAV hunts down hydrogen balloons, shoots firework missiles (video)
Augmented reality is swell, don't get us wrong, but it's no substitute for the real thing -- especially when that thing is a badass tricopter equipped with a jury-rigged firework cannon to rain down miniature hell. Swedish R/C enthusiasts built this first-person flying contraption to carry out a single mission -- destroy a series of hydrogen-filled balloons -- which will hopefully be hard-coded into future automatons too. After all, balloons could serve as an excellent distraction when they inevitably come for you. Still, there's no need to worry quite yet, so kick back and enjoy the video above while you contemplate humanity's end.
AppToyz iPhone-controlled RC car and copter are more reasons to have fun with your phone (video)
We, like you, have looked longingly at the Parrot AR.Drone. We've had a lot of fun experimenting with its augmented reality gaming ways and spent a lot of time sighing at its $299 price. Thankfully there's now a much cheaper option -- much less sophisticated, but one that is nevertheless cheaper. It's the AppToyz helicopter, coming to retail soon and costing a (relatively) affordable £50, or about $80. It looks to be evolved from the standard, tiny, IR-controlled helicopters that are everywhere now, but this one's controlled by your iPhone or iPod touch courtesy of an attachment that clips into the headphone port, much like the suite of universal remote iPhone dongles we've seen over the years. There's also an RC car coming, somewhat more affordable at £30, though only the copter is demonstrated in the video embedded below. Go ahead and watch, and then start eagerly awaiting their release, currently slated for April.
