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Archives: September 2007

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September 27, 2007

iRobot previews ConnectR telepresence unit

IRobot released their new Looj gutter-cleaning robot ($99) today and showed off their forthcoming ConnectR, a telepresence bot built on (literally) the success of the Roomba line of bots. The ConnectR has the same basic form-factor as Roomba with a webcam mounted on it. It can be controlled over the Web and offers remote audio and video for what iRobot has dubbed "virtual visiting." Can't wait to how this one gets hacked up. First order of business might be extending that camera on a stalk. Somehow, I don't see granny and gramps getting down on the rug for your once a month "virtual visits."

The ConnectR will be released next year and retail for $499. The company is taking candidates for a beta-test program now which'll allow you to get the bot for $199.

iRobot ConnectR Virtual Visiting Robot - [via] Link

Related:

Your next robot domestic - Link

Yet another device charging station

There are a number of these neat n' tidy multi-device charging station projects floating through the interwebs. This one uses a cheap Ikea storage tub and features switches for each charger.

IKEA Power Charging Box with individual switches - Link

Color-coded user-serviceable radio, circa 1948

Boing Boing Gadgets points us to this fascinating piece from the January 1949 issue of PopSci for a consumer radio that sports color-coded components that can be easily swapped out by the user. A harbinger of the consumer electronics revolution to come. In fact, it was SO easy to repair that even "Mother Could Fix This Radio" (ouch).

Mother Could Fix This Radio (Jan, 1948) - [via] Link

Autonomous Sailboat Racing

Roaboat

I've always been curious about autopilots and autonomous sailboat racing takes that to a higher level. Coming next year there will be an autonomous sailboat competition accross the Atlantic! Pictured above is the roboat, winner of the Aberystwyth race. [via] Link

TONIGHT:: Create Digital Music, ETSY & MAKE - Handmade music night 9/27 8pm! NYC

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TONIGHT, NYC! Handmade Music is an evening of original creations for music making, open to the creative minds of the New York area. It's equal parts party, show-and-tell, performance, and science fair, open to whatever oddball software and hardware people want to bring, complete or not. Some come with projects, others just to hear and see unusual new instruments, from software to game systems to homemade electronic instruments.

Each installment brings plenty of surprises, but appearances confirmed
for this one include:

A featured performance by Richard Lainhart, a renowned electronic improviser and innovator
Seven-foot tall "Suburbanite" aka "60 Switches of Fury", a music controller by Eric Johnson
The Monome, a minimalist open-source hardware controller with grids of buttons
A fluid musical instrument controller entirely by webcam, by Peter Kirn
Lots of other things that may just appear

The event is a convergence of the music community/blog createdigitalmusic.com, the kings and queens of all things DIY at Make Magazine and makezine.com, and handmade marketplace Etsy.com. The event is hosted at Brooklyn's community workshop, Etsy Labs.

If you wanna come, please rsvp@etsy.com. If you wanna bring something, tell us about it in your rsvp email...

Thursday, September 27th. 8PM. Etsy Labs. 325 Gold St. 6th Floor. Brooklyn. See you! (Map).

Rube Goldberg does drains

Check out this crazy-cool drainage system on an apartment building in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately there's no other info besides the pic.

Drainage systems just got interesting - Link

Seven-segment big LED display

Cool Circuit has a how-to on building large (6" high") 7-segment digital displays using 14 super-bright white LEDs. They use the PIC16F876A microcontroller and can be cascade-connected to form up to an 8-digit display.

Big 7-segment - [via] Link

Yankee Steam-Up this weekend in East Greenwich, RI

The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is once again firing up the big boiler and connecting dozens of steam engines, large and small. It's an incredible sight; you'll see tabletop steam engines, huge industrial steam engines, and even some steam powered vehicles. As a bonus, the wireless museum is open, with all sorts of amazing equipment from the early days of radio. And if previous years are any indication, the Massie Station spark gap transmitter will be up and running.

The Original Yankee Steam-Up
For model makers, Machinists, Engineers & Historians
Saturday September 29, 2007
9:00AM-4:00PM
1300 Frenchtown Road, East Greenwich, RI 02818
Steam & Compressed Air for Models.
Licensed Boilers & Licensed Engineers.
New Englands Largest Steam-Up Boiler.
Giant Working Steam Engines & Hot Air & IC.

Admission is $15 and children under 12 get in for $5. All Steam-Up proceeds go to the museum's upkeep. For more information, call (401) 885-0545 or visit the web site.

Related:

Photos from past Steam-Ups - Link
Massie Station - Link
Photos from 2005 Yankee Steam-Up - Link
Boiler Room: a Visit to the Annual Yankee Steam-up - Link

DIY rainwater harvester by FutureFarmers

Rainwater Harvester
This is a nice DIY rainwater harvester built by Amy Franceschini and Mike Swaine (both of FutureFarmers).

Link to Images

The World of Arts Cars documentary

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid posted the four-part video series, The World of Arts Cars, on his site. Part 1 is above. If you're interested, you can find Parts 2, 3, and 4 on Laughing Squid. Scott also has info on ArtCar Fest, which starts today (Bay Area).

Weird America's World of Art Cars Videos - Link

September 26, 2007

Clayton Bailey profile

You may have bumped into Clayton Bailey's work online before. He's a crazed robot sculptor, ceramics artist, armorer, ray gun builder, and all-around Dail-esque weirdo (and we mean that in a good way). Here's a profile of him from Weird America.

The Ceramic and Metal Sculpture of Clayton Bailey - Link

Interactive LED coffee table kits

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has teamed up with Because We Can to create two awesome interactive LED coffee tables with hundreds of LEDs in the tops that respond to motion. Because We Can is selling completed tables for $1800 to $2500. EMS Labs is selling the LED tabletop kits (you provide the table and endless hours of soldering) for $350 or $450 (depending on the number of LED panels).

Interactive LED Coffee Tables: Update and kits! - Link

Todd Blair

Toddblair016
On Saturday night, pioneering machine art group Survival Research Laboratories performed at the Robodock Arts & Technology Festival in Amsterdam. As the crew was striking the set after the show, longtime SRL participant Todd Blair was knocked to the ground and suffered a catastrophic head injury. He underwent emergency brain surgery and is currently in an induced coma. The physicians hope to bring him out of the coma in the next day or so. The extent of his injuries will not be known until he wakes up, but Todd's family and friends at his bedside remain optimistic. To stay up-to-date on Todd's condition, or support him with a donation, please visit: http://toddblair.wordpress.com/ The staff and readership of MAKE: send Todd best wishes for a speedy recovery! We're with you all the way.

Turn a Symbian Series 60 phone into a webcam

Smartcam is an open source utility that will turn a bluetooth-enabled Symbian Series 60 camera phone into a webcam that you can use on your Windows PC. Half of the application runs on the phone, reads from the camera and sends video frames to the PC via bluetooth. The other half of the application runs in Windows, receives the video frames and creates a virtual web camera that can be used in programs like Skype or Yahoo messenger.

There's not much documentation, and the project is still alpha, but if you can grep the source, you technically have everything you need to make other applications which pull live video from the phone.

SmartCam project page on SourceForge - [via] Link

HOW TO - Make a portable camping stove

This video shows you how to make a simple cook stove out of little more than two soda cans, some fiberglass, and Heet (the gas-line anti-freeze).

Make a DIY Portable Stove - Link

Related:

Penny alcohol backpacking stove - Link
HOW TO - Build an emergency heating stove - Link

Hacking away the clutter

I hate clutter. But like every other media and tech junkie, my world is awash in print and recorded media and gadgets with cables, lots and lots of cables. Unclutterer is designed for those of us who want to have it both ways: neat and tidy and totally wired. They have lots of tips and tricks for hiding cords, charging stations, media centers (and the media that feed them), etc. In the above vid, they show how to use a cheap towel rack to get all of those cords off the ground behind your entertainment center.

Unclutterer - Link

Related:

War on cables - Link
Cable management - Link
ClosetMaid Hacking - Link
Docking pack for your gadgets - Link

The MP3stick is a simple and small portable MP3 player. A microcontroller Atmel AVR ATmega128 is the heart of the circuit. MP3 decoding is done by an VLSI VS1011b decoder IC. A MMC/SD card works as memory medium for MP3 files, playlist files and skin files. The player is designed to draw his power from a LiIo/LiPo battery with 3.6V. a charger cicuit, based on MAX1811, is included. All information will be shown on a Nokia color LCD with 128x128 pixel and 256 colors. The player will work in text-only mode and if a skin file is available, also with nice graphic skins. A docking port allows outside connectivity for serial control signals, audio signals and charger voltage input.

۝The MP3 stick (DIY/Homemade MP3 player) - Link.