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Ben Heck's Hackbotz, part 1
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-2").style.display="none";}catch(e){} With the return of BattleBots and Robot Wars, The Ben Heck Show team produce a real-life Nintendo Mario Kart battle arena with robot kits. In this first of a three-part series, the robots are assembled -- and weaponized -- without instructions. Join Ben as he shows us how to combine motor controller driver hardware with a custom LiPo battery pack. Meanwhile, Felix introduces us to XBee to wirelessly remote control the robots, and considers using Bluetooth with an Intel Edison chip. However, Felix is keeping his weaponizing details under wraps; it'll have to be something good since Karen has something crazy in mind! Tell us your ideas for your battling robots over at the element14 Community.
element1408.07.2016
Sabertron: a foam lightsaber game that finally proves who's got the most midi-chlorians
Chances are you've clutched a lightsaber or two in your time, whether that be an inexpensive imitation of the iconic Jedi weapon, or a deluxe model. You may even be a veteran duelist, but unless you're willing to commit murder with a Star Wars toy (or, someone else could just score the bout, we guess), then the dance always ends with no true victor. If you think that something with a name like Sabertron can't solve this dilemma, then these aren't the swords you're looking for. Just launched on Kickstarter, the idea of Sabertron is pretty simple: foam sword, electronics to detect blows, LED scoreboard above the grip. The current prototype uses an Arduino board with accelerometer to register hits, with Xbee handling the wireless connection so swords know when they've merely collided, and when to shut off LEDs after an opponent's successful strike. Also, a control panel and screen built into the grip lets you pick between different game modes for one-on-one combat. During the year, LevelUp intends to created a chest/back mounted scoreboard with proximity detection that'll allow for multiplayer battles, with other accessories for the Sabertron range expected later. While it's aimed at Star Wars fans and live-action role players primarily, only a fun-sponge would be incapable of enjoying a few rounds of Alliance vs Empire with a buddy. And, with early bird pledges of $99 getting you a pair, breaking the will of Jedi scum doesn't have to break the bank.
Jamie Rigg01.29.2014
Google Glass mod gives you control over home appliances with one touch pairing
The beauty of Glass is that we're just barely scratching the surface of what Google's smart eyewear can, and eventually will, do. Leave it then to the brainiac undergrads at UC Berkeley's CITRIS lab to show us one possible direction that sees the wearables modded for at-home convenience. By adding an IR emitter to the side of Glass, the Berkeley team was able to demonstrate remote control of home appliances by pairing them with an Xbee 802.15.4 WiFi radio and microcontroller. The controls for the setup are simple. A user need only look at the intended appliance to bridge a connection -- made possible by an IR-transmitted device ID -- and view toggles for control. We know what you're thinking: how does Glass select one appliance from a cluster of nearby devices? To accommodate for this hassle, the team's made it so that the heads-up display will show the user a numerical range of selectable devices and a blinking, blue LED on the intended target when pairing is successful. Users can also swap between appliances by swiping down on Glass' touchpad or allowing for a connection timeout. Yes, it's still early days for cumbersome Glass prototypes like this one, but we'd bet the farm you'll be turning on the AC with the blink of an eye before long. You can check out the demo video after the break for proof of this Glass concept.
Joseph Volpe12.10.2013
Robugtix's 3D-printed T8 spiderbot will terrify your friends for $1,350 (video)
Whether they run, jump or swim, there are plenty of robots around to be fearful of. None have quite exacerbated our arachnophobia as much as Robugtix's T8 octopod, however. The 3D-printed spiderbot not only looks the part, but employs 26 servo motors to drive its unnervingly life-like movement. Bigfoot's baked-in "Inverse Kinematics Engine" deals with all of the background computations, so you don't have to be a coding genius to work it. Instead, users send "short and simple commands" to the bot via wireless XBee or any other method you can hook up to its Rx / Tx pins. Expected to ship at the end of September, the T8 is available now for a special pre-order price of $1,350, and you can add $85 to that if you want one of Robugtix's analog-stick controllers for real-time direction. If that sounds a bit pricey, there's another option in the much cuter $250 iitsii hexapod, which is predicted to ship late August. Check out the shudder-inducing video of the T8 below, then follow it up with the iitsii demo to help you forget.
Jamie Rigg07.04.2013
Insert Coin semifinalist: Radiator Labs rethinks steam heat, we go hands-on
If you've ever lived in a building that was heated by steam, there's a good chance that you've experienced comfort levels that were less than ideal. Now, Insert Coin semifinalist Radiator Labs is working to bring a solution to market that'll make your living space a lot more tolerable, and as an added bonus, it'll save energy at the same time. We took a moment to catch up with Marshall Cox, co-founder of Radiator Labs, here at Expand, who explained the elegantly simple solution that the company has in store. At its most fundamental level, what you have is an oven mitt for your radiator that's augmented with a temperature sensor and an exhaust fan. Whenever the ambient heat reaches your set comfort level (which can be controlled from the web or a smartphone app), the fan will shut off and the insulating cover -- described to us as ironing board material -- will prevent additional heat from escaping. From here, steam is redistributed to other apartments that need it, rather than turning your unit into a sauna. Beyond this eco-friendly element, Radiator Labs is integrating a phase change material into its product that can store energy and heat an apartment for up to four hours without assistance from the boiler. Going deeper down the rabbit hole, Radiator Labs is exploring some nifty technologies such as an Xbee mesh network, which it's using to evaluate the energy-saving benefits at play. While this component won't be integrated into the consumer version, we could see commercial installations that include wireless communications with the boiler itself. Combined with the phase change material, this would allow a boiler to fire much less often -- seems like a great idea, if you ask us. We're told that Radiator Labs will be seeking crowd-funding for its product this fall, which will be available in the $250 price range. For additional peeks at what's to come, be sure to check the gallery. Jon Fingas contributed to this report. %Gallery-183017%
Zachary Lutz03.16.2013
Arduino project has Sega Rally cabinets steer RC cars: like the game with more bruised ankles (video)
We've seen attempts at recreating video game racing in real life. For Artica and The Arcade Man, there's no desire to preserve the illusion -- they've jury-rigged two Sega Rally cabinets to control the strictly real-world racing experiences of RC cars. Their two-machine setup from the recent Codebits VI event in Portugal yanks the original arcade computing power in favor of an Arduino-powered system that maps the steering wheel and pedals to the tiny vehicles through a wireless Xbee link. The setup does make a nod to traditional video games through the cameras, however: drivers can pick either an arcade-style overhead camera or jump to a cabin-level view. The only true challenge during the build process was to find viable displays for the rigs, as the original CRTs proved too problematic for the retrofit. Some might consider it sacrilege to gut a classic cabinet for the sake of some RC action, but the end result is a racing experience that's at once very familiar and yet surprisingly fresh. Spectators had better watch their feet, though -- the competition might get fierce out there.
Jon Fingas11.26.2012
Q2 and Q4 Xbee controllers have the gimbals to handle your most unwieldy robotics projects
Yes, we've seen an XBee radio interface with RC robots before, but Quantum Robotics' open-source Xbee handheld controllers have enough gimbals, push buttons and toggle switches to leave us starry-eyed. The Q2 and Q4, both open for funding on Kickstarter, use a XBee wireless transceiver to transfer data and a Parallex Propeller to act as the main processor, and both models put most controllers to shame with a ton of options. While the Q4 uses four PlayStation-style joysticks, the Q2 sports two RC gimbals, and both can be modified to add extra functionality based on the project at hand. Clearly, the more complicated the robot, the more fun these controllers are -- take a look at the Q4 interacting with a hexapod and a robotic arm in the video below.
Sarah Silbert07.12.2012
XBee grows up, delivers WiFi to DIYers and Arduino enthusiasts
Good news DIYers, XBee now comes in WiFi flavors. The favorite wireless module of Arduino tinkerers everywhere is growing up and adding 802.11n to its normal compliment of RF and ZigBee options. Development kits are available now starting at $149 per board, with add-on modules like embedded or wire antennas and RF connectors clocking in at $49. It might not seem like a big deal to some of you out there, but anyone who's contemplated building a Tweet-a-Watt or a Yarn Monster will appreciate being able skip adding a ZigBee adapter to their PC. Check out the PR after the break.
Terrence O'Brien07.29.2011
Networked 'On Air' light illuminates when webcast begins, dims when it ends (video)
We won't get into the myriad ways to impress one's audience while engaging in a live video podcast, but here's one that slides into the 'surefire' category. The crafty folks over at MAKE decided to construct an automated On Air light for their new live sessions, and rather than automating it with a human hand flipping a switch at a predetermined time, they decided to wire it up to receive signals from a UStream API. In essence, the light is programmed to turn on when the podcast shows 'online,' and turn off when that status changes to 'offline.' It's a beautifully simple concept, and yet, so illuminating. See for yourself after the break.
Darren Murph03.08.2011
NXTBee enables long-distance wireless for Mindstorms NXT, funny little RC cars (video)
Lego Mindstorms NXT is robotic democratization, DIY designing for the everyman, but being stuck with only Bluetooth or IR wireless can put a bit of a damper on your egalitarian goals. No more. Dexter industries (who previously brought us solar-powered Mindstorms) has created the NXTBee, which uses the an Xbee radio to send data much further: 300 feet for the base $55 NXTBee, up to a mile if you opt for the $78 NXTBee-PRO. You'll probably need two of the things, though, so make sure you budget appropriately. There's definitely some lag evident in the video of a long-range RC car below, but we're not sure if that's the wireless or the machine itself. Regardless, that's surely a design challenge that won't stop you from having fun with this one.
Tim Stevens02.14.2011
Esper Dominoes topple without touching, we fall all over ourselves (video)
Quick, what's wrong with this picture? Oh, that's right -- dominoes don't topple all by themselves, do they? But these aren't your average tiles. Constructed by Japanese interaction researchers in 2009, these "Esper Dominoes" each have ZigBee radios inside, and as each stone falls it wirelessly tells the next to follow suit, all down the line. Of course, knowing all that, why would you ever settle for a boring row of five? Hit the break to see what these bones are really capable of, and join us in praying that some entrepreneur mass produces these perfect stocking stuffers before another two years fly by.
Sean Hollister02.03.2011
Yarn-eating Yarn Monster forms yarn balls, makes us want to build our own (video)
Robots, Arduino, and monsters are all very close to our new-age, gadget-loving hearts. The folks over at Union Bridge Labs have created a half-monster, half-machine dubbed the Yarn Monster. This little cubic beast has one job -- to eat yarn and shape it into a perfectly rolled ball of, well, yarn. It's powered by a ton of hardware, from a stepper motor to Arduino components to even a universal mounting hub. Instructions to control speed of the nom-noming are sent to the Arduino via XBee from a remotely connected potentiometer which can also reverse the direction of yarn-ball rolling. We encourage you to spend your hard-earned dough (about $130), buy the proper components and build one of these things to impress your loved ones. If not though, be sure to watch the video after the break.
Sam Sheffer01.05.2011
Found Footage: The iPhone-controlled, solar-powered Arduino tank
Are you the type of person who likes to handcraft your Christmas gifts? This year, perhaps you can make someone's Christmas Day just a little bit brighter and happier when they unwrap their very own iPhone-controlled, solar-powered Arduino tank. As you can view in the video above, the tank is pretty impressive in its current form; it could be used to strike terror into the hearts of unsuspecting senior citizens or small animals. It was built by Chris Rojas, a Colorado-based geek who used the iPhone TouchOSC app [US$4.99, iTunes Link], various parts from SparkFun including XBee modules and robot kits, and the Arduino open-source electronics prototyping platform to create this cool little tank. The tank can be charged by exposing a belly-mounted photovoltaic panel to the sun. Maybe it's just me, but I'd love to see one of these modded out with a spinning saw blade, lasers, and maybe a paintball gun... What would be your accessory of choice for your iPhone-controlled tank? [via Cult of Mac]
Steve Sande12.07.2009
Video: surviving Pleo loses remaining autonomy, gets controlled by Wii Nunchuk
Aw, how timely. Shortly after the Pleo lineage fell victim to economic pressures, an all-too-cute video has surfaced showing a remaining creature being controlled by a Wii Nunchuk. In reality, the underlying abuse here is quite sad -- for those unaware, Pleo was designed to be entirely autonomous, and the first step to regaining control over it is to implement a "Pleo Stunner" in order to shock him into silence. From there, an XBee-based solution is used to tap into his control system and override every single instinct the poor sap ever had. If you're into this type of sadistic torture (or you're just an aspiring dictator), check the read link for all the instructions you need to fulfill your own evil desires. For those just interested in a good chuckle, the vid's after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Darren Murph04.25.2009
iPhone and 360 Chatpad hacked into a wireless mess of need
This hack isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, it's more a demonstration of Dr. Ralf Ackermann's technical badassery than anything practical. But its as good as it gets until Apple achieves a state of sanity and flips the switch on its Bluetooth stack to finally allow us the option of pairing a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone. The setup starts with a cobbled together Xbox 360 Chatpad and XBee wireless module. The good doctor then takes a Jailbroken phone (naturally) and attaches another wireless XBee module to the iPhone's jury-rigged serial port housed in an Akku enclosure. A work in progress, it will ultimately rely upon a VNC server running on the iPhone to feed keyboard input to any application of your choosing. See Apple, this is the corner of desperation that you've backed us into.Update: Video added after the break.
Thomas Ricker11.11.2008
Digi's XBee Wall Router expands ZigBee network range
If you've been scouting an unobtrusive range extender for your ZigBee network, look no further than Digi International's XBee Wall Router. If you'll recall, this isn't the first ZigBee extender sharing the same name (acquisitions tend to do that), but this little bugger simply plugs into a standard AC socket and "patches areas within a ZigBee network where signal erosion or loss occurs due to distance limitations or air interference." Additionally, it serves to create "multiple pathways, increasing the redundancy of the mesh communications," and the US flavor even includes an integrated mounting tab to prevent "accidental unplugging." Sound like just what you need? If so, you can snag one right now for $79.
Darren Murph12.11.2007