Juggling robot - 5 balls
Book xylophone - Automated xylophone created from programming books. It’s programmed and powered with actuators of some kind.
RoboPlow - Six wheel drive remote controlled robot with 660 amps of power, designed to plow snow on driveways and sidewalks. I wish I had one of these as a kit. Well, I still do wish I had one…
TEST: How well do you see color?
Test yourself on which colors you can discriminate better than overs. 0 is a perfect score. I got a 44. Blue/green seemed to be my trouble spot.
Recon Scout Throwbot - A small, durable recon robot that can be thrown up to 3 stories, right itself, then maneuver around objects and beam video back to the operator. XT versions are available that work in dirt, grass and gravel as well.
Robot fetches beer from refrigerator - Again, the Willow Garage guys program a PR2 robot to do great things. You can request a beer type from a computer terminal. The robot will go to the fridge, determine available beers, bring back requested beers, and will release the beer if a face appears and looks it in the eye.
It is equipped with a bottle opener and can open your beer if needed. Welcome to the future.
Robot plays pool - The guys at Willow Garage programmed a PR2 robot to play pool. This is a primitive run, but the robot is able to locate the table and balls, decide shots, and does make some long shots, and shots from difficult angles.
This 3d printers uses openKinect to scan a tourist, then print a 3D version of them on the fly. They’re low def copies, but all the software used in this production is open source/free, and it does a pretty neat job.
Life size hummingbird robot - AeroVironment’s Nano Hummingbird
This robot was developed for DARPA, and works just like a hummingbird. It’s remote controlled, and has superior stability.
Robot flies just like a bird - video shows on-board view. The Festo Smartbird ornithopter uses pivoted mechanical wings to fly just like a real bird. Fully controllable, the robot can climb, turn and soar. On-board video is relatively stable. This video shows indoor and outdoor flying. Can you imagine it with some feather-like material on the outside? No one would know it’s not a bird.
