Human-driven battle robots are already under construction by MegaBots and an array of Japanese-based Kuratas. While those primarily focus on DESTRUCTION! …there are others focused on SPEED. Entering the race this year is Furrion and their human-piloted, all-electric Prosthesis racing mech. Designed by engineer Jonathan Tippett, the 7,700 lb. Prosthesis was recently unveiled at this year’s CES with Furrion stating this as “the first machine of its kind, ushering in a new era of large scale, high-performance mech technology.” Looking like a cross between Boston Dynamics’ BigDog and Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests, it’s touted as the first ‘off-road racing mech’ and ‘ultimate union of pilot and machine’, which makes use of Furrion’s new, large scale exo-bionic technology…

Porches. Porches are ridiculous without a good place to sit. If you don’t want to tear your porch down, you could toss some tree stumps up there, but if you have the slightest bit of woodworking skill, you could build yourself a bench. Chris Salomone of Foureyes Furniture has skill a’plenty, and has been busy publishing a woodworking project series on YouTube, that is absolutely, a must subscribe. He kicked off the series with a great build for a Modern Wood Bench. Like many woodworkers, Chris’ inspiration began from a chunk of wood found in a dumpster. He brought the wood home, cleaned it up and made the first iteration…

Right out of the gate for 2017, Adobe is offering a pair of applications featured at the Adobe MAX 2016 conference–a Windows version of Adobe Experience Design CC (XD) featuring real-time collaboration, and a new 3D product shot composer for graphic designers named Project Felix. They’re focused on accessibility (which we’re strong proponents of here at SolidSmack), making it easier for you to both mock up ideas in 2D and 3D, whether it’s a website or a product design. Project Felix Project Felix features some handy tools targeted at graphic designers that have little to no 3D rendering experience, allowing them to create and manipulate images using assets such as…

Who needs a creepy, baby tree creature sidekick on their desktop? Oh yeah! I see those hands going up. I do too, but not just any creepy, baby tree creature. I needs me a BABY GROOT up in har! Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is hittin’ theaters May 5th, so that gives you plenty of time to download this super sweet, super detailed model of Rocket the Raccoon’s muscle… or eventual muscle, BABY GROOT. Oh, and you KNEW there was gonna be a baby Groot in the sequel when you saw that adorable little potted stick with hands dancin’ at the end of the first one. GROOT. The best. This…

For those who depend on a graphics tablet for design tasks ranging from ideation sketching to 3D modeling, Wacom is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to quality and price. Unlike the iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface, however, there’s little else the graphic tablets are capable of doing efficiently and comfortably when not in use – assuming you’re even using a model from the company’s screen-based Cintiq lineup. Conversely, while the multipurpose iPad Pro has moved up the ranks as the ideal portable digital sketching tablet for many pros, it lacks the ability to operate professional software applications that Wacom tablets play very nicely with – particularly Adobe…

When it comes to professionally-engineered LEGO builds, the end-goal is more often than not to recreate a real-world object as accurately as possible using square bricks. For some of the company’s most recent models, this dedication to modeling after true life has gone as far as having a build sequence modeled after the true-to-life factory assembly sequence as well. Well, not this LEGO model; not by a long shot. To help ramp up PR for the upcoming film The Lego Batman Movie, LEGO toy engineers teamed up with Chevrolet automotive engineers to build a scaled-up version of the LEGO Batmobile; effectively reversing that traditional process with a life-sized LEGO model…