The tour of this makerspace just outside Denver and Boulder, Colorado took place in September 2019, long before COVID-19 flipped spaces like these on their heads. However, as of today, TinkerMill is open for business, albeit with several precautions in place. Take a peek inside this massive, and well-equipped space in the video below with…
Roam Robotics is doing some awesome stuff in San Francisco, California, and here we get an exclusive, inside look! Their first commercial product is a robotic ski exoskeleton which you can try out this upcoming season. Read on to learn more about how it works and see inside Roam’s office. Or, you can watch the…
As I travel around the world searching for fellow HW nerds, I’m happy to share my findings with you, dear SolidSmack reader. In this article, I bring you the best events and organizations to check out in the San Francisco Bay area. There more than, perhaps, anywhere, the term “tech” gets conflated with “software”. However,…
While humankind has made great strides in creating Terminator-like robotic appendages, we’re still a ways from an artificial arm that moves and acts precisely like a flesh-and-blood appendage. Yet, a team of MIT technologists recently created a robot gripper that might help pave the path for one. The Origami Robot Gripper is a robotic arm…
While many Earth-based A.I. systems are meant to eventually replace the tasks of humans, NASA’s International Space Station is currently exploring the benefits of A.I. so their astronauts will simply have someone to talk to. After all, space can get pretty lonely sometimes, and seeing as the only thing between you and the black abyss…
With the Holidays just a few weeks away, it’s probably time to think about what gifts the young kids in your life might like. If they’re into robotics, perhaps Bellrobot’s Mabot Plug-and-Play Modular Robot is just what you’re looking for. Sure it’s a STEM-based learning kit, but it’s easy to put together and program in…
Being able to talk to friends and relatives from far away via Skype or Facetime is all well and good, but it just doesn’t have the physical interaction you get when the person is actually beside you. Combined with the first few minutes wasted shouting to see if the person can hear you over the…
Even though they’ve come a long way in a short amount of time, no search and rescue robot can truly replace the skillset of a human fireman—at least, not yet. Apart from better decision-making skills, humans aren’t as clumsy when it comes to lifting heavy loads off of disaster victims. Still, they are only human,…
Researchers from UC Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab have been busy developing their Salto jumping robot since its debut in 2016. Back then, the robot was capable of jumping at great heights, but had orientation issues and could only complete two jumps in a row before crashing. The researchers have since solved the orientation issues with…
While most folks say the best way to make a burger is by hand, a majority of them likely aren’t doing it over and over again on a daily basis. Some people love flipping patties as much as Spongebob Squarepants, but unlike the yellow cartoon sponge, they most likely want more from life than smelling…
Over the course of evolution, plant life has gotten pretty complex. There are carnivorous plants, poisonous plants, heck, there are even plants which camouflage themselves to either look more attractive for pollination or hide from predators. But there has never, ever, been a known existing plant which grew legs. After seeing a dying sunflower in…
We may have never gotten the chance to build the robots of our dreams as kids (tears), but that doesn’t necessarily mean our children of this generation should also miss out. The STEMI Hexapod is a brilliant do-it-yourself robot. And before you go saying it looks like a mechanical spider, take note this robot only…
As Avengers: Infinity War makes its way towards the box office-shattering $2 billion global earnings milestone, it comes as little surprise that the superhero movie has inspired a small legion of creators to don their maker capes and create their renditions of the iron-clad superhero troop. Among others is the SolidSmack favorite wacky garage inventor…
Well, it’s finally happened. After years of fumbling on quadrupedal legs and jumping like patients with back problems, robots have finally learned to run on rough terrain. ACHIRES (short for “Actively Coordinated High-speed Image-processing Running Experiment System”) is an Ishikawa Senoo Laboratory running robot system which uses a high-speed camera to detect the legs’ position…
From the terrifying Terminator-like models from Boston Dynamics to the slightly less terrifying ice cream-serving Yaskawa-kun in Japan, there’s no denying that the age of robot assistance is upon us. That said, just like humans—no two robot models are the same. And what better way to test the dexterity of one robot from another than…
We’re walking the floor at Solidworks World 2018. One must see is Easton LaChappelle’s Unlimited Tommorrow (UT) exhibit. He is cranking out some amazing prosthetic devices! Easton at 14-years-old took an interest in robotics where he submitted a robotic artificial limb in a science fair. His epiphany with regard to his future role in the world…
While nearly any tech or mechanical junkie can appreciate a hulking giant robot, one should always leave room to admire its smaller brethren. Sure, bigger may be better, but giant robots don’t always have the level of precision that many smaller robots come equipped with. Delta robots consist of three individually controlled arms connected to…
Robots. They’re freakin’ everywhere these days, man. While we’re not quite yet in an iRobot or T2: Judgement Day scenario, gaining an understanding of how they work from the inside-out is a skill that will increasingly become handier. And few platforms are better for diving in headfirst than mBot, the world’s friendliest educational robotics platform.…
As conventional casting methods have taught us, the best way for reliably manufacturing multiples of any object is to start with an accurate and sturdy mold. For their recent Fabric Forms explorative material study, however, architects Joseph Sarafian and Ron Culver wanted to do something that was anything but conventional. Working with the Grasshopper plug-in…
For some, it only exists if it includes mounds of bacon and a steaming stack of syrup-soaked hot cakes. For others, it’s as simple as a bowl of shredded wheat and a handful of blueberries. No matter how you prepare it, though, chances are your first meal of the day isn’t necessarily the most pleasurable…
Considered by many to be the first consumer robot, iRobot’s Roomba Vacuum Cleaning Robot has sold over 10 million units since it was introduced in 2002. Yesterday, iRobot announced that those who have come to rely on automated vacuum cleaning will now be able to rely on automated robotic lawn mowing af ter they were…
If you happened to be at the London Design Festival in early 2010, chances are you stopped by Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram’s OUTRACE installation – which invited the general public to take control of eight industrial robots on loan from Audi’s production line and use them to write personal light messages that were recorded…
While we wait for our robot dogs and cats, the Germans from Zoobotics are working on bringing us modular spider robots called ZURI. The insect like robot-kit gives you the chance to finally start working on your personal pet army. Seemingly inspired by IKEA and Origami with a healthy dose of Sci-Fi styling, ZURI starts…
Of all the robot apocalypse scenarios that cross your mind on any given day, who would have thought one would be a autonomous, rubbery, four-legged crawl-bot? With a design that looks more like an drunk Alien facehugger than a Darpa creation, the soft robot contains no rigid skeleton and can move all 25 inches of…
We’ve all seen various images and video clips of robots on product assembly lines ranging from cars to pocket tools. While robots have helped automate the manufacturing process, few details exist about where the future is likely heading apart from whatever sci-fi theories that are floating around. While nobody wants to see somebody lose their…
Holy mother of inventions! The Milling Machines designed by Arthur Sacek are so exciting they send tinngles through our nether regions. Too bad Arthur doesn’t particularly want to share how he exactly built his machines, but we do know that as a member of Brazil’s ZOOM Education for Life, Arthur is a genius.
How spoilt is your fish? Like, do you take it for a walk, buy it a fancy tracking collar with camera or feed it in a diamond-encrusted bowl? Blah, no excuses, the least you could have done was get it a new set of wheels and made it independent. Yup, if you would have invested…
We are totally freaked out with the OutRunner – The World’s First RC Running Robot, kinda reminds us of the Roadrunner from the Looney Tunes cartoons! The only thing missing is the “beep-beep”! Anyways, sound effects aside, this Kickstarter project is kicking some ass, thanks to the lovely videos showcasing OutRunners’ running talents. We got…
When RobotChallenge announced it would be teaming up with Arduino and RS Components for this year’s “Hack the Arduino Robot!” competition, pocket protectors went shooting into the sky. And for good reason. The 11th annual RobotChallenge competition features innovative, and quite frankly, creepy, robot creatures, raising the bar for what a simple Arduino-bots can become.…
Yes, you heard that right. Not one, not two, not three-hundred, but 908 robots that can assess what’s dirty in your home and…well, clean your house for you. 23-year-old industrial design student Adrian Perez Zapata recently took first place in Electrolux’s 2013 Design Lab competition in which his concept ‘Mab’ explores the automation-network of bees…
I know a lot of people who would let out a blood-curdling scream if you told them a ‘Mantis’ was on their shoulder. Especially, if their shoulder was being pinned down by this massive beast. The Mantis Robot is the creation of designer Matt Denton. It’s no ordinary robot and he’s no ordinary designer. Matt…
It’s agreed. In scientific trials carried out in a family living room, 3 out of 3 children agree that this robot is cool. The Morphex is a six-legged, remotely-operated, servo-driven transforming ball-bot of beauty. From a standing (or walking) position it can contract and expand its legs or pull them completely in to form a…
I’ve been holding my breath in a muscle tensing fright for the past day, looking at the images below and imagining being curdled cradled by a skinless baby robot with the head the size of a large bear. Seriously, if this thing crawled up to me, you would hear the highest pitch scream of your…
It’s that intense chill of power you feel when you run screaming through a gypsum-board wall right before you throw-up and pass out from a mild concussion. If only you had implements of destruction better suited to your surly demeanor. Christian Ristow has just what you’re looking for. A three-fingered claw. Made out of Aluminum.…
There’s just no shortage of pre-apocalyptic robot news these days. We’ve learned the ways in which robots could potentially feed themselves. If that’s possible, why shouldn’t they be equipped with a ‘self-learning mode’ for flawless pursuit upon a rippin’ rice burner? And if not that, then why shouldn’t they use frictional lifting patterns being studied…
Ok, it’s just too much to take. As if robots partaking of live flesh wasn’t bad enough, now we have robots with the autonomous foresight to continue their steam-powered existence by means of consuming the DEAD. Robotic Technologies Inc. is sending us out with the creation of a proper robot predator – the EATR. That…
Son: But Ma, I can draw my own photo! Ma: Nope son, you attach robo arm to you. The last drawing you did of yourself was hideous and misrepresented. Besides, the robot captures your best features dear. Thomas Ricker states it best, it’s “a device that snaps your photo and then forces you to draw…
I’m not saying that, one day, robots will eat and digest you for energy, but yeah, I am saying that. Especially given the state of the two minds that are creating carnivorous robots that run on the juices extracted from various pests and their materials.
This is how it all ends, my friends. They pull us in with their human-like emotions and then crush our wills to live… and also maybe our faces. The mechanical and overly productive counterparts of society, many are anxious to release upon civilization, has seen some intense development as of late, Recon bots and the…