Solar-powered robot waddles, swims, rolls and lurches in 14 ways

Robots made for kids tend to move in a way that can only be described as lurching. The 14-in-1 Educational Solar Robot Kit puts that expectation to good use with its shambling Zombie-Bot model, but with thirteen other forms, it can also mimic several animals, wheeled transportation, robots, and even multiple seafaring contraptions. As it's equipped with a solar panel you'll never have to have to find a battery charger.The fourteen models are divided into two skill levels. Level one consists of a Turtle-bot, Beetle-bot, Quadru-bot, Boat-bot, Walker-bot, Dog-bot, and Wheel-bot. Level two adds the Roly Poly-bot, Auto-bot, Slither-bot, Surf-bot, Zombie-bot, Crab-bot, and Row-bot.

Conceivably you could design a new configuration as well. The kit allows the user to change the direction of the motor, pack the robot head away in the body, and install the head in different orientations on the gearbox. It also has transparent housing which exposes the gears, as is nearly required in all good kids' toys with moving bits.

The 14-in-1 Educational Solar Robot Kit is priced at US$31.95, or roughly $2.28 per way to chase the cat

Comments

Recycled, solar-powered, boat-roofed wonder wins Shed of the Year

The crowning glory is a 14-ft boat which has been left whole and inverted to form the roof. A 20-W solar panel powers the creature comforts inside. To create the shed's frame, the boat was fixed atop four telegraph poles plonked judiciously on a hillside amid Wales' Cambrian Mountains. (The views aren't at all bad, either). Aluminum-framed windows were salvaged from a 1940s caravan, and others were "borrowed" from Holland's farmhouse. Walls are a mixture of corrugated metal and, for a taste of the Neolithic, wattle and daub. Inside things take a turn for the high tech. The shed's PV panel feeds a battery which provides power to LED lighting and a 12-V sound system – the only new item in the construction. The shed also boasts a plumbed Belfast sink (the generous, cuboid-shaped ones), and a 19th century wood burning stove for heat fitted with a chimney fashioned from the queen pole of an old circus big top.Where sheds end and (sometimes pretentious) ...

New type of silicone exhibits both viscous and elastic properties

Looking for a more effective solution to the all-too-common wobbly table dilemma than a folded up bit of cardboard or piece of rubber under the leg, University of Virginia physicist Lou Bloomfield created a new type of silicone rubber called Vistik – it's malleable enough to take on any shape when pressed, but is still resilient enough to offer support, as it gradually starts to return to its original shape as the pressure is released. The material could have many applications ... beyond just steadying up wobbly tables. Vistik is a viscoelastic material, meaning that it exhibits both viscous and elastic properties. As a result, when compared to something such as conventional silicone rubber, there’s a considerable time lag in its response to continuous pressure. “It seems elastic in response to sudden forces or impacts, denting in proportion to the sudden, brief stress and then returning almost instantly to its earlier shape when that stress is removed,” Prof. Bloomfield ex...

Google reportedly launching YouTube music subscription service

YouTube, whether intentionally or not, is the new MTV. Not long after the network once known as Music Television stopped playing music, Google’s video streaming service took its place as the preferred music video source for teenagers. According to a new report, Google is now ready to take the next step and sell subscriptions for its service. According to Fortune , Google is preparing to launch a YouTube subscription service later this year. Rather than creating a paywall around existing YouTube content, though, the paid tier would simply let viewers enjoy copyrighted musical content ad-free. Spotify for music videos? The YouTube subscription service would be separate from – but overlap with – an (also-rumored) Google Play subscription streaming service. The Android version is expected to more closely resemble Spotify’s (and Rdio’s, Deezer’s, Rhapsody’s, etc.) on-demand audio model, while an ad-free YouTube would be more akin to a Spotify for music videos. In its early y...

ANBARASUASOKAN

Search This Blog