Technabob » hydraulic

DIY Formula One Simulator Looks More Like the Deadliest Catch Simulator

Technabob — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:26:37 +0000

Not content to just sit on a couch and play their Formula One racing game with, say, a force-feedback wheel, these guys put together their own homebrew motion sim.

From the looks of the video clip below, they rigged up some servos and hydraulics and tied them together to respond to the movements of the steering wheel.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The whole thing looks like an awful lot of fun, but I don’t understand why the thing pitches and rolls so much on such a flat course. It’s almost like the movements are tied to how fast or slow he’s driving. I think it might make me throw up.

I think it would play much better with a game like Crazy Taxi or maybe The Deadliest Catch.

[via Adafruit Industries]

Rubble Robot Believes in Slow but Steady Progress

Lambert Varias — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:06:52 +0000

From the Tokyo Institute of Technology comes this slow, sad-looking, nameless but practical robot. It’s designed to burrow under rubble to serve as the eyes and ears for rescuers. Instead of forcing its way through rock or jacking itself up, the robot ever so gently lifts rubble using two hydraulic plates, minimizing the risk of inducing a collapse.

Using its easy-does-it method, the robot’s plates, along with its sloped face – and unfathomable reserve of determination – allows it to wriggle through places too small or narrow or risky for human rescuers, while a complementary A/V receiver beams back footage from the scene.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’d call it “Eeeyore”, but that sad stuffed donkey is more of a rescuee than a rescuer.

[via BotJunkie]

Cruden Hexatech Car Simulator Costs More Than Most Sports Cars

Range — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:35:44 +0000

This has got to be one of the ultimate car simulators out there. Naturally, all this awesomeness doesn’t come cheap, but hey, it’s the best!

You’ll spend $191,000 (USD) on this device, which is more than quite a few supercars. It’s called the Cruden Hexatech simulator and it kind of reminds me of those Battletech simulators that were all of the rage years ago. I always wanted to play in them, but never did.

This thing is completely suspended on a hydraulic tripod and allows you to simulate F1, NASCAR, WRC, as well as various 24-hour races like Le Mans. The rig allows you to receive feedback from the chassis, track, tire and suspension settings, drive trains, aero load, aero draft, steering, brakes, and various driver aids.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It comes with three 42-inch screens, but you can go bonkers and project images onto the walls of a specially built room. Sounds completely insane to me. If I had $191,000 to spare, I’d rather buy a real race car!

[via DVice, photo credit: Benimoto]

Touch Screens Could Get Bumpy Someday

Technabob — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:18:17 +0000

As much as I dig my iPhone and HP Touchsmart touchscreens, there’s something that I still miss about actually feeling buttons under my fingertips. And while I’ve gotten pretty good at typing without even looking at the screen anymore, I’ll never achieve the kind of touch typing speed I’ve hit on a traditional keyboard. So I was really intrigued when I came across this concept technology that eventually make touchscreens just as tactile as the real deal.

Carnegie Mellon University grad student Chris Harrison and CS professor Scott Hudson have developed a tactile interface that lets you actually feel and press virtual buttons that emerge from a touchscreen. The prototype uses a combination of rear-projected images, infrared sensors and a layer of flexible latex from which the buttons rise and fall.

A custom cut acrylic layer behind the buttons gives them their shapes, and air is pumped into and out of the chambers behind the buttons to automatically change the button states as the images change.

The system is capable of detecting more than one simultaneous press using readily available infrared multi-touch technology, and can even figure out how hard you’re pressing on the buttons by monitoring air pressure. To see the system in action, check out this video clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While the prototype version is clearly not practical or cost-effective for real-world use, the overall concept is really cool, and I’d love to see them figure out a way to miniaturize the technology so it could be crammed into a mobile device some day.

[via Technology Review]