Technabob » machine

Brickit Builds a Mini LEGO-Sorting Factory

Conner Flynn — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:00:33 +0000

If you have built large creations with LEGO before, you know that keeping your bricks sorted is essential to keeping things in order. Otherwise it will drive you crazy looking for one specific part in a large bin. You need them sorted and ready to use. Brickit’s LEGO creation will automatically sort your bricks for you.

They built it as a demonstration of Dynaway’s real-world manufacturing systems. The miniature can organize bricks by size and color and works just like the ones used in factories that sort things of different shapes and sizes, except this one is powered by LEGO Mindstorms NXT.

The mini sorting plant boasts 7 NXT Intelligence Bricks, 28 motors and 22 sensors. It will sort any 2×4 or 1×2 block that it comes into contact with. After it sorts your bricks, a bot comes along to retrieve the full palette and move it, replacing it with an empty palette. It’s hypnotizing to watch this thing in action.

With the real LEGO factory featured on a recent episode of Ultimate Factories, it’s only appropriate that someone would build their own mini LEGO-powered factory.

[via Make: via Geek]

LEGO Great Ball Contraption Lives Up to Its Name

Conner Flynn — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:00:23 +0000

If you love LEGO and have the time, you can build yourself a machine just like this one. It’s totally useless, yet totally amazing and mesmerizing. One warning though. This likely was super expensive to make.

We first showed you this LEGO Great Ball Contraption about a year ago, but this video is much better quality and heck, it is still mind-blowing so it’s worth another look. It scoops up mini soccer and basketballs, then dumps them into a truck which drives over to a rotating ferris wheel kind of thing where the balls take a ride over to an elevator then…Just watch the video. There are too many cool things going on.

It was built by a guy known as akiyuky, and it truly is hypnotizing. You just can’t stop watching it. I just love it. Akiyuky, I salute you. I raised a fistful of bricks to you good sir and look forward to your next creation. What’s that you say, you’re already working on an update to your Great Ball Contraption?

[via geek]

Drill Bit Makes Square Holes, Round Pegs Upset

Technabob — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:00:49 +0000

It’s pretty hard to be impressed by a simple drill bit, but this particular one does something I’ve not seen before. Instead of cutting round holes, this special bit cuts perfectly square ones.

If you’ve ever tried to cut a square hole with a regular drill, you know this is next to impossible, and you usually end up resorting to getting a saw or a file out to finish the job. But this unusual milling bit from Japan’s Dijet can cut squares in metal like nobody’s business. Here, check it out in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Pretty amazing, no? It’s hard to tell exactly how it works, but it appears to have some specially angled carbide cutting blades on it which gradually whittle away at metal in 15 degree increments. At least that’s what it looks like in the diagram. I wonder if you’ll ever be able to walk down to the Home Depot and buy one of these, or if it’s only designed for industrial milling equipment.

[via bookofjoe]

Spherical Flying Machines: The Prisoner Isn’t Far Behind

Range — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:20:25 +0000

This unusual spherical flying machine was developed by the Japanese Ministry of Defense. It’s the first of its kind and is remote-controlled.

It can hover like a helicopter. It can fly forward at high speed using wings, which a helicopter can’t do. It’s got three gyros to help keep it stabilized, and can even roll around on the ground, and move itself about.

Since it’s round, it changes the way that a plane could/would behave, especially when it comes to attitude control. The round flying machine is made from commercially available parts and cost just $1,400 USD to make. It weighs 12.3oz and is 16.5 inches in diameter, and can reach speeds up to 37mph.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It will be interesting to see what kind of aircrafts they’ll be able to make using this tech.

[via DigInfo.TV via Make:]

Automatic Mini Donut Factory Brings Out the Homer in Us All

Shane McGlaun — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:00:08 +0000

We really like donuts around here. My daughter has to have a pink donut with sprinkles several times a week, or she gets mad. My son likes the glazed and I generally eat any kind of donut you put in front of me. If you are a fan of donuts, this sweet Automatic Donut Factory will save you some trips to the donut shop – and you can pretend to be Gulliver and Homer Simpson at the same time.

The donut batter goes in one side of the machine, and it automatically pours and cooks perfectly round, tiny donuts for you. The finished donuts drop out the back into a small bin. You can then take the donuts, frost them, and decorate as you see fit.

The donut maker also has a see through window so your kids can watch the donuts cook all they want. Each batch of mix is able to make 30 mini donuts. It takes 90 seconds to make a batch and the thing uses hot oil to boil the donuts. The machine costs $179.99 (USD), but is available here for about $150.

DIY Robotic Knitting Machine: Sew What?

Range — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:01:06 +0000

Let’s be honest, I’ve never had the patience to knit. My mom showed me how, and I did it for about 2 minutes before I went back to playing with my LEGOs. Then again, Correx37 made a robotic knitting machine which will knit your sweaters by itself. That sounds way cooler to me.

This homemade knitting machine uses old printers parts, two servos, and a Picaxe-18x microcontroller. This is definitely a nice way of reusing some old parts. The machine is quite noisy and slow, but it’s still way better than doing it by hand.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’d probably install something like this in my basement or shed, let it rip and go to bed. In the morning when I’d wake up, I’d have a new scarf.

[via Make:]

Useless Machine Counts How Many Times It has Proven Useless

Lambert Varias — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:38:06 +0000

For those not familiar with the concept, a Useless Machine is a device with only one function, specifically the ability to turn itself off. In other words, when you turn it on, it turns itself off. Now, I’m sure DIYers could easily make a machine that can turn itself off digitally, but the horrible beauty of Useless Machines resides in the fact that they usually have an arm that reaches out from within its bowels to flip its own off switch. Not satisfied with this hilariously insulting set up, Google employee Michal Zalewski made his own version:

As you can see, Zalewski’s cigar box-turned-suicidal automaton has a LED counter on its lid, proudly displaying the number of times it has displayed its uselessness.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

My problem with Zalewski’s machine is not that it’s counter exhibits an extra amount of insolence, but that the arm moves quite slowly. The other Useless Machine I’ve seen had fast arms, which made it fun to observe, as if the machine was annoyed that it was turned on in the first place. The arm on Zalewski’s machine is so slow that it can actually function as a self-closing coin box – you can slip in a coin or two before the lid closes. Check out Zalewski’s website for more info.

[via Make:]

Live Crab Vending Machine: Only in Japan. Oh Wait, This Thing is in China.

Technabob — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:23:58 +0000

I guess that China was feeling a little behind the curve from Japan and their wacky inventions, so they decided to come up with their own. What you’re looking at here is a vending machine that dispenses not candy bars or cans of soda, but live crabs.

Yup. This machine holds an army of living crustaceans, all put on ice enough to keep them alive. Sleepy, but alive. The machine was designed to provide quick and easy access to these critters, without a long trip to go buy them outside of the city.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The machine, located in a Nanjing, China subway station sells about 200 crabs a day at a cost ranging from about $2 to $7, depending on the size of the crabs. They already have a second machine in operation, and plan to expand to other cities in the near future.

[via Doobybrain]

Making Pictures With Water and Waves

Technabob — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:45:49 +0000

Not that this idea is really good for anything other than looking cool, you’ve gotta hand it to these Japanese researchers, who have managed to create a special tank which can momentarily suspend illustrations in water.

By sending precisely coordinated pulses through the water, the National Maritime Research Institute is able to generate pre-determined shapes out of the waves. So far, all they’ve been able to muster is primitive shapes like hearts, stars, a musical note, and the letters NMRI. Someday we hope they figure out a way to create a real life version of the water creature from The Abyss.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re interested in how they did it, here’s a technical explanation (translated from Japanese). You can check out more videos of the wild wave action here.

[via Japan Probe via DVICE]

Rube Goldberg Breakfast Machine Cobbled Together From Household Items: Instructions Please!

Lambert Varias — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:41:47 +0000

For so long, the breakfast options of lazy people like me were severely limited: either eat something that you only need to take out of its package, something with no cooking or preparation required, or wait for someone to prepare food for you. No more! Teacher/artist/lazy man’s hero Yuki Suzuki and his friends built a machine that makes toast, orange juice, coffee and even cooks eggs all on its own.

The machine was put together mostly from items that Suzuki got from IKEA, so its very possible for you to make your own version of the machine. The Telegraph calls it a “Wallace and Gromit-style” machine, which I think is the best way to describe it.

That’s Suzuki, looking like he’s badly in need of food himself, inspecting his creation. He said that he spent a total of £900 ($1,475 USD) for the parts. The machine, which measures 43 feet by 10 feet, took Suzuki and his friends about 88 hours to complete. It was put together at Platform 21, an exhibition center in Amsterdam. Let’s watch it at work! (there’s more info for you if you can understand French Dutch (dank je Lars!))

I wish Suzuki would post instructions for making the breakfast machine. Then again even if I had the instructions I’d be too lazy to go and build one for myself.

[via Geek]

Wahha Go Go Laughing Machine Looks as Creepy as It Sounds

Lambert Varias — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:03:24 +0000

It’s a little after 2 am, and you’re heading home. It’s dark. You’re alone. Suddenly you catch the sound of gears turning, tightening some unknown part. The sound bounces off the walls around you, amplifying. You shake it off and walk a bit faster. You can still hear the gears tur – wtf? WTF was that sound? You run. It’s too late when you realize that you were heading towards the source of that sound, it’s too late, all you could think about was go fast, not where to, you turned a corner and then you find yourself face-to-face with this creature:

The creature’s mouth/face tilts back, it’s accordion lungs expand – there it is, the gears turning. You scream, but your voice is drowned by what you can only describe as an anime villain and/or pervert’s laugh.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The machine is called wahha go go, and I don’t know what diabolical inclinations motivated Maywa Denki to create this. I’m just thankful that the sound in the video wasn’t loud or I’d have yelped like a little girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. Although I also half-expected Happosai to show up, with a sackful of bras on his back.

[via The Automata/Automaton Blog]

Paper Beats Computer: Scientists Hack Voting Machine

Lambert Varias — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:59:28 +0000

The man in the picture below is UC San Diego Computer Science Ph.D. student Stephen Checkoway. In his hands is a printout that proves that his team’s “return-oriented programming” exploit was successfully able to steal votes from a Sequoia AVC Advantage electronic voting machine. Checkoway was probably like, “Yay! Our democracy is in danger!” Just kidding. Checkoway’s probably feeling awesome because his team – composed of researchers from Princeton University and the University of Michigan and headed by UC San Diego professor Hovav Shacham - was able to hack into the voting machine without the help of the machine’s manual, or even the source code of the software used in the voting machine.

The return-oriented programming approach is a “powerful systems security exploit that generates malicious behavior by combining short snippets of benign code already present in the system.” It was first described in 2007 by Shacham himself. While I have no doubt that it takes brilliant minds to achieve what Checkoway and his peeps achieved, we should instead focus on the implication of the achievement. And it’s quite unsettling: evil dudes “would need just a few minutes of access to the machine the night before the election in order to take it over and steal votes the following day.”

So how should governments react to this turn of events? Schacham recommends that the voting process should be as computer-free as possible. It may sound like a stupid idea – it’s certainly ironic – but if there’s anything we’ve learned from the history of Windows and video game consoles, and now this, it’s that anything can be hacked. Shacham is proposing the use of optical scanners, which would simply read paper ballots. If the scanner is compromised, then the ballots will be a fallback. It’ll take more time to process the votes, but that’s a small price for the truth.

Check out PhysOrg for the full story, plus a video interview with Hovav Shacham.

Xbox 360 Arcade Cabinet for Serious Gamers

Alisha K. — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:27:05 +0000

There are two things that have to be said about this custom Xbox 360 arcade cabinet: it’s big (like the original Xbox, only even bigger) and it’s pretty pricey. Only serious Xbox devotees need apply at $2250… but that is, after all, cheaper than a lot of gaming PCs, and it would take quite the pimped-out PC to match this project.

The cabinet itself is an old Midway machine (new monitor included) with the guts of a 60GB Xbox 360 refitted inside. This machine has one feature the old arcades lacked–you don’t have to stand at the machine and beat on the controls. Sure, you can, and for some games, you’ll certainly want to, especially if there’s someone to fill the shoes of Player 2. But if you’re in the mood to kick back on the sofa and use a wireless controller, you can.

Can’t you just picture yourself standing there, taking on the role of Armed Person Fighting Baddies? And crying, of course, over the smoking remains of the bank account sacrified to buy the thing.

[Solomods via Hawty McBloggy]

Yay for Art!: Cloaca No 5 Machine Literally Produces Pieces of Crap

Lambert Varias — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:40:54 +0000

The fifth version of world-renowned artist Wim Delvoye’s sculpture is now on exhibit at the Université du Québec à Montréal’s gallery up until Valentine’s Day. Why should we care? Because his sculpture is actually a machine. A machine that “reproduces the human digestive system, from mastication to excretion”. In other words, all this machine does is eat & poop.

Delvoye has dubbed his work “Cloaca”, after the excretory orifice of birds, reptiles and amphibians. The machine-sculpture is made of steel, rubber and glass. A team of technicians is needed to set up Cloaca, after which Designboom says, it is then fed twice a day with cafeteria leftovers. But on its first day at the gallery four artists actually prepared a three-course meal for Cloaca.

I don’t know how long it takes for Cloaca to digest its “food”, but I do know, thanks to numerous, high-quality images, that machine poop looks exactly the same as man poop. If you don’t want to see crap, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN.

Of course you scrolled down. How’s that burger now you curious cat? As you can see the crap is vacuum packed. Why? Why not? As you can also see, the Cloaca’s logo looks really familiar. I guess it’s in keeping with the inspiration behind the artwork: human consumption and the merchandising of today’s consumer culture. Delvoye said, “I wanted to make something that is absurdly unnecessary… I don’t think this biologically correct machine belongs in a science museum. I don’t have that ego. I’m not helping sick people. I’m practically useless in society.” Funny guy.

Do you know any human Cloacas? You might want to take them to the exhibit – again it’s on display at Galerie de l’UQAM until February 14 – or show them more of Cloaca N˚5 at Wim Delvoye’s website.

[via Likecool]

Tiny Arcade Cabinets for O-Scale Model Railroads, O-My.

Technabob — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:51:08 +0000

Now I haven’t played with model trains since I was a kid, but when I saw these miniature arcade cabinets for model railroaders, I had to give them a mention.

J & C Studios makes these teeny, tiny retro arcade machine models built to O-Scale proportions. Each 1.75″ tall game cabinet snaps together from laser-cut black styrene, and offer a place for you to put a grain-of-wheat or LED bulb behind the screen so it can light up.

J & C offers self-stick decal kits for Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Centipede, Zaxxon, Phoenix and Defender, but you could certainly make your own custom labels using a color printer if you wanted. Me, I want a miniature BattleZone machine. And if you’re feeling even more retro, they’ve got super small pinball machines too.

The arcade machines are just $7.49 (USD) a piece and the pinball machines will run you $6.49 each. You can find them over at the J & C Studios website. With a little work, you could probably stick a circuit board and an LCD screen inside one of these if you really wanted to go to town.

Sparebots Definitely have Feelings

Lambert Varias — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:35:23 +0000

Bloggers/photographers/tiny mecha manufacturers Lenny & Meriel take cold and complicated computer innards and turn them into something heartwarming: Sparebots.

The photo above is captioned, “I think we should try a 5.” Awwww.

And that’s a robot dog that poops lead. I think. I also think that Lenny & Meriel could make a small fortune out of selling their creations. You can see more shots of their Sparebots on Lenny’s blog and on the pair’s Flickr site.

[via Neatorama]

Ame De Wataame Makes Cotton Candy From Jolly Ranchers

Technabob — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:30:17 +0000

This quirky little invention from Japan will turn most hard candies (i.e. Life Savers or Jolly Ranchers) into custom flavored (and colored) cotton candy.

No more boring pink cotton candy here. Nope, in minutes, you’ll be cranking out blue raspberry, root beer, and grape cotton candy creations with this gadget. Combine a couple of candies to make new flavors like candy apple and strawberry watermelon. Think Jelly Belly, but in cotton candy form.

Just drop your favorite hard candy into the heating bin of the Ame de Wataame cotton candy maker, and in seconds, you’ll have a delicious custom spun sugar treat. I’d personally like to try an Atomic Fireball or some cinnamon red hots for a sweet and spicy surprise. You can even use it to make cotton candy from sugar free candies, but what fun would that be?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Need to satisfy a serious sweet tooth, but don’t live in Tokyo? The guys over at Japan Trend Shop are exporting these around the world for $159 USD (plus $60 EMS shipping).

The Brain Machine Will Make Your Head Spin

Technabob — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:23:03 +0000

The guys over at MAKE recently showed visitors how to make a “Brain Machine”, a trippy looking device which reaches into your mind and helps you to chill out. Now, thanks to the miracle of modern science, you can buy one in kit form and try it on for yourself.

The Brain Machine Kit comes from the mind of Mitch Altman, the same guy responsible for the deliciously devious TV-B-Gone remote control.

Just slip on the Brain Machine’s meditation glasses and headphones, close your eyelids, tune in, turn on and drop out. A hacked version of Adafruit’s Mini-POV microcontroller kit pulses the Brain Machine’s LEDs and sound generators to sync your noggin up with beta, alpha, theta, and delta brainwaves.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As the device and your brain get on the same page, you be lulled into a trance-like state. (or maybe an acid-trip-like state, depending on how you feel about these things). Ready to take a trip? The Brain Machine Kit is now available from the MakerSHED for $34.99.

Mini Claw Machine is Grabilicious

Technabob — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:09:22 +0000

Remember those irritating claw machines from the arcades and carnivals? You know, the ones that always had one really great prize inside that weighed 10 pounds more than the claw could lift? Now you can get your own miniature one for your cubicle.

This battery-powered mini claw machine provides all the fun and frustration of the full-sized version. You control the X/Y position and height of the “claw” with three little joysticks. Get the position just right, then move in for the kill to see if you can score a tasty treat. It even plays some circus-y music while you precisely position the grabber over your prize (if you find that annoying, you can disable the tunes.)

Designed to vend your favorite candies (or other small baubles,) I bet this thing would be a great diet aid if you’re used to regularly emptying out that bowl of sweets on your desk. If you’re feeling really whimsical, why not put your brand new iPhone in there and dare some co-workers to try to lift it out?

Available from Perpetual Kid, the Sweet Machine Candy Grabber is $38.99.

The Digital Newspaper Machine Mash Up

Technabob — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 01:58:21 +0000

This has gotta be the best hack I’ve seen in a while…

Scott Walker’s DigitalBox Newspaper Machine automatically displays the day’s latest news on an LCD screen that’s installed in the front of an old newspaper vending machine.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

He put together the system using a Mac Mini and a 17-inch LG monitor locked away inside the guts of the machine. Some custom AppleScript pulls down images of the newspapers from Newseum and formats them for optimal viewing on the screen. In addition, the DigitalBox plays slideshows, music and videos from iTunes.

[via MAKE]