mechanical on technabob...

Here’s an unusual concept for a wall clock. Instead of telling the time with hands or a digital display, the Catena clock tells time along the perimeter of a bicycle chain.

Designed by Andreas Dober for Germany’s Anthologie Quartett, the Catena (Latin for “chain”) has a certain retro-steampunk look about it. Time is told using…

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…

I’ve always wanted a robotic butler. You know, like the personal service ‘bots in Woody Allen’s Sleeper. Except without the sexual harassment part. Turns out that a team of industrious scientists at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have already built one. And this one delivers snacks! Sweet!

CMU’s Snackbot is a roving wheeled ‘bot who’s…

MAKE is calling this the world’s smallest R2-D2, and who knows? It might be. I’m not sure whether or not there’s a movement out there dedicated to fitting a beloved ‘bot into a tiny shell, but if there is, this guy’s creation may just be the champion of all time, since this R2 makes that…

File this under “weirdest use for a piano. ever.”. This amazing bit of programming and mechanical engineering has created what is probably the first and only classical piano that can speak in English.

This wondrous steampunk contraption may looks like something out of an H.G. Wells time-travel story, but it’s actually modern broadcast video control system, concealed under the shell of a victorian-styled retro-mechanical facade.

This insane-looking contraption isn’t some sort of strange measuring device. Nope, what you’re looking at is a design for one of the most unusual looking watches to hit the pages of Technabob in a long while. At least you can actually tell the time on this one.

The Ora watch tells time on a series…

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of bugs – except maybe under my shoe – then they’re pretty cool. And these hybrid steampunk insects are enough to give me nightmares.

Created by Mike Libby of Insect Lab, these steampunk bugs combine mechanical components with REAL bug carcasses. Libby takes preserved insect specimens and delicately adorns…

Give your robot a hand (or two) with these incredibly complex mechanical digits from Japan’s Crafthouse. Instead of the typical grippers you might find on a hobby robot, Crafthouse’s servo-controlled GOD HANDs give miniature robots a set of flexible digits that work much like their human masters’ appendages.

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…

It’s hard to describe Andrew Chase’s mechanical animal sculptures without gushing all over the screen. From the sparkling eyes to the elegant gears to the thin, overlapping plates, each individual piece is more breathtaking than the one before.

But these animals don’t just look good–they are fully automated. Those gears aren’t just for show!

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Someday, people are going to learn not to mess with the dangerous technology. You’re not supposed to build an AI! Haven’t the movies taught you people anything? Apparently not, since some guy has gone and built himself a transforming robot.

Is it awesome? Of course it is–it’s a damn Transformer. It may not be a…