Technabob » moogle

Moogle Inspection Bot: is That a Robot in Your Crawlspace?

Range — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:59:06 +0000

This 6-inch robot is supposed to be able to go where no human has gone before: into small crawlspaces to see what’s up. Daiwan House will be putting this ‘bot on the market in April 2011 and hope making inspections a wee bit easier, thanks to their pint-sized robot pal.

The Moogle was developed with the Chiba Institute of Technology. It was especially designed for the way houses are made in Japan, since most of them don’t have basements, but have to be elevated 20″ above the ground for ventilation purposes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The ‘bot is controlled remotely via a computer interface. Moogle’s got a wireless LAN connection, LED lighting, and has a laser range finder. There’s a wide-angle camera and a CCD camera too, so you can see where its going. It weighs about 15kg and will work for an hour on one charge. It will cost ¥40,000 ($500 USD) to rent for a month or ¥200,000,000 ($24,600 USD) to purchase.

[via Plastic Pals]

Subtle Gamer Jewelry, for That Touch of Flair

Alisha K. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:44 +0000

I love tiny pendants, cufflinks, barrettes, and other small, innocuous ways of geeking-up an outfit, so Plastic Paradox’s Etsy storefront is, for me, pretty much the place to be. But, really, could any Halo fan resist these Master Chief cufflinks?

You could get away with those almost anywhere. Does anyone really spend that much time studying your cufflinks, unless you make a point of showing them off? See, they’re subtle yet showy–in the right moments.

But there’s all kinds of stuff to be found in the store, from mainstream to the more obscure, to the absolutely adorable… and by that, I mean these moogle earrings:

If you have a semi-geeky favorite franchise, it’s likely there’s something related to it in this store.

Papercraft Xmas Tree is a Colorful Fire Hazard

Alisha K. — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:53:36 +0000

There’s just something about most holiday decorations that screams fire hazard, but this one really takes that idea and runs with it. This Christmas tree, by deviantARTist Maire, is done up almost completely in papercraft. The few lone traditional ornaments look awfully forlorn (and seriously outnumbered).

The decorations are a real mix, from gaming icons like Mario, Link, and Mega Man, to upstarts like the Weighted Companion Cube from Portal, and they’re all made out of paper (and the sweat of effort). It’s enough to make one wary of the candy canes. Paper is not so delicious, after all.

For those brave enough to try to recreate this tree, or do a mix of your own ornaments, a number of the instructions are available on Maire’s page, and others on the cubeecraft site. Now we just need to add some of these papercraft consoles.

[Maire's deviantART page via cubeelog]

Put a Sackboy on Your Head

Alisha K. — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:40:37 +0000

There is a glut of Sackboy stuff out in the wilds of the internet, celebrating everything LittleBigPlanet. You can get soft Sackboy dolls and spend your days watching videos of Sackboys (and girls) cavorting in custom levels, but if there’s one thing we’ve lacked, it’s Sackboy clothing.

Now, instead of dressing your Sackboys, you can dress up as a Sackboy. Your head can dress up, at least, but surely Etsy will eventually yield enough crocheted items to put together a full rig.

Etsy crafter ShadowsInTheNyte has quite the array of game-inspired gear for sale, including Kirby hats, and others that feature Moogle and Cactuar heads, for all the Final Fantasy fans out there.

The hats range in price from $8 for child sizes to $28 for a particularly elaborate Toadette topper.

[Via Wonderland]