Technabob » norris labs http://technabob.com/blog Cool Gadgets, Gizmos, Games and Weird Science Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:15:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Butler Bot and Robofridge: the Perfect Future Companions http://technabob.com/blog/2010/06/01/butler-bot-and-robofridge/ http://technabob.com/blog/2010/06/01/butler-bot-and-robofridge/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:28:11 +0000 Range http://technabob.com/blog/?p=33945 When robots will be able to do stuff for you in your home, it will either be the end of the world or the beginning of a new revolution. Steve Norris from Norris Labs in Boston, MA, came up with this as his latest project: it’s called the BDS, which stands for the Beverage Delivery System.

060110 rg RoboFridgeButlerBot 01

It’s basically a robot that will bring you a beer, or a few beers, depending on how many you need. The whole system is pretty ingenious, albeit slow. It combines a butler robot, which goes to the fridge and gets your drinks, with a specially designed robotic fridge, that will open and close its door automatically, and hand Butler Bot a few beers.

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The user has a simple remote control to tell Butler Bot what he wants. All in all, it’s pretty cool and kind of reminds me of the mad machines that Doc Brown had in Back to the Future.

060110 rg RoboFridgeButlerBot 02

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]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2010/06/01/butler-bot-and-robofridge/feed/ 1 The Robostool is at Your Feet’S Beck and Call http://technabob.com/blog/2008/07/31/the-robostool-is-at-your-feets-beck-and-call/ http://technabob.com/blog/2008/07/31/the-robostool-is-at-your-feets-beck-and-call/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:24:35 +0000 Karen M. http://technabob.com/blog/?p=3246 The RoboStool is a homemade robotic footstool that’s ready and willing to support your tired tootsies whenever you summon it. It’s a little reminiscent of the Take A Seat robotic chair but differs in that it uses 3 different modes of control.

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RoboStool has three modes- universal remote, beacon navigation, and thermal sensor following. This video demonstrates the beacon navigation. It looks a little scary when the footstool springs into action, but then again, robots springing into action are always inherently a little scary, no?

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To explain how he turned this cheap vinyl footstool into this robotic wonder, the creator says, “As with all my current robot projects I’m using the Parallax Propeller Chip on a Proto Board. For the drive I’m using the new Parallax Motor Mount Kit and two HB-25 motor controllers. A third HB-25 is used to control the two ServoCity linear actuators which are used to raise and lower the body and lid.” (Hopefully you understood some of those words because I’m not sure I did.)

r2 inside

This is the latest project from Norris Labs. You can get the schematics to build your very own RoboStool, and learn about previous projects, right here.

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