Fun

Find the Perfect Gift for the Roboticist in Your Life

Friday, December 9th, 2011
Click Me For a Surprise

Click Me For a Surprise

It’s the time of the year again to please the Roboticist in your life with geeky robotic gifts. There is so much choice and so many awesome robotic products that it can be difficult to choose the right one , but don’t despair, RobotShop has its Holiday Gift Center filled with Gift Ideas for everybody. We have classified robotics geeks in six categories: Children, Teens, Adults, Mad Scientists, “under $25″, and Pets.

Children

It’s never too early to initiate humans to robotics. Robotic toys are not only fun, educational and original, they also train children to accept their future robot overlords.

Every child would love to ride their own Dalek,  play with their own dinosaur pet, or have an army of robots insects. Head to Robot Gifts for Children in order to get even more gift ideas.

Teens

Teens need cool gadgets that will get them popularity and boost their self esteem. Since “Geek” is the new “Cool” what can be better than awesome robots and gadgets that will teach them to impress their friends with their new robotic skills. What can be cooler than making your own “Most Useless Machine” or being woken up by a robotic alarm clock? We don’t know but it can probably be found in the Robot Gifts for Teens section.

Adults

Sophisticated people need sophisticated toys tools. They need robots that will help them with their daily tasks in an efficient way so they can concentrate on what really matters (playing with the children and teen toys they bought for their loved ones). It goes without saying that everybody would love to have a robot clean their home, take care of their cat and mow the lawn. Head to the Robot Gifts for Adults section to have all your robotic needs fulfilled.

Mad Scientists

We have a special place in our hearts (and in our Gift Center) for the geekiest among the geeks. For all of those who want to program incredibly sophisticated robots, display wavy signals, or kick it old school and play with robots from the past, visit the Robot Gifts for Geeks, Nerds and Mad Scientists section.

Frugal

For those looking for stocking fillers or more affordable gifts, the Robot Gifts Under 25$ section houses some of the most affordable, popular and fun robots there is. You can find remote control robots, educational kits, and much more.

 

Pets

Pets may not be human but if they are anything like their masters, they want robots as well, especially if they involve lasers! Have your master click on the Robot Gifts for Pets section to see all the robots for pets available.

To Fight This Robot, Strong Enough, You Are Not… or Maybe You Are

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Jedi Bot is a robot arm wielding a foam “lightsaber” that will try to attack or defend itself from human opponents. This system used the Kinect in order to track its opponent and was put together by students from Stanford. Of course, this is not the first robot wielding a lightsaber, but it is certainly the first that can interactively fight a human. The video below shows the robot it action.

At the moment the robot is pretty slow, but nothing prevents the technology from improving with time and getting better speed, accuracy and strength… This might very well be the great-grandfather of General Grievous

General Grievous - Star Wars Episode 3

General Grievous - Star Wars Episode 3

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Robots Cannot Eat Hamburgers… Yet

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Hardee’s, the fast food restaurant chain, released some rather funny anti-robot adds, that you can see below in a regular and extended version.

The extended version below has more LASERs!

The premise of the commercial is that if a robot can not eat or use a product, then it should not make it. Although we know this is just for fun, it is important to point out that robots are commonly involved in producing many foods and consumption goods, so using that reasoning, we would not be able to use or eat much of what is available.

One fun aspect of the commercial is that they posted the making-of the video which is rather interesting to watch.

Via Geekology.

AutoWed, the Wedding Vending Machine

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

We reported on robotic weddings before, but this time we are announcing a much more elegant, charming and definitely cheaper / faster way of getting married. Ok, it might not be all that fancier, but at least it’s pink.

AutoWed

AutoWed

In our fast-paced lifestyle, getting married can be seen as a daunting and time consuming activity that is difficult to to fit in a tight schedule. A wedding ceremony can also be very expensive and requires, among many other things, a pair of rings. The AutoWed solves all of these problems with the clever use of technology. See what the AutoWed can do for just a dollar:

Granted, this might be considered fast, cold, and probably not even legal, but in the end love prevails.

Via RobotSnob

RobotShop Microcontroller Instructables Contest

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Tinkerers, hackers, roboticists, and  geeks of the world rejoice! RobotShop is partnering with Instructables to bring you an awesome contest.

RobotShop Instructables Microcontroller Contest

RobotShop Instructables Microcontroller Contest

Instructa…what?

Instructables! For those of you living under a rock, Instructables is a great website where users can post step by step instructions for making almost anything. If you are unfamiliar with it, the RobotShop Microcontroller contest is a great way of getting started. If you are already an Instructables junkie, then you better hurry and make a submission now!

What are the prizes?

There are several substantial prizes:

  1. The Grand Prize is a 500$ RobotShop Gift Certificate, a DFRobotShop Rover, and a RobotShop/Instructables prize pack (which includes several promotional goodies such as pens, a mousepad, a screw driver, and more)
  2. The Second Prize will be awarded to two winners and consists of a 250$ RobotShop Gift Certificate, a DFRobotShop Rover and a RobotShop/Instructables prize pack.
  3. The Runner-up Prize will be awarded to four winners and consists of a DFRobotShop Rover and a RobotShop/Instructables prize pack.
  4. Furthermore, an extra Special Judge’s Prize will be awarded to the creator of the best project that makes something move with the microcontroller.

As you can see, the prizes are quite substantial and since we are a bit biased toward robots (hard to believe, isn’t it?) we will award an extra special prize for the best instructable that makes something move with a microcontroller.

DFRobotShop Rover

DFRobotShop Rover - Mobile Tracked Arduino Based

Not enough for you? Beyond this, each participant will also get a 50% discount coupon for the DFRobotShop Rover. Which is like giving away roughly 45$ to every participant for free!

What do I do next?

Simply go to the contest page and read the rules and instructions, create an Instructables account if you don’t already have one and start making.

The contest closes for entries on July 3rd 2011, so you better hurry up and make a submission now!

German Robot Plays Pool

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Thomas Nierhoff, a masters student at the Technische Universität München (TUM) programmed a humanoid robot to play pool. Of course we have seen PR2 play pool in the past but this robot does not need any special accessories to hold the pool cue. As shown in the video below, the robot can be very accurate and even the pool table can be augmented with the software developed for the robot in order to help humans play better.

We are eager to see this new contestant play against PR2, this could sprout a new kind of robotic competition.

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Why Get a Single Nao When You Can Get Two?

Friday, May 20th, 2011
Get the Second Nao at Half Price

Get the Second Nao at Half Price

This is an incredible promotion from RobotShop and Aldebaran. If you purchase a Nao H25 by June 15th 2011, you can get a second one at half price. This represents savings of almost 8000$.

As you may already know, Nao is an awesome humanoid robot that can be used as a very versatile development platform for serious research such as machine learning and robot-human interaction, and for more surprising development as shown below.

Truly Awesome, Jedi Robots Are

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

With light sabres, Yaskawa equipped robots.  Hmmmmmm.

For this year’s IEEE International Conference on Robotics, the robotic company equipped two robotic arms with Jedi and Sith light sabres and taught them to fight. OK, maybe not to fight but it makes a nice fight choreography as shown in the video below.

This is much better than the first time Yaskawa gave Light sabers to their robots and simply made them dance (without fighting at all). The dance is shown below.

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Boxing Robot Packs Some Punch

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Usually robots are intended to help us out by accomplishing unwanted or dangerous chores, but the Punching Pro is designed to punch you in the face over and over again.

The robot throws punches following certain patterns in order to simulate different fighting styles and beat its human adversary. You can see the robot below going at full speed. What can possibly go wrong with a robot trained to punch humans as well and as hard as it can?

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Boy Scouts Get Robotic Merit Badge

Friday, April 15th, 2011

The Boy Scouts of America have a new badge to add to the 120 badges that can be earned: the Robotic Badge.

Boy Scouts Robotics Badge

Boy Scouts Robotic Badge

This badge replaces some of the older skill badges, such as blacksmithing, and shows how relevant robotics is becoming in our everyday lives. The Boy Scout Society even put together a resource center for children to learn about robotics, similar to our Learning Center and our How to Make a Robot Tutorial Series.  See the video below for more information about their program as presented by a funky Spykee.

Via RobotSnob.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next