Looking for a fun way to store the books in your children's room or modern office? Irreverent designer Fabio Novembre's Robot shaped bookcase for Casamania may be just the thing. Presented at this year's Salon del Mobile, the Robox is made of varnished metal and stands 184 cm tall.
Now you can impress the Easter Bunny with stylish and artfully decorated eggs created by the Egg-Bot, a robotic kit that is available for purchase.
The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit-- roughly 1.25 to 4.25 inches in diameter (3 - 10 cm). The kit is based on the original design by Bruce Shapiro. The newest version, the "Egg-Bot 2.0," is a modern and friendly update, designed with the assistance of Bruce and his team.
The Eggbot is super adjustable, and is designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally "impossible" to print on. Not just eggs but ping pong balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses-- with a bit of work. In the photos, you can see just a few of the things that you can make with an eggbot: Incredible personalized golf balls, christmas ornaments, light bulbs, and (yes) eggs.
The Eggbot chassis is made of tough fiberglass, with integrated heat sinks for the included motors. The pen and egg motors are high-torque precision stepping motors, and the pen lift mechanism is a quiet and reliable servo motor.
The Eggbot kit is easy to assemble in a couple of hours, and only requires a couple of basic tools like miniature Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers. You'll also need a recent-vintage computer with an available USB port (Mac, Windows or Linux), plus internet access to download assembly instructions and necessary software.
Eggbot w/ EBB Driver Board The Eggbot kit comes complete with a fully assembled and tested EiBotBoard v2.0 (EBB) USB interface/motor driver board. No soldering or programming are required.
The EBB allows your computer to directly control the stepper and servo motors. The onboard 16X microstepping driver chips along with the 200 step/revolution stepper motors give a combined resolution of 3200 steps/revolution in both axes. A universal-input plug-in power supply (9 V 1.5 A) is included with the Eggbot kit, as is a USB cable.
Basic operation is much like that of a printer driver: you import or make a drawing in Inkscape, and use the extensions to plot your drawing onto whatever object you've mounted in the Eggbot. It's all handled through an easy to use graphical user interface, and works cleanly on Mac, Windows and Linux.
The standard pen holder included with the EggBot kit is designed to fit various art pens including Sharpie Ultra Fine Point pens. However, it can actually fit almost any pen of similar size. If you want to use a pen that doesn't fit, the pen holder is made of wood and can be enlarged to suit your taste.
You can even fit a lot of things that aren't pens. One example: They'll be offering a diamond-point engraver tool as an optional add-on for the EggBot kit in the near future.
above: The Eggbot Logo on an Egg
If you have additional questions about the Eggbot kit, you may want to look at the Eggbot FAQ.
The Egg-Bot 2.0 kit was designed by Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman with extensive help from Bruce Shapiro and Brian Schmalz. The kit includes assembly and use instructions, open source hardware release documents and example plot files.
You may recognize this little guy from the closing of J.J. Abrams' popular tv shows like LOST, Fringe and Alias or the sign off on the latest Star Trek movie. The mascot for the production company, shown below [looped] in the 2 second television sign-off, Bad Robot, is now available in a special limited edition made by Quantum Mechanix.
Offered to the public for the first time, this mischievous mascot of Bad Robot Productions stands 10-inches tall and is cast in solid polystone. Sculpted from the original digital model, each statue in this 1,000 piece edition is hand painted in exceptional detail and features modular arms. Every Bad Robot Maquette is individually numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity, and as a special bonus, the unique sculpture includes a removable Slusho drink that fits in his little robot craw.
The sci-fi and entertainment collectible is already sold at at Quantum Mechanix but you can still buy one here!
I know it's Mother's Day today (Happy Mother's Day!) and this would be way up there on my wish list. If I had kids. Or a lawn. Regardless, this is one of those luxuries I aspire to own.
It's as though an eco conscious RoboCop gave birth to a lawnmower. Husqvarna's top of the line automated robotic mower is as beautifully designed as a new sports car and it will mow your lawn without complaining. (Plus, I'd love to see it battle with a Roomba).
No emissions, low noise (see the people pleasantly sleeping in the hammock? lol), low energy consumption, weather-proof and can handle slopes up to 35%... oh, and did I mention? You don't have to mow your own lawn!
The Automower® Solar Hybrid is the world's first fully automatic lawn mower that is partly powered by the sun.
The product uses considerably less energy than any conventional mower. That's because in addition to a charging station, it comes with a large integrated solar panel. When there is daylight available, the solar cells enable the mower to extend its cutting periods before it needs recharging. That means a cut lawn in a shorter time, even lower power consumption and an extended battery life. Suitable for lawns up to 1/2 acre, depending on light conditions.
• With the lift and tilt sensors, if it runs into something it will redirect itself without causing damage:
•The Solar Panel is an additional energy source that gives Automower® extra power directly from the sun:
•With the settings panel the mower can be programmed to fit many different lawns and preferences:
• The cutting height adjustment is easily done from above by turning one large knob:
• When the Automower® needs more power, it finds its own way back to the charging station:
Battery type: NiMH Typical charging time: 45 min Typical mow time on one charge: 60 min
Like I said at the beginning of the post, this one is their top of the line and the price reflects that. With a suggested retail price of $3,000.00, you'd better have lots of lawn or lots of disposable income, preferably both.
To find where to purchase the Husqvarna Automated Solar Hybrid Mower, go here.
The text, images, videos and information below is from the wizkid site.
Wizkid looks like a computer, but it’s a robot. With its social skills and physical presence, Wizkid introduces the simplicity of everyday interactions in the world of computers. You can teach Wizkid about habits, introduces it to your friends and pets. Day after day, Wizkid will learn to recognize you and them and react differently in each context. Wizkid expresses itself by "shaking" its head, nodding, bending its neck in various ways and with a very simple "eye brow" system consisting of two horizontal bars that can go up and down. Despite the fact that this design is non-anthropomorphic, Wizkid conveys rather convincing expressions.
Wizkid introduces a novel interface system entitled "Halo". Interacting with the machine, the user sees himself in a kind of augmented mirror. Around him, several widgets and other interface elements appear. He can just select them by waving his hand. This "interactive halo" follows the user everywhere so that Wizkid's tools are always "at-hand".
Wizkid is the results of a collaboration between an engineer, Frederic Kaplan, and an industrial designer, Martino d'Esposito. It was developed at the CRAFT Laboratory at EPFL and benefits from the support of the EPFL-ECAL Lab.
In the living room, Wizkid can act as a central interface to media players:
Just show a CD to Wizkid and it will play it. If you organize a party, Wizkid will take pictures autonomously of your guests and create a visual summary of the event that can be sent to your guest afterwards.
In the children’s room, you can play augmented reality games with Wizkid. Look at yourself “in” the robotic screen and wait for the metamorphosis. With Wizkid you can really go beyond the mirror, seeing yourself in imaginary worlds where a simple playing card can turn a fantasy creature to life. At any moment, if you can talk or share thoughts with Wizkid. Although Wizkid does not speak, it listens carefully.
At the office, Wizkid introduces video conference with a presence. Your remote coworkers are really here with you, controlling the Wizkid’s directional head and expressing their reaction through physical movement. During meetings, Wizkid is following conversations just like any other participants paying attention to who is speaking (and who is not), acting like an efficient secretary.
Many more applications can be envisioned for shops, museums, schools, etc. Whizkid is currently presented at the MoMA in New York at the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition.
Interaction with visitors at MoMA:
tech info: Robotic display with camera / 2 microphones / WIFI / Bluetooth / IR receiver/emiter / RFID reader Face and object recognition / Halo Interface / Curiosity-driven development / Programmable in URBI Inside housing : Aluminum and polycarbonate plastic Slipcover : Elastan-polyamide fabric 41×32×44 cm
For those of you who miss Butter NY (I know I do) it's good to know that David Weeks Studio is still going strong. An extremely talented designer best known for his interiors and lighting in retail, restaurant and retail applications, he has come out with a few new super fun products for 2007.
Above: David Weeks in his Brooklyn studio
David Weeks does it again. And again. First fun new release, coming next month (April) are these 3 fun and funky silicone resin Gorilla ashtrays! Now with a Robot theme and a Skull theme as well.
Spring 07A new edition of the Gorilla ashtray will be in stores starting in April. Produced by Areaware, the silicone ashtrays will be offered in three versions, to suit the domestic requirements of goths, geeks, and primate lovers.
Above: Close-up of one of David Weeks' new silicone ashtrays, the Robzilla
above: The Skullrilla ashtray
Now in pink
In addition to those, he has designed these three new votives for Kikkerland (see below):
Where can you get them? the candles will be available for sale at the gift shop of the Santa Monica Museum of Art in May.
And, as a dog lover, I couldn't very well forget to introduce you to Shiner Stout-Weeks, David's hound labrador mix:
