Posts Tagged ‘Robots’



Star Wars Fun at Maker Faire

Bonnie Burton | May 2, 2008

Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself mindset. Maker Faire happens May 3 and 4 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in California. It’s a fun event for creative people of all ages who love to tinker and make things.

Whether it’s playing with robots (and there’s a lot of them!), checking out huge fire-breathing contraptions from Survival Research Laboratories, gawking at Tesla Coils, drag racing power tools, making all kinds of crafts, or just having fun geeking out, there’s plenty for everyone to do.

Here’s a selection of Makers and Exhibits that Star Wars fans might dig the most:

(more…)

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BigDog Robot Gets ‘Sweded’

Bonnie Burton | March 26, 2008

When we first reported about the creepy, headless, deer-like quadruped BigDog robot, we never imagined that someone would decide to give it the Sweded Be Kind Rewind treatment. But we are very glad they did! It duplicates the original video right down to the jerk trying to kick them over. Pure genius!

Check out this video and a mini-interview with its creators here:
Video of BigDog Beta Quadruped Robot Is So Stupid It’s Hilarious (via Gizmodo)

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“Luke Arm” Prosthesis

Bonnie Burton | February 4, 2008


(Photo by Dirk Van Der Merwe)

Dean Kamen’s “Luke arm” — a prosthesis named for the remarkably lifelike prosthetic worn by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars – came to the end of its two-year funding last month. Its fate now rests in the hands of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funded the project. If DARPA gives the project the green light — and some greenbacks — the state-of-the-art bionic arm will go into clinical trials. If all goes well, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives its approval, returning veterans could be wearing the new artificial limb by next year.

Read more about it here:
Dean Kamen’s “Luke Arm” Prosthesis Readies for Clinical Trials

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SOURCE: Club Jade, BoingBoing.net

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Star Wars LEGO Contest Picks Up Steam

Pete Vilmur | January 8, 2008

Star Wars steampunk aficionados, crack out those old LEGO sets with helicopter propellers, domed canopies, harpoons, gears and other Victorian accoutrements – the From Bricks to Bothans Forums has announced a “Steam-Wars Contest” and is giving away some great LEGO Star Wars sets for prizes.

To get an idea of what Star Wars steampunk might look like, check out some of the photos posted at the WIRED Blog Network.

Better hurry – contest ends January 31st!

Thanks to theforce.net for the heads up!

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Jedi Jardin and Steambots

StarWars.com Team | January 7, 2008


BoingBoing TV vlogger/journalist Xeni Jardin continues her lightsaber training while visiting LA Jedi Bootcamp, and droid maker I-Wei shows off his latest steampunk robots!

VIDEO: BBtv: Jedi Xeni/Steam-Powered Robots

And don’t miss our exclusive interview with I-Wei about his steam-powered R2-D2 here:
Creating R2-S2 (Steampunk R2-D2)

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Make Your Own Mouse Droid

Bonnie Burton | December 26, 2007

Robot master and Weekend Projects vlogger Bre Pettis shows us how to make a mouse droid using spare parts. Okay, actually it’s called Mousey the Junkbot, but close enough.

Check out the video here.

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R2-D2 Kidnapped!

StarWars.com Team | December 20, 2007

A Swiss newpaper is reporting that “unidentified thieves have stolen a replica of the Star Wars robot R2-D2 from a film prop museum in Frauenfeld, canton Thurgau.”

The thieves broke into a basement storage room, making off with an exact copy of the famed robot character as well as other items. The 1.2-metre-high robot is worth thousands of Swiss francs according to its owner, Roman Güttinger.

Güttinger’s hoard of props from horror, adventure and science fiction films is considered the biggest private collection in Europe. He has gathered around 2,500 items, including rarities such as the monster from the Alien films and the Batmobile from Batman.

While no one as of yet has been apprehended, we suspect Jawas.

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SOURCE: Swissinfo.ch

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R2-D2 Translator

Bonnie Burton | December 4, 2007

Finally, now we can all understand what the heck R2-D2 is beeping about! Find out how everyone’s favorite astromech droid says useful words like “pizza” and “latte.” You can modify your text or download the translation to your mobile phone!

Check it out here:
R2-D2 Translator

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Diamond Droid?

Bonnie Burton | October 22, 2007


(photo courtesy Wartski, London)

When hordes of collectors invaded the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in New York City last week in search of rare and exotic goodies — who knew that our own Goldenrod would be in the mix?

From New York Times:

Nosing about this warren of booths reveals other interesting odds and ends, from a Renaissance bingo set to Roman celestial and terrestrial globes. But ultimately the show is a random compendium of rich people’s toys. Perhaps this is best symbolized by the diamond-encrusted gold brooch modeled after the android C-3PO of the Star Wars movies, at Wartski. Price tag: $30,000.

Read the full article here:
Gifts Fit to Set Before Royalty

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SOURCES: ClubJade.net, Nytimes.com

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Lucas Talks Imagination

Bonnie Burton | October 9, 2007

Filmmaker George Lucas visits the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and answers a few questions from the Chicago Tribune about the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit.

“Star Wars was designed to stimulate the imagination of young kids. It was to get kids to think and use their imagination and go home and draw pictures and make their own stories,” said Lucas, who was in town to promote the 10,000-square-foot exhibit.

“There is a lot of imaginative science in Star Wars,” Lucas said. “It shows you that by imagining things, you can imagine things that will eventually come through.”

Watch the video interview here, along with the article:
Exhibit from a galaxy far, far away

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