Talking about Asimo and mechanized stuff in the previous post, I remembered seeing some new “build-it-yourself” robots, so why not share this piece of news?
Remember the HPI G-Dog robot? A nice little motorize puppy that you are supposed to build out of numerous smaller parts. The guys from HPI also provide a humanoid robot called GR-001 G-Robot. This one boasts 20 motors which can be individually programmed to follow your every command. You can control it via what looks like a console gamepad, and alternatively, the G-Robot can also be directed via your computer and the included animation software.
Don’t get too enthusiastic about this, as you still need to spend about 2 hours to assemble the GR-100. That’s what HPI estimates for an average person, but if you somehow find yourself helpless when faced with al l sorts of nonsensical diagrams, be prepared to call the HPI guys who will kindly assist you in Japanese.
You say you can manage just fine… OK! Go ahead and order the HPI GR-001 G-Robot from AudioCubes. Oh, did I mention it costs $2,400? Darn, my bad! At least take a look at what it can do…
I don’t want to get old, ever! I mean, I don’t want to walk around like some kind of zombie, complaining about my humble condition. I want to be able to do most if not all the activities that I’m able to do now. That includes running or walking, but not like a weirdo hunchback. Luckily, Honda has come up with a solution, so if my muscles atrophy in time, I can still walk in a decent manner with the aid of the Walking Assistant Device.
The assistant is a 6 lb (2.8kg) motorized belt with hip sensors that gauge how much help the wearer will need in order to move around in normal conditions. If the wearer requires any help with the movement, the motorized device then gives him/her an appropriate boost, lengthening his/her stride enough to make walking easier on the legs.
The current prototype phase has reached the point where the supplied lithium-ion battery only last two hours on a charge, so if you are happen to be an old granny, don’t go imagining you could use this on a shopping spree; not yet, at least.
Honda cared to disclose that the hip sensors are based on the ones you can see on their Asimo robot. These sensors even have a CPU of their own, so we’re talking about some cyborg stuff here. The WAD needs to be further tested and improved, but there’s still hope for the old guys nonetheless.
Atlas used to hold the entire globe on its shoulders and the Greek gods thought that was cool. But you can be cooler than Atlas. No need to strain your shoulders with Earth’s immensity, just buy one of these watches.
<-234x60 Half Banner - left->Instead of holding the Earth on your shoulders you can now wear the globe on your wrist. This watch from ThinkGeek incorporates a small rotating Earth that makes a full rotation once every 24 hours. It was actually designed in Japan and made by Seiko Instruments.
What kind of crazy concept might this be and how does it work? Well, it’s quite intuitive and works fine. There is a small time zone indicator for the hour on the rim of the dial and a small orange dot to indicate the minutes. The movement mechanism is made of Quartz with a custom set of 3 reducing gears in the drive train and the included Lithium battery lasts for 10 years. The bezel is 45 mm in diameter and the entire case is made of light weight Titanium.
The crystal that powers the mechanism is super tough Hardlex and is of optical quality to create the effect of the Earth floating inside the frame. You can easily tell the time by identifying your time zone on the globe which, by the way, spins counter clockwise, just like our planet. I wonder how people from the Southern hemisphere are able to use this, though. The watch is also water resistant up to 100m.
What’s the difference between a 70-year old mike and a brand new 2008 model? Honestly, I’m not that sure there might be any big difference… OK, there should be major improvements done to the actual basic parts, but then again everything has rapidly evolved since the end of WW2. I wasn’t asking about material differences, but spiritual ones. C’mon, what’s spirit got to do with mikes? It has an awful lot when it happens to be a Neumann Microphones model, I tell you.
<-250×250 Square - left->What you see here is the Neumann U47 mike that the Beatles recorded on almost exclusively from 1962 to 1970, as did Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and… Hitler. What, that dirty bastard could sing? Not exactly, but close. The U47 (sounds like a German U boat, lol) was used during the Berlin Olympics in 1936 as German Chancellor Adolf Hitler opened ceremonies with the aid of such device. Soon after, the Third Reich used this one to address and reach the hearts of his fellow countrymen. That’s how the mike gained the nickname Hitlerflasche, or the Hitler Bottle.
Neumann made The U47 specially for Hitler’s public appearances and after WW2, the maker took the old carbon-grain broadcast microphone, which used bits of carbon sandwiched between two plates, and turned it into a mass-produced “condenser” microphone, which has one fixed plate and another that forms a diaphragm moved by sound waves.
I bet there aren’t many of these left and that the one used by Hitler could get more expensive than a small tactical squadron arsenal.
How many times did you happen to get your camcorder soaked in the midst of a large wave on the beach? None? Hmm, you sure are careful with your things, way too careful maybe. But if you are Aquaman and still want to record some of the marine wanders I give you the latest ultraportable camcorder from Sanyo.
The new Xacti is waterproof and you can take it down to 1.5 meters deep and use it there for up to an hour. On the camera side, you’ll find an 8MP CMOS sensor with new “face chaser” technology that even works underwater. The camcorder is able to record clips in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 formats at up to 60 frames per second at a VGA resolution. You also get a 5x optical zoom so you can get up, close and personal with some nasty shark grinning at your sight.
This camera appears to be almost exactly like the DMX-CA65 one, but waterproof. It’s pretty good feature-wise, but we can certainly use a 1080p version to capture the marine majesties. Oh yeah, and Sanyo, please make it waterproof down to 50 m .
The waterproof Xacti hasn’t even been officially announced as of yet so we might not see it at work until later this summer.
