|
Marc de Vinck from Make is at CES and is hunting down all of the stuff that we think is cool. Check out this neat Phone Robot called Romo. It works out to be quite an expensive robot considering it holds your smart phone, as long as it doesn’t take a tumble down the stairs I think your phone is quite safe though. There is a developer section for this robot so you can make your own iOS or Android apps (Android is coming soon). Via: Make “Romotive was started by Phu, Peter, and Keller, three childhood friends with a lifelong passion for building cool things. One day, Phu had an idea to build a robot that used a smartphone as its brain. Peter built that robot, and then Keller helped them figure out how to market the robot. Today, Romotive is building a flexible and open robotic platform will allow people to create their own fun and useful robots.”
|
|
So this year Hacked Gadgets will not be at CES but we are following the coverage and will be featuring some crazy gems that we see. This Tamaggo 360 Camera is sure to inspire some new photo taking. There have been devices out there that have taken 360 pictures before but none of them look and operate as simply as this one does. Have a look at the demo image on this page for an example of what the images will look like (be sure to look to the rear of the the initial image and up at the tall buildings). Darren from Hak5 stopped by their booth and took a quick look at the device. “o 14MP sensor with wide dynamic range
|
|
The Paro Therapeutic Robot was at CES 2011. This looks like a toy that your kids would play with but it is actually a very sophisticated robot. It is full of sensors that allow it to sense touch, bright lights and voice. Just like a pet you can call Paro by name and he will eventually relate that name to be his name. Paro is used in nursing homes, hospitals, alzheimer’s association and schools for autistic children. Paro has been around since 2003 but this is the first year Paro is being sold in the US market.
|
|
At CES 2011 we had a look at the best solution for power on the go. The Ecotricity PS1800S Portable Solar Generator will charge fast because of the large solar cell and it will provide tons of standby power because it has a 12 volt 60Ah sealed lead acid battery. The system is a simple to use because of the sealed controller to which you only need to connect to the solar panel. The controller includes a 1800 watt inverter, with this kind of power you will be blending margaritas on the beach in no time. My suggestion is to buy it for the beach but store it in your garage so next time you have a power fail you can use the PS1800S instead of the candles in the kitchen drawer. Just imagine, you could plug in your living room lamp, TV and DVD player. Then invite your neighbors over to watch a movie until the power comes back on! |
|
Microinfinity had a great booth for us hackers and hobbyists at CES 2011. Lauro had a LEGO NXT robot getting commands from a laptop to draw a line drawing of Mona Lisa, the LEGO robot is using their CruizCore® XG1300L MEMS gyroscope. The MEMS gyroscope is very accurate and is sure to be a great addition to the sensors available to LEGO NXT hobbyists. You can purchase the XG1300L sensor here.
|
|
We spoke to Jacob from Dreambots at CES 2011. We recorded a video where he went over some of the technical details of the WheeMe, unfortunately there was an audio glitch in the recording. I am thinking that it must have been intervention by some 3 letter agency not wanting the technology to be released. Either that or an audio plug that wasn’t pushed in all the way… The WheeMe is a cool tiny robot that is placed on a person, turned on and forgotten about until you are satisfied with your massage. The 4 WheeMe wheels are like tiny rubber fingers and with the driving motion of the robot it gives you a random massage all over. The cool thing about the WheeMe is that it doesn’t need to be watched while it’s working, it can sense where it needs to reverse so it doesn’t fall off with the fall detection circuitry inside. This way it will keep massaging as far as it can without tumbling onto the floor. There are some attachments that can be used to enhance the massage action if desired. At the cost of one massage at your massage therapist it’s a great value.
|
|
Everyone has used a flashlight before but I bet there wasn’t a built in video recorder in yours. GOSCAM makes a number of items with built in video cameras but this flashlight video camera is the most practical I think. I can see this being of use to many people from security guards to law enforcement. The system looks just like a normal flashlight, it isn’t until you look very close that you see a small camera behind the glass beside the LEDs. The unit is rugged and waterproof. I also like their battery design. It can be inserted either way since it’s polarity insensitive, both positive and negative are provided in the same position on the front and back of the battery. We have talked about the need to put batteries in the correct way before, one solution was to have a holder that adapted for reverse battery insertion but I like this method better where the battery is identical in both directions. “Specifications · Real-time video and audio recording
|
|
| ||||||
|
