Okay so maybe it could kind of lok that way but it’s cool because tis is abkut US! As in, it’s about RoboGames, the li’l shindig we throw in June or thereabouts in San Francisco.

Bill Sherman, robot builder extraordinaire, always sets up a nifty time lapse camera at RoboGames to capture the arena build and all sorts of other silliness. He has included footage he took of some of the art bot mezzanine as well. Tel him how neat he is and thank him for putting this up.

[BTW, hello to all those coming from Neatorama through the Rotor's last post, we weren't expecting guests to please forgive us if we're scrambling around to tidy things up.]

“To Serve Man” indeed…

Category – SERVING
winners: Sloth (kal spelletich)

And
fairy juicer (mitch heinrich, david fine)

Category – MIXING
winners: k&k klavier (FH Joanneum) [judges motivation: aesthetics]

and
construction wanker (FH Joanneum) [judges motivation: re-introduction of punch-cards]

Category – CONVERSATION
winner: chassis (jon foote, al honig)

Category – OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
winners: rimshot bot (ctp)

and
reprap shot bot (bre pettis, marius kinkel, philip tiefenbacher)

Category – HUMAN SUBJUGATION
winner: gina (FH Joanneum)

Category – MOST LEGALLY CHALLENGING
winner: robovox (martin bricelj)

Category – REPRODUCABILITY
winner: lego shotbot (Anthony Fudd)

LIMES – (the un-awards for most dubious achievements)

most spectacular fail – sloth
stickiest, ickiest – globo
most displaced in cocktail environment – drill-pro-mill
most politically and genderifically incorrect – construction wanker

These six-legged carryings-on are the result of the Fachhochschuler Oberösterreich, which as near as I can figure out is a network of technical high schools in Austria (any Austrians reading this please to shed light on this?). They have a lovely hexapod competition, and from the funk these machines bring, they do teach them a thing or two at FH Oberösterreich.

You can get your own hexapod kit to play around with at the wonderous Trossen Robotics, which I personally think is really great idea because baby robots need new pairs of shoes over here, if you get my meaning (yes, we are proud participants in the Trossen affiliate program).

Speaking of Austria, we are shipping the Rotor off to Vienna this Saturday for RoboExotica; his crate is almost done and we promised to put enough water and padding in there this time, so expect to hear from him and what those crazy Austrian cocktail roboticists are up to.

So loyal readers, the conclusion is obvious: for hot bot-on-bot action, steer clear of the MSM and stay raht cheer with SB!

And in case you are wondering, you can catch the KILLER DEATH ROBOTS very soon at the Austin Maker Faire

Robots. On Mars. And it twitters, too.

Thanks to Matt Kirkland for putting these up and conducting the experiments that went with them. Also props to his poetic post title, “In Vestimentis Ursum”

We are off tonight to indulge in robot glowiness down south, pictures and commentary on neat things we see to come, assuming we aren’t apprehended and manhandled off the premises by our gracious hosts. . .

Thanks, Magnus!

Four years ago today (August 1st), I married the best girl in the world. She’s the best present that I have ever got, but the best present that we got that day, was our ring-bearer – Mechadon, courtesy of Mark Setrakian and Peter Abrahamson.

To keep this topical:


(When I grow up, I wanna be Mark Setrakian and make robots like he does – ones that you’d think would be CGI but are real… Mind you, that would mean that someone would have to cure my ADHD first… )

Anyway, apparently, our happy day was a news-worthy event. Although there are lots of pix from that great day…

Simone is still a stinky girl, but she’s OK for someone with cooties.

Hold on while I go punch her in the arm and run away.

Well, you hire a boy band, and shoot a video in San Francisco, of course:

“Pipetting all those well-plates, baby, sends your thumbs into overdrive
And spending long nights in the lab makes it hard for your love to thrive

DNA
RNA
Proteins
Cell Cultures
Less reagents
Faster workflow
Saves you money
Well, well, well”

I could not make this stuff up.

(Missy SB promises to learn the words to this and sing it at ROFL con.)

Of course, RoboGames is ahead of the power-curve. There was a modified epMotion at RG-2007, serving shots:

via [le boing]