Though tape players persisted in vehicles for much longer than needed, cassettes are pretty much an obsolete format. That doesn’t mean they can’t be useful, as this project by Moscow-based media artist ::vtol:: shows.

His interactive robot, dubbed “pzr-10,” traverses a canvas littered with unwound tape, while two heads read the data off of it. Using an Arduino Uno, this data is then transmitted to the built-in loudspeaker and played aloud. Audio can be looped and processed in various ways, giving the user a unique audio experience!

A customized remote operates the robot. The controller is equipped with an Arduino Nano and a joystick that guides pzr-10, while buttons manipulate the sound.

You can read more about the robotic installation on ::vtol::’s page.

If you’ve been looking for a robotic assistant with the functionality of an Amazon Echo and the cuteness of a Disney character, you’re in luck. That’s because Abhishek Singh has created Peeqo, an open-source DIY device that responds to human speech through GIFs.

Peeqo has a Raspberry Pi 3 for his brain along with a pair of Arduino Mini boards for controlling movement and LED notifications. The 3D-printed bot is equipped with a half-dozen servos, four custom microphones, a NeoPixel ring on top of his head, a camera at his chest, a USB speaker, and an LCD display.

As for voice recognition, Peeqo uses the Google Speech API for detecting the wake word ‘Peeqo’ and API.AI for responding to the query. The desktop companion can also serve as a full-fledged entertainment system that plays your favorite Spotify tunes. Ask for a song and he’ll sway to the beat.

But that’s not all. Singh even developed a Chrome extension that uses Peeqo to boost his productivity and motivate him to avoid social media while working. Once he tells it to block a certain site, the robot lets his displeasure be known in the form of a GIF.

Intrigued? You can see how Singh brought Peeqo to life on Imgur.

Love eating lunch, but hate making it? Good news, an automated machine may soon be able to take care of the task for you. Meet Sandwich-o-Matic, a voice-controlled, robotic sandwich-building station.

The project–which was created during a thirty-six hour hackathon by the team of Clive Chan, Colin Daly, Alex Foley and Wilson Wu–is based on an Arduino and a Photon. A rotating dispenser is driven by a series of servos, while a DC motor is responsible for a toaster-lifting mechanism. The backend is running Node.js, hosted on AWS, and the Google Cloud Platform handles the voice-to-text features.

The Sandwich-o-Matic accepts both voice and NFC requests. Simply place your order by saying the ingredients, or tapping their respective images on an accompanying menu. The device will then begin crafting your lunch from scratch.

The Makers hope to even develop a future version, which will include more topping and condiment options as well as a more streamlined voice-to-sandwich process. You can read more about the project on Devpost and its GitHub page.

If you think building a walking robot is impossible, perhaps this little guy will change your mind!

With platforms like the various flavors of Arduino, robotics has become accessible for many more people. Walking robots, however, can still be challenging. Especially when it comes to electronics and programming, one has some fairly complicated mechanisms to figure out. Perhaps none is more frustrating than four-legged walkers, as they seem very stable, but that all changes when one foot is removed from the ground.

QuadBot aims to change this with an Arduino-compatible robot that, with clever cutouts for servo motors and plug-in headers on its main board, should be fairly easy to set up, yet capable of being expanded as needed.

The 3D-printable, open-source bot is designed for Makers of any skill level. It works right out of the box and can be programmed using graphical blocks, ideal for beginners. Every aspect of QuadBot can be customized and modified, though, from the 3D design down to a single line of C++ code, opening it up to more advanced users as well.

QuadBot was made for you to do real deal robotics. This means that you learn coding techniques that are scalable to bigger and better projects, rather than an oversimplified and limited alternative (such as Lego Mindstorms). A robotics platform that sets up young and experienced Makers like this has not existed until right now.

QuadBot doesn’t just walk either, it can dance, light up, and with sensors, can follow you, avoid obstacles, and even play songs. The project is the brainchild of Jack Scott-Reeve and Josh Elijah, who graduated with master’s degrees from the University of Manchester’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Interested? Head over to Scott-Reeve, Elijah and the team’s Kickstarter page to learn more or back QuadBot for yourself!

Congratulations to the winner of this year’s Hackaday Prize, Alberto Molina Perez! Inspired by Bruce Lee’s famous water quote, Dtto is a self-reconfigurable robot that can adopt any shape by simply changing the position and connection of its 3D-printed modules.

A coupling mechanism on both ends allows the sections to assemble themselves in various configurations and carry out complex tasks in unison. They can chain together to create a snake-like robot, turn into a wheel, or even form a bridge to get over a gap. Impressively, this is all accomplished autonomously. The goal is that, one day, Dtto’s versatility will enable it to perform rescue missions and explore unknown environments without any human intervention.

As Hackaday notes, each module consists of two boxes, rounded on one side, linked by a bar. One half houses all of the electronics, which includes an Arduino Nano, a Bluetooth chip, an NRF2401+ radio transceiver, two SG92R Tower Pro servos for hinging, and three Tower Pro SG90 micro servos for coupling, while the other leaves space for additional features, such as a camera, microphone and speakers, multiple sensors, actuators, or more batteries.

You can read more about the project on its Hackaday.io page, and be sure to check out its latest demo reel below!

From our Chairigami Maker Faire booth furniture to Google VR headsets, we’ve seen various use cases for cardboard. Added to that list is a robotic arm, courtesy of Uladz Mikula.

According to the Maker, the design can be replicated in two hours using Arduino and four servo motors. Aside from the electronics, the project also calls for a piece of hardboard for the base and three clips.

The arm, which Mikula calls “CARDBIRD,” can be controlled in one of two ways: either from a PC using a Processing program or remotely via an IR pult/receiver. Ready to build your own? Check over to its Instructables page!

The Jetson TX1 Cat Spotter uses advanced neural networking to recognize when there's a cat in the room — and then starts teasing it with a laser.

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What do you do when you’re the Queen of S****y Robots and you’re in the mood for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You have a remote-controlled bot make one for you, of course. This is exactly what Simone Giertz set out to do in her latest hilarious project using a pair of robotic arms: one holds a plastic knife for spreading, while the other is puppeteered by her friend, Fiona.

Although this sandwich robot may not be making any PB&Js anytime soon, Giertz’s video will surely have you LOL-ing. Enjoy!

Maker Shuang Peng has created a 13 DOF animatronic hand using an Arduino Mega, seven servo motors, and six air cylinders, along with a Leap Motion sensor for control.

As briefly described on his Instructables page:

There are various ways to control the hand. I’ve tried the Leap Motion sensor and the data glove, which catches my motion via Processing. Then the Processing communicate with the Mega via serial. Now, I’m trying to use EMOTIV Insight EEG sensor to control it.

Damon McMillan built a robotic boat. Not just any robotic boat. This one is sailing across the world's oceans. And it's just simple and elegant enough to work.

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