This robotic fish is made from bent PVC pipe and moves its tail for locomotion.

If you’re going to build an underwater vehicle, propeller control is the conventional solution. Eric Dirgahayu, however, created his underwater creature in the form of a fish, complete with a tail that powers it through the water, and pectoral fins that could, in theory, steer it in the correct direction. There is also a ballast tank to adjust its buoyancy. Interestingly, control of this “fish” is accomplished via a TV remote, so the surrounding water would need to be relatively clear.

Now we already have a complete fish robot body, we need to provide it with life! We will use the Arduino Pro Mini because the shape is small and can fit into safety box. In addition, you also need Pro Mini Arduino Motor Driver for control of ballast tanks, UBEX for power protection and two cell LiPo battery 1000mAh for power.

Here’s Dirgahayu’s general project description. If you’re interested in making a fish like this yourself, the physical build is seen here, and the electronics are found on this page.

This dust buster-based robotic vacuum may or may not work as well as a Roomba.

If you’re fascinated by the idea of a robotic vaccum cleaner to keep you from having to do certain chores, you could buy an iRobot, or you could make your own instead. This particular DIY model uses four motors for locomotion, an Arduino Uno, an IR and ultrasonic sensors to avoid obstacles, as well as a (formerly) handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up debris.

The assembly sits on a wooden chassis, and as author B. Aswinth Raj is quick to point out, many variations on this robot could be made. Code is included and fairly short, so whether you’d like to copy this design or improve upon it, the bot should certainly give you some build ideas!

In this project we will use the power of embedded systems and electronics to make our own robot which could help us in keeping our home or work place neat and tidy. This robot is simple four wheeled vacuum cleaner which could smartly avoid obstacles and vacuum the floor at the same time. The idea is inspired by the famous vacuum cleaner iRobot Roomba…

You can find more detailed instructions, along with its code and a circuit diagram, on this CircuitDigest page.

Lego bricks have been the foundation of so many awesome and elaborate creations, it's no wonder people have already had the idea to send them skyward in drone form. But while there are plenty of DIY tutorials around, as well as the odd prebuilt model, we haven't seen anything quite as accessible and affordable as these new Lego UAV kits from Flybrix.

Source: Flybrix

Lego bricks have been the foundation of so many awesome and elaborate creations, it's no wonder people have already had the idea to send them skyward in drone form. But while there are plenty of DIY tutorials around, as well as the odd prebuilt model, we haven't seen anything quite as accessible and affordable as these new Lego UAV kits from Flybrix.

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!

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.

What do you do when you want your plants to grow but you lack a green thumb? Give them wheels and the ability to seek out sunny and shady spots on their own. This was media artist Kathleen McDermott has done.

The aptly named Sunbot and Shadebot are robots that help houseplants tour the outside world. Sunbot uses photocell (light) sensors to look for sunny places to rest, while Shadebot employs the same sensors to locate shadowy spots.

Both platforms are made out of a recycled fan case and wood, along with an Arduino, DC motors, rechargeable batteries and solar panels.

See them in action below!

Being a dumb and clumsy robot has never been as fun as in the stupid robots competition Hebocon. This competition series is described as “robot contests for the technically ungifted” by its creator Daiju Ishikawa, and encourages anyone to join with no prior knowledge of robotics necessary.

What’s neat is that unlike other awards, Hebocon’s are symbolic as they are usually made out of recycled parts from every robot in the competition!

So far there have been two editions of Hebocon in Spain (Valencia and Makespace Madrid) where our very own David Cuartielles participated as a judge.

Last weekend, Cuartielles was invited to the Hebocon World Championship in Tokyo where he served on the judging panel alongside Nifty’s Dr. Kunio Matsui and an executive from NicoTsuku (a company dedicated to digital communities). The event drew a total of 32 robots from all across the world, including the United States, Hong Kong, Iceland, France, Singapore, Greece, Taiwan and Japan.

The winners were:

Nifty Award: An unusual car with a spinning doll that shot fake banknotes

NicoTsuku Award: A robot with a middle-age man that turned a table upside down (a literal representation of a Japanese colloquial expression that means getting mad)

Arduino/Genuino Award: A crocodile robot made by a 10-year-old that previously participated in Maker Faire Tokyo

The ‘Remote-Controlled Robot’ from Hong Kong won the sumo competition and it was about fooling the opponent by switching the roles of the remote control and the robot.

Thanks for inviting us to Hebocon’s World Championship 2016! Check out more on Twitter! 

As its name would suggest, the LittleArm is a mini 3D-printed robot that began as a weekend project. Its creator Gabe Bentz wanted a small arm that was easy to work with, and one that wouldn’t require him to dig deep into his wallet. So, as any Maker would do, he decided to design his own low-cost device.

After showing the LittleArm off, it wasn’t before long that he was approached by some STEM teachers in the area who wondered if the kit was something they could use in their classrooms. Ideally, every student should have one to tinker with, but unfortunately today’s systems tend to be too expensive and quickly loose parts and pieces. This is a problem that LittleArm is looking to solve.

The arm is powered by an Arduino Uno and four identical metal-geared micro servos, while all other mechanical components are 3D-printed. There’s also a modular gripper that’s actuated by a servo along with rigid end-effectors for various tasks. What’s more, a basic GUI enables you to control the arm, its gripper, the speed, as well as use its record function to train the robot to perform a specific task and then watch it play out the sequence.

The entirely open-source gadget comes as a DIY kit that can be purchased or built from scratch. Want one of your own? Check out Bent’z Kickstarter page here, and see the LittleArm in action below (including some of its dance moves).