Lego Johnny Five Lacks Emotions

Anyone who grew up in the ’80s remembers Johnny Five of Short Circuit. The perfect killing machine with absolutely no desire to kill after having disbanded its deadly laser beam weaponry in favor of a pocket knife. Yea, Johnny Five’s a robo-boy scout but his redeeming quality is his vast knowledge of pop-culture. As tribute to the friendliest librarian robot around, Brickshelf user rack911 has constructed a Johnny Five model out of LEGOs and other compatible bricks.

Johnny Five says,

“It’s the all-new Johnny Five! Just look at these items! Increased memory: five hundred megabytes on-line! I come with a utility pack and dozens of gadgets for outdoor living, lots of Greenpeace stickers, and even my own Nike swoosh! And, if you act now, I’ll throw in, absolutely free, my all-new, multi-frequency remote control!”

Build Your Own LEGO Scanner

We love LEGOs and while we’re partial to the Mindstorms set, Anders Søborg has built and programmed his own NXT scanner comprised mostly of these bricks. For those not familiar with NXT scanners, they’re a “standalone” scanner that can scan and save images as BMP-files. The images scanned can be saved in either 24-bit true color, 8-bit color or gray scale.

Although the device isn’t faster than any other scanner on the market (it’s quite slow actually), cut it some slack: it’s made out of toy blocks. Anders was also nice enough to include DIY instructions on making your own, complete with programming instructions and all, on his website.

(Link)

Real Lego Guitar Rocks The Bricks

This is no fake jive ass git. This black Lego Guitar is a functioning instrument with the entire case made out of our favorite childhood toy. Jam out with your friends, and if a piece of the guitar falls off, just snap it back together.

Including pick-ups, bridge, and all of the functioning parts, all this baby needs is some strings. And judging from the comments on the source page, Viagra users just love it.

Lego Camaro Is Greased Lightnin’!

Fans of the Camaro are among the most hardcore enthusiasts, as can can be seen by this Floridian Lego modeler. Crafting a Camaro using nothing but Legos. It sure would have been a chick magnet back in the late 70s.

To make sure the Camaro adopted all of the curves of a modern automobile, the designer seems to use some pieces from the Lego Technic line of brick tools. This model is complete with fake engine and pimped interior. Pretty damn impressive.

World’s Tallest LEGO Tower Has Been Built

I’m pretty sure anyone who hates LEGOs is a commie bastard. The classic colored bricks have been a staple of everyone’s childhood and that love continues into adulthood. Case in point is the world’s largest LEGO tower, which contains 500,000 LEGO bricks and is 100 feet tall.

Built in Windsor, UK, the huge structure commemorates LEGO’s 50th anniversary. Personally, I haven’t bought a set in a few years, but I will never forget the early-’90s spaceship sets. Those were king. Either way, neither the tower nor those spaceship sets compare to the LEGO Camaro.

LEGO USB 2.0 Bluetooth Dongle

Messing with LEGOs is good times, even if you’re 53. That’s why some geek in Germany turned a few 2×2 transparent bricks (of a variety of colors) into high speed Bluetooth adapters. On sale in limited quantity, these bricks are priced at about $50 before shipping and handling. They’ll give you that “I’m an 8-year-old!” look and at the same time, sync your expensive top-of-the-line wireless gadgets together. While there are better ways to call attention to yourself, the LEGO Bluetooth Mini Dongle is ultimately more useful than the alternatives.

Surf Chair: Laziness to the Max

As part of the Scandinavian Furniture Fair, Kenneth Lylover entered his Surf Chair into the Internet Collection competition. It won “Best Product” and it’s easy to see why. This semi-circle-shaped chair comes with a built-in LCD on the front and a padded frame to allow for the most comfortable Internet browsing experience possible.

With a mouse and keyboard included, the only reason you’ll ever need to leave your inner circle is for chips and Mountain Dew. Using the bathroom? Ha! That’s for wimps. I shit my pants at least four times during a round of Snood.

Where The Hell Am I Going To Put This Thing

Straight out of the Beetlejuice film comes Dust Furniture, an acid-trip take on real furniture except for one thing: you can’t put books on it. Well, certain shelves seem straight but if you check out the gallery there are tons of these designs which aren’t practical shelving space. That’s alright though, as Dust Furniture is completely for show. Having guests for dinner who do nothing but comment on your curvy furniture? Dose them with acid - the shelves will straighten themselves.

Origami V12 Engine

Montreal native Yee is crazy for origami. Offering DIY kits on his site, you too can create an origami V12 paper engine that pumps just like the real thing (with the help of electrical wires, a resistor, a motor and a battery holder). Damn shame it can’t power a car with pencil shavings. Well, there’s always the next millennia.

No Keys Needed On This Glass Keyboard

This glass surface with the form of keys etched in it is the latest project from designer Kong Fanwen. Using a motion capture camera mounted at the top, it tracks your finger motion and translates it to the computer as if you were typing on any normal keyboard. The “No-key Keyboard” is the sleekest looking keyboard we’ve seen in awhile and is reminiscent of many other touch-sensitive glass gadgets we’ve seen.

No word on any retail information, but I’m sure that this’ll be a hit with all your co-workers at the office. I can’t wait to see the matching mouse.

(link)

BMW Gina Is Not Flame-Retardant

BMW’s new concept car ‘GINA Light Visionary Model’ is remarkably innovative. It’s a shape-shifting car covered with seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame that allowing the driver to change the car’s form at will. The fabric is water resistant and durable. However, setting fire to it is a different story.

There are no plans for the fabric-enveloped car to hit production lines:

“It is in the nature of such visions that they do not necessarily claim to be suitable for series production,” company officials said in unveiling the car Tuesday. “Rather, they are intended to steer creativity and research into new directions.”

Perhaps this concept will inspire more alternative eco-friendly automobiles to hit production lines in the next few years. We’re all hoping that in the event of a crash, automobiles like Gina won’t leave you in a mangled heap of charred flesh and fragmented bones.

IT-SMART Robotic & Computer Education for Children & Adults

Info (024) 7618292

Berdiri di Sidoarjo sejak Mei 2006, IT-Smart Robotic Division merupakan tempat belajar robotic bagi anak-anak. Di tempat inilah anak-anak dikenalkan dengan penggunaan gear, pengenalan & penggunaan sensor, pemrograman dasar, dan pemrograman terstruktur.

Kemajuan teknologi robotic sangat luar biasa di negara-negara maju khususnya Jepang. Robot sudah banyak diproduksi dan dibeli oleh masyarakat, misalnya robot berbentuk hewan peliharaan yang diciptakan oleh Sony, bernama Aibo. Aibo dapat melakukan layaknya anjing penjaga dan anjing teman bermain bagi anak-anak. Di negara maju, teknologi robotic mulai dikenalkan sejak anak berusia 6 tahun.
Anak diperkenalkan dengan pengetahuan dasar menciptakan robot dengan metode bermain. Tak mengherankan kalau kelak anak mampu menghasilkan robot-robot yang bermanfaat bagi kehidupan manusia. Belum terlambat jika di Indonesia mengadopsi & menerapkan metode pembelajaran teknologi robotic.
Salah satu proses yang dapat dilakukan adalah belajar dengan ikut membuatnya (learning by making).
Menurut survey, anak menyukai hal-hal yang dinamis, berwarna-warni dan menarik perhatian.
Cara yang paling efektif adalah membuat anak mencoba teknologi robotic dalam makna yang sebenarnya. Tak hanya teori, tetapi juga mencoba menerapkan, meski masih sederhana.

Kenalkan anak mengenai teknologi robotic, sehingga anak menyadari telah berinteraksi dengan teknologi robotic sehari-hari. Tanpa melalui tahap ini, anak akan sulit membayangkannya. Setelah itu, proses memperkenalkan mekanika dan keahlian teknik (engineering) pada anak, misalnya pesawat sederhana. Gunakan pesawat rakitan, ajak anak merakit pesawat mainan sendiri dengan tingkat kesulitan yang beragam. Mainan ini setidaknya mulai mengajarkan anak teknik rekayasa, ilmu yang juga dibutuhkan untuk membuat robot.
Tahap berikutnya adalah latihan menghadapi kasus-kasus yang melibatkan penerapan teknologi robotic. Misalnya membuat portal parkir. Tentunya hal ini harus ditunjang dengan komponen-komponen dasar robot, seperti alat sensor, roda gigi, dan lainnya.
Anak terbiasa memecahkan masalah menggunakan pemikiran logika yang terstruktur. Anak juga mempelajari pemrograman yang diperlukan.

Sebagai contohnya, dapatkah anak-anak memecahkan permasalahan berikut ini:
Aunt Monica has dropped her glasses & is having difficulty picking them up. She needs some help.
Design & build a picker-upper which:
1. can be operated with 1 hand
2. can pick up the weighted brick

Usaha untuk membuat sebuah teknologi robotic memerlukan daya imajinasi yang luas. Latih anak tak sekedar membayangkan saja, tapi juga menuangkannya dalam bentuk gambar atau tulisan.
Kemudian minta anak merakit dengan menggunakan peralatan (tool set). Anak berlatih pemrograman menghasilkan output yang diinginkan melalui peralatan tersebut. Anak juga banyak belajar teori dasar fisika atau sains yang menunjang keilmuan robotic.
Misalnya pengungkit, sepeda, portal parkir, pintu otomatis, lift dan sebagainya.


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IT-SMART Hadir di :

# Pondok Tjandra Indah Jl Jeruk Barat 63, Sidoarjo
# Jalan Kartini 31, Surabaya
# Jalan Gayung Kebonsari 45 - 47, Surabaya
# Jalan Puri Anjasmoro EE3 / 12A, Semarang
(024) 7618292