Finally, A Literal Fire Truck

Fire trucks, by their very name, should start fires, not put them out. So tinkerer PeterSripol upgraded a toy fire truck with a functional flamethrower so that at least one these vehicles can live up to its name. And boy does it ever. This thing is all about the flame.

He not only added the ability to spew fire, but also upgraded the cheap toy’s R/C components. Now it has better speed and steering capabilities. All the better to burn things with. This thing just zips around in a trail of fire and burns everything in its path.

There should be a Transformer that does this. I might watch those Michael Bay movies if there was.

[via Sploid]

Indominus Rex Robot Wants to Eat Your Other Dinosaur Toys

Jurassic World was one of those silly summer popcorn flicks, loaded with destruction, dinosaurs, and cheesy dialogue. In other words, I loved it. One of the highlights of the movie was the giant dinosaur with the silly name – the Indominus Rex. Now you can own a robotic version of I. Rex to wreak havoc on your action figures.

The robot is designed to patrol, hunt, and explore its environment, and can be programmed using the included remote control. It’s even got infrared sensors in its nose to detect and react to hand movements. And as it moves, it belts out roars and growls just like the real fake dinosaur from the movie. The dino gets particularly nasty if you mess with its tail.

You can get your hands on the Zoomer Dino World Indominus Rex toy over on Amazon for just $79.94(USD)

LEGO RC Plane Actually Flies

LEGO bricks can build many things, but we’ve never seen them on a functional aircraft. After all, they’re not exactly known for their stability or aerodynamic properties. Believing that nothing is impossible, YouTuber PeterSripol built what he thinks is the world’s first LEGO radio-controlled plane that can actually fly.

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Well, it flies like it has a drunk minifig pilot, but it still flies. It is pretty amazing that they got it to fly at all. The video shows the entire construction of the plane if you want to see how it was done. The test flights start around the 10 minute mark if you want to skip ahead.

Maybe this will inspire LEGO to get to work on an official RC LEGO plane that we can all buy one day. Perhaps they can make one that flies less like it is drunk.

[via Gizmodo]

Official Star Wars Drones Can Do Aerial Stunts and Shoot Lasers

If you have dreamed of having space battles with your friends in your backyard, your dream is about to come true. Propel will release its official Star Wars drones this fall. Unlike some of the cheap Star Wars drones already on the market, the detail is supposed to be really nice on these. The propellers are clear and are attached to their underside so they are inconspicuous and as accurate to the movies as possible.

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They can reach speeds up to 40 mph and can do 360-degree aerial stunts too. But that’s not all. They also have a battle feature, which is basically a game of mid-air laser tag with up to 24 friends. Obviously the Millennium Falcon is the fastest at 50 mph.

The company is taking advance reservations for each model right now. Just register with no down payment needed and you can save between $200 to $300(USD) for each drone you commit to. Now for the bad news. They won’t be available in the US and Canada when they launch this fall in Europe, so we might be waiting a while to get them here.

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[via Engadget via Wired]

BMW Lets Drivers Control Real Cars Video Game Style

How’s this for a fun idea? BMW USA apparently outfitted a BMW M6 and M6 GTLM with live cameras and R/C technology so they could be driven by remote control in the style of a first-person racing game.

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It’s a cool idea, but there may be some trickery going on here though. How many professional racecar drivers can just pick up R/C controllers and drive cars expertly? It’s hard enough to do when you’ve got experience.

Anyway, whether they actually did this or not, it is a pretty awesome idea. I know I would love to play a video game with real cars. At least until I crash mine and the game ends after like 5 seconds.

[via Geekologie]

Nerf N-Strike Elite Terrascout Drone Blaster Ups The Cubicle Wars Ante

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You may think Nerf toys are for kids, but then you’d be ignoring the hordes of bored cubicle dwellers who ‘increase their productivity’ by partaking in the occasional bout of friendly office warfare. If you’re lucky enough to work in such an environment (or if you’re actually a kid), you’ll love the Nerf N-Strike Elite Terrascout Drone Blaster. It’s a remote controlled tank that fires up to 18 darts per load, but more importantly, it’s also a tank that sends a live-feed of what’s in front of it to its remote control. This way you don’t have to have line-of-sight on your machine, making it possible to annihilate your enemies from the safety of whatever hiding place you pick. You’ll even be able to take 720p still shots, so you can record the horrified faces of your foes as they realize they’re about to get shot.

It’s $200 and available this fall.

Also if you do have kids, maybe keep them off the Internet for a year or so… or prepare to punch a $200 hole in your wallet.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

NERF Terrascout RC Drone Blaster Puts Eyes Out from Afar

Growing up, my brother was a nervous sort and you could freak him out easily with just about any toy that moved on its own. I’m pretty sure it had to do with the flick Child’s Play that we stayed up and watched late one night or maybe Maximum Overdrive, where everything wanted to kill you. At any rate, I frequently sent him into a panic by driving my remote controlled car into his room and crashing it into him repeatedly.

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If we had this NERF Terrascout RC Drone Blaster, not only could I crash it into him, I could also shoot him right in the nads with a foam dart. We all know that’s the best place to aim for in a NERF war. The Terrascout has dart shooter that can hold up to 18 darts at once. That means you can get multiple nad shots off before you have to reload. It has tank treads for off-road capability and a 720p video recorder so you can record the nad shots to laugh about later.

The Terrascout will launch this fall for about $200.

[via RSVLTS via Nerd Approved]

NERF Terrascout RC Drone Blaster Puts Eyes Out from Afar

Growing up, my brother was a nervous sort and you could freak him out easily with just about any toy that moved on its own. I’m pretty sure it had to do with the flick Child’s Play that we stayed up and watched late one night or maybe Maximum Overdrive, where everything wanted to kill you. At any rate, I frequently sent him into a panic by driving my remote controlled car into his room and crashing it into him repeatedly.

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If we had this NERF Terrascout RC Drone Blaster, not only could I crash it into him, I could also shoot him right in the nads with a foam dart. We all know that’s the best place to aim for in a NERF war. The Terrascout has dart shooter that can hold up to 18 darts at once. That means you can get multiple nad shots off before you have to reload. It has tank treads for off-road capability and a 720p video recorder so you can record the nad shots to laugh about later.

The Terrascout will launch this fall for about $200.

[via RSVLTS via Nerd Approved]

DonkiBot Auto-follow Trolley Robot: BigDonk

A few years ago we saw a concept for a suitcase that would automatically follow its owner using Bluetooth sensors and a mobile device. Omorobot had the same idea for its DonkiBot, but with a different and rather quirky execution.

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The robot supposedly uses a LIDAR sensor to follow its master. However, before it starts moving you need to pull on its remote control, which is tethered to the robot. You’ll need to keep the remote control tethered to the robot while it’s following you, but the robot should keep doing all the work so you shouldn’t need to pull on it.

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Here’s where it gets even quirkier. You can detach the remote control from the cord, but doing so will activate DonkiBot’s manual mode, where you use the buttons on the remote to move the robot. That sounds a bit annoying.

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DonkiBot would be much better if it had an automatic and truly handsfree mode. But if you think it’s going to work for you as it is, pledge at least $698 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive the robot as a reward.

[via Gadgetify]