Tag Archives: remote controlled

Are Bionic Birds The New Drones?

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You’re looking at a remote controlled flying device that kind of looks like a bird, and flies like one too. You control it with your smartphone using Bluetooth 4.0, which gives you a range of about 100 yards. It’s completely not at all like a drone, so don’t expect stable flight, let alone recording any sort of video. It does, however, look like a lot of fun. More importantly is that despite having a small 8 minute flight time, a portable egg-shaped charging pack allows you to top it back up in only 12 minutes, and you can do that up to 10 times over before the charging pack itself needs juice. This is great because you can go off-grid with the Bionic Bird and get over one hour of flight time out of it.

You should know that when in flight it really does act like a bird and as such it may attract some natural bird predators. Considering it’s a $149 toy, you’re going to want to keep an eye out for that, lest you see you purchase disappear in the claws of a confused hawk, or whatever.

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[ Product page ] VIA [ LaughingSquid ]

Robotic Birds That Scare Away Real Birds: Botrification

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Birds are like deer. They symbolize nature, freedom and all those heartwarming concepts, but in truth they can be annoying and cause a lot of damage. They eat crops, interfere at airports, hang out at harbors etc. That’s why a Dutch company called Clear Flight Solutions (CFS) is working on Robirds, which are remote-controlled aircraft that move and look like bird of prey.

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Robirds are hand-painted and fly by flapping their wings. By introducing what appears to be a natural predator, CFS claims that Robirds can reduce the number of birds in an area by 50%. The company claims that this is a long term solution: “Because the Robirds trigger the instinct of birds, there are no chances of habituation in the long term. There are currently no other means available in battling the nuisance of birds, that have such high success rates as the Robird.”

CFS is working with additive manufacturing company Materialise to develop and produce the Robirds. The current prototypes have laser-sintered bodies. The main benefit of additive manufacturing is that it makes it faster and cheaper to tweak Robird bodies compared to using molds.

Robirds currently come in two models. The peregrine falcon Robird is for birds up to 6.6lb., while the eagle can supposedly scare away birds of all sizes.

I wonder what the anti-raccoon version of Robirds would be.

[via 3D Print]

 

DIY Remote Controlled Flamethrower: Wi-Fire

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The Internet of Things isn’t just about connecting your garage door to your car or your fridge to Amazon. It can also be about connecting your smartphone to a flamethrower, as SparkFun’s Nick Poole shows in a DIY project that he made to promote their new ESP8266 Thing dev board.

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Nick made a webpage that contains links to toggle the flamethrower’s valves and ignitor. He then set up the Thing to broadcast a Wi-Fi access point from which you’ll connect to access the webpage.

Now that’s blazing fast Wi-Fi. Head to SparkFun’s blog to see Nick’s full guide.

[via Gadgetify]

Flying Remote Controlled “Up” House is… Squirrel!

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I don’t always like Disney movies. If I never hear Let it Go from Frozen again it will be too soon. I did like Up though. Like many kids, I also tried to float stuff on balloons back in the day. I never got that to work though. I never had enough balloons to get my action figures off the ground.

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Some geeks from the YouTube channel called Flight Test took some electric motors and electronics off a crashed X-Wing flying toy and used those parts to make a model of the house from Up that can actually fly.

You can check out the house in the video below if you skip to about the 7:10 mark.

The house is held in the air by balloons and they can control the direction of the flying house. It seems they used a papercraft house that Disney has available for download. I’d totally buy this as a kit.

[via Gizmodo]

LEGO-compatible Remote-controlled Motors: Servobrick Pro

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LEGO’s Mindstorms and Power Functions lines both have remote controllers, but shockingly they transmit only via infrared. Polish company RC Bricks wants to expand LEGO enthusiasts’ tools with its Servobrick Pro, two motors that receive signals over radio, just like most RC models.

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Servobrick Pro will let you build LEGO creations that can be controlled from up to 60ft. away. They also offer variable control, unlike LEGO transmitters that send only on and off signals.

The motor will come in two models: one turns 360º while the other one can turn 120º left and right. They both come with a detachable 2L axle to deliver movement. Here’s a demo video from master MOCer Sariel:

RCBricks will launch a crowdfunding campaign for Servobrick Pro soon. Keep an eye on its website or Facebook page for updates.

[via Sariel]

DIY RC Rover: All Extra-Terrestrial Terrain Vehicle

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Last year we checked out Misha Larkin’s remote-controlled Curiosity-inspired rover. He’s been improving his model’s design and recently shared what he has so far.

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Misha’s earlier design had repurposed parts such as the shock absorbers, which were made of syringes. This newer model on the other hand uses either 3D printed parts or RC car parts.

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Misha says the final body will be waterproof, and he’ll install an arm and an FPV cam like he did with the first one. Watch it take on carpets and wheels:

You can check out the rover’s parts list on YouTube, while the files for the 3D printable parts are on Misha’s Thingiverse page.

[via 3D Print]

 

Colin Furze’s Remote-Controlled Wheelie Bin: Haul Trash

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We’ve seen a small remote-controlled trash can, now let’s check out how you can make a large one. YouTube’s star inventor Colin Furze used an electric wheelchair’s components to motorize and remotely control a wheeled trash can, or as the Brits call it, a wheelie bin.

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Instead of controlling the wheelchair directly, the controller manipulates a servo, which is connected to an arm that in turn manipulates the wheelchair’s joystick. This is by far one of Colin’s most practical inventions, but it’s still not good enough for regular use. True to its name, it’s prone to popping a wheelie and then promptly falling over.

I suppose his next move will be to put a jet engine on it.

Tyco Has an RC Toy That Can Climb Stairs

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Back in the ’80s, Tyco was a big brand when it came to RC toys. Now Tyco is back with the Terra Climber. This is the first RC vehicle I’m aware of that can climb stairs. To kids that is huge. I wish I had had an RC car that could do that.

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RC vehicles and stairs have never gotten along, but the Terra Climber changes this and it will have kids playing on the stairs all day long so you can’t pass. The toy rolls around on four spinning wheels covered in plastic claws that are mounted to a pair of articulated arms that can independently spin 360-degrees. The tail is a counterweight. That’s the secret to it’s climbing action.

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It will also zip along flat surfaces. It’s awesome to see companies offering such fun toys these days. The Tyco Terra Climber will be available this fall for $100(USD). Check it out in action in the video below:

[via Toyland]

Hexbug RC Battlebots: Are You Not Entertained Mom?!

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We’ll soon be able to conduct bot-on-bot mayhem without knowing a thing about building or repairing robots, thanks to toymaker Hexbug and its officially licensed Battlebots replicas.

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The robots are based on some of the most popular competitors in the TV series: Bronco, Tombstone, Witch Doctor and last season’s champ, Bite Force. They come in different varieties, but the best ones are the remote-controlled variants. Their exterior panels are designed to fall off to indicate damage, but you can easily snap them back on. FamilyGamerTV checked out the robots at the New York Toy Fair:

The remote-controlled Battlebots will be sold for $30 (USD) each. But you may as well get the $70 two-pack, because that comes with a 20″x 20″ replica of the arena, giving you the full Battlebots experience.

[via Gizmodo]

The RC Flying Car: It’s a Car, It’s a Plane!

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Is it a car? Is it a plane? It’s the RC Flying car! It’s 2016 and we should have flying cars all over the skies by now. Since we don’t we will have to settle for this weird remote controlled flying car, called the Protocol Terracopter. It both races over ground and flies in the air.

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You can select between two ground and air speeds, and on the ground it reaches 67 mph scale speed. In the air, it is capable of 360° movement that includes spins, loops, and rolls. It also has six-axis motion-sensitive gyrostabilizers that provide optimal flight performance. Race it on the ground, then take to the air. It’s the best of both worlds. And now you have a flying car at last. Now why can’t they just make a bigger version we can ride in?

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The Protocol Terracopter is only $99.95 from Hammacher-Schlemmer – though you can also find it on sale from Amazon for a bit less.