Tag: Robots
Redesign brings petrol engines into 21st century
Much like how power supplies take in huge amounts of electricity and then wastefully lathe them into the small voltages actually needed, car engines have inefficiencies innate to their design which cost you every day at the petrol pump. However, a new petrol engine design from Purdue University streamlines and eliminates mechanisms between pistons and valves, allowing the valves to, via a process called variable valve actuation, be fine-tuned to vastly improve how efficiently petrol is combusted. The second part of the redesign is called homogeneous charge compression ignition, which is also exciting and technical and the upshot is it’ll let us get a lot more bang (quiet, elegant, low-emission, fuel-efficient bang) out of the fossil fuels we’ve got left. The petrol engine hasn’t changed much since its initial creation, so it’s about time it, like the incandescent bulb, got a high-tech makeover. [GT]
Radical engine redesign would reduce pollution, oil consumption
Automatic Electronic Pet Feeder with Voice Recorder
Take your basic pet bowl, then set it so that it can open at 8, 12, or 24 hour intervals, so that your pet can be fed while you’re away. Then you can record a voice message so that your pet knows it’s time to come eat. That’s the idea, anyway. I can’t help but think the cat will hack it so it can eat all the food while the dog’s clearing away all your surplus newspapers. $39.95. [GT]
Product Page [via Giz modo]
More pet stuff
DailyLit gives you the world of the mind in bite-sized chunks
No, DailyLit is not encouraging you to become a zombie, stalking the streets. It’s emailing you controlled doses of the great (read, so to speak, big) books of literature, the kind that are so unwieldy that the very sight makes you want to use them to press flowers so you have an excuse to never disturb their leaves again. Various services have tried this in the past (and DailyLit itself is not exactly new) but screens have improved enough now that the idea of reading for pleasure on one is increasingly attractive. Feed your head something more than ephemera, give it timeless beauty. (Then come back for more blog posts.) [GT]
DailyLit [via OhGizmo]
SeeReal Hologram Television: buy this TV and dinosaurs will eat you
SeeReal Technologies is claiming to have developed a 3D television display through the use of Tracked Viewing Window technology and real-time encoding of sub-holograms (whatever that means). They do say that you won’t need those coloured glasses. The only actual image on the website is the overly optimistic image seen here which doesn’t so much conjure up Bwana Devil (the first 3D movie) as Jurassic Park. Of course, if raptors actually do leap off the screen, SeeReal will be in for one heckofa lawsuit. [GT]
< a href="http://www.seereal.com/en/holography/index.php">SeeReal Technologies [via Red Ferret Journal ]
Hako Robo: robots, cubes and families
The Hako Robo (Robots-in-a-cube) are not just cute little cubes you can line up on your desk. They move around in relation to each other, either towards each other or away from each other. They also get exhausted if they spend too much time together, like any real family. As the < a href="http://www.hakorobo.com/">Hako Robo page is in Japanese, I can’t tell if their attraction and repulsion is done with magnets or with annoying behavior. [GT]
Hako Robo [via TOKYOMANGO]
iGadget makes your iPod double as a PDA
iGadget lets you load up your iPod with all your data from MS Outlook (email, appointments, contacts), localized weather forecasts, your RSS feeds, movie showtimes, and even your daily horoscope. Requires Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista and any iPod from 1G to shuffle (though unclear how reading works on the shuffle). Normally $20, but on sale for $15. [GT]
iGadget [via Chip Chick]
Ondus AquaFountain lets you pause your shower
The push-button controls and backlit LCD showing how hot the water is on the Ondus AquaFountain mean you can program it exactly for the temperature you’ve discovered you love best (or an alternate one you’ve found works best after a hangover). There’s even a button allowing you to pause your shower when someone wanders in yelling questions about where you left their hairbrush, and resume in soothing perfectly-heated comfort. [GT]
Ondus AquaFountain [via Oh Gizmo]
Wrap a MagicMouse around your finger
Given the MagicMouse prototype only cost $155 in parts, we could be pretty close to a whole new common way of controlling our clickers, which would also be kinder to our carpals. The MagicMouse is a wireless mouse control worn as a ring, and the hardest part was getting the transmitter tiny enough. It uses a polymer lithium battery (wristwatch type) for power, which should give it a decent lifespan. Since it is a true 3D mouse, map navigation and Photoshop work would be much smoother. Video here. [GT]
MagicMouse [via Gizmag]
Irregular IQ Cube from Brando
Taking the Rubik’s Cube up the axiomatic notch, the Irregular IQ Cube from Brando involves taking irregular shapes and forming them together into a perfect cube. Two cubes for $8, which means you can race your best friend to complete mental meltdowns. I can’t even work my keys half the time, so I’m skipping this, but for geek masochists, it looks like heaven. [GT]
Irregular IQ Cube from Brando [via technabob]
A Fair(y) Use Tale
Eric Faden, professor at Bucknell, has created a video to explain copyright to the beginner. What makes this unusual is that it’s all told by Disney characters. . . in extremely small snippets so as not to violate copyright. The film is very funny, very informative and very subversive. If you’ve ever wondered just “what” “is” “copy” “right” (or if you enjoy the discomfiture of Disney), check the video after the jump. [GT]
