diy

If you've always wanted that little Android icon on your phone to come to life, there's hope. Someone from Taiwan has built himself an Android robot--made from a painted garbage can.

Despite its trashy origins, the wheeled robot certainly looks adorable with its rotating arms and LED lights for eyes. All of these actions are controlled via an external remote control. There's even a little port at the back to charge the machine.

This little fella was built using Arduino, an open-source microcontroller board for developing interactive objects. The microcontroller takes commands from the remote control and sends them to the switches used to control the lights and motors of the robots.

Additionally, it has a little screen in front that reads:

The project took three days to finish and cost about $104. Right now, we're visualizing an army of these things rolling toward Apple's headquarters.… Read more

As much as I'm reluctant to use the phrase "man cave," mostly because I don't have the space for one of my own, I have to say that I have found a pretty nifty man cave essential. Behold, the Octane 120 Pro Beer Arcade!

The Beer Arcade comes from Northern California-based Dream Arcades, which also offers premade arcade cabinets and DIY arcade kits. Take a high-end gaming PC with PlayStation 3 connectivity, a 5.1 audio system, add full driving controls with dual-motor force feedback and variable resistance on the pedals, and, as the name would suggest, a beer tap.

I know, right?

Those are the basics, but it goes further than that. The Beer Arcade also comes loaded with a dozen driving sims (including Hard Drivin' and S.T.U.N. Runner, a few faves of mine) and a fully adjustable steering wheel and seat, and variable-resistance clutch, brake, and gas petals. As Dream Arcades is quick to point out, "Of course we don't condone REAL drinking and driving, but kicking back a few Bud Lights while playing your favorite games is a different story!" … Read more

We've seen how the iPad was greeted with a frenzy when it went on sale in China, followed by an incredible report that a teenager sold his kidney to buy one.

Then there's the story about a Chinese girl who reportedly offered her virginity for an iPhone 4. No doubt it was a malicious prank, but it reinforced the stereotype of Chinese as gadget-crazy.

Hats off to the guy in the 20-minute video below, then, for trying to make himself an iPad without having to buy it or barter for it. Even if the thing does run on Windows XP. … Read more

This week, we take a look at some of the world's coolest one-of-a-kind DIY tech, including 3D chocolate printers, a 20-foot-wide touch-screen Star Wars game, a wearable TV, and a USB drive (possibly) forged in the belly of an ancient Egyptian deity. Also, zombie dolls.

… Read more

Cue the Black Sabbath.

What else can you do if your obsessive colleague shows up to work in a homemade Iron Man suit? That's what Wang Xiao Kang did one day at telecom equipment maker ZTE's Shanghai offices.

It's not an easy thing to create an Iron Man suit, and Wang apparently spent months building his version of the Mark I version despite having no DIY experience.

Wang first made an LED-lit arc reactor and a repulsor arm, as well as a Mark III helmet using ethylene-vinyl acetate. He decided to focus on the early Iron Man suit, though, which was easier to mold.

After putting all the components together, coating the 110-pound suit, and adding a fan to the back part, Wang had spent some $460 and three months on his labor of love.

When Wang showed up to work in his Iron Man suit, his colleagues and boss apparently loved the costume. But the company security guard wasn't too pleased, and asked him to take it off.

Check out Wang's bodacious homage to Tony Stark in this vid: … Read more

There's a happy summertime relationship between robots and beer, usually centering on the former being engineered to serve the latter.

We've seen robot beer butlers, robots that can check for leftover beer, and machines that track drinks.

One hobbyist in Japan, though, is determined to bring the relationship one step further. He hacked a can of Kirin so it transforms into a walking robot.

The CanBot, as YouTube user Longjie0723 calls it, sits innocently on a table, looking like an ordinary can of suds. Until someone pushes a button on a Wiimote that transforms it into a mini robot.

CanBot has three legs, each with two servos, and can shimmy around on a tabletop or roll on its side. The prototype runs on an mbed microcontroller and four AA batteries.

As seen in the video below, it isn't good for much except impressing kids. And even that's tough. Kids these days! … Read more

Imagine being able to spend 10 hours working on something and having zero distractions--no phone calls, no e-mail, and no music.

That's the kind of concentration Steven J. Backman exhibits when he creates art out of the humblest of materials--the toothpick.

The San Francisco native has been building replicas, sculptures, and portraits out of toothpicks for decades.

At Maker Faire 2011 last month in San Mateo, Calif., he showed off some dazzling creations including a 28-inch-tall replica of the Empire State Building, fashioned from 7,470 toothpicks.

"Using my fingers to glue each toothpick individually is inspirational to me," Backman says. "It gives me a chance to convey my passion in a tangible way and stirs up my imagination process to its utmost test."

For his creations, Backman uses Elmer's Glue and his stock of old white birch toothpicks, which are no longer being manufactured. There's no supporting wire, wood, or cardboard.

That's one reason some of his pieces take so long to complete. He describes his art as "the essence of patience." … Read more

What better venue for an episode of Crave than the annual Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif.? We rub elbows with robots, learn the art of making a Master Chief costume, and meet a group of teens who take Rock Band to its fiery extreme.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video… Read more