The self-repairing chair

Is it robotics? Is it performance art? Is it not just a little bit creepy?

Watching this remarkable robotic chair fall apart and put itself back together rather bizarrely reminds me of two Disney classics. The whole thing is similar to the sequence in Fantasia where the mops come to life - a scene that quite terrified me as a child. There is also something very Bambi about the moment the freaky wooden creature learns to stand on its own four legs.

The ´self-healing´ chair is the product of a collaboration between robotics engineer Raffaello D´Andrea and artist Max Dean. It functions through a sophisticated combination of computer algorithms and robotic components.

Building the perfect beast

A customer who buys his components from Rapid is playing a key role in the development of a transatlantic robotics project.

Russell Pinnington of 1337 Robotics, based in Anglesey, North Wales, has been working on the 'Electric Giraffe' project for the last year. Created by Lindsay Lawlor in California, the electric giraffe is a 17-foot-tall robot simulating the looks and mannerisms of one of the world’s most instantly recognisable animals.

With the ability to walk, see, speak, move its neck, respond to human contact and carry passengers, the self-styled ‘Rave Raffe’ (above) is a popular sight at robotics festivals and technology fairs, where it spreads the gospel about robotics and its coat of LEDs provides a stunning spectacle after dark.

The project is evolving all the time, as Lawlor seeks to build more artificial intelligence into his mechanical beast. Pinnington is responsible for the electronics and programming side – the MAKE controller that powers the robot’s brain. He builds prototype circuits, then sends the code, schematics and prototypes across the pond to Lawlor. The products he buys from Rapid include PIC microcontrollers, oscillators, resistors and capacitor packs. As Pinnington says, ‘just about all the stuff I needed to get started in electronics came from Rapid, even my soldering iron.’

Pinnington and Lawlor’s immediate plans for the giraffe involve adding GPS technology, and modifications to improve the articulation of the head, so ‘Raffe’ can look around and move his jaws when he talks.

Click on the clip above for a feature from the Discovery Channel about the Electric Giraffe.

Take the temperature of your PC

Exactly how hot is your workstation? As temperatures start to rise in offices thanks to the Spring heatwave, we have found a device that will record interior and exterior temperature and display it on the task bar of your PC.

Award-winning designer Alberto Ricci Bitti has designed a simple microcontroller-free PC thermometer that requires no calibration. Cheap and simple to put together for the electronics assembler, it can be plugged into any free serial port. The chief components, circuit schematic and instructions can be found on the Ricci Bitti website, but some of the capacitors, resistors and diodes are available from Rapid.

Hackers may like to consider how the PC Therm could be adapted to reflect the heat from your keyboard as you hammer out a self-righteous e-mail, or the fumes from your brow as you curse the entrails of Bill Gates after Excel crashes for the fourteenth time this session. Or is that just me?

Earth Day at Rapid

Today is Earth Day - 24 hours which the world dedicates to raising awareness about climate change and environmental issues. It began in 1970, when air pollution was considered the "smell of prosperity". We have come a long way since those days in terms of understanding the environmental impact of industry, but there is still a long way to go.

As a business Rapid are committed to recycling and reducing our carbon footprint. We are holding our emissions steady as our business continues to grow, and our aim is to reduce this to zero. We try to source new and existing products from within the UK, re-use all boxes that come into our warehouse as packaging material and reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill.

To this end we are committed to the RoHS (restricting the use of Hazardous Substances in new products) and WEEE (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment) schemes. We are making major steps towards the goal of all our products becoming RoHS compliant. Products marked with a green tick are RoHS compliant, while a crossed out wheely bin symbol signifies a product that qualifies for the WEEE care safe disposal service.

To find out more about the WEEE/RoHS regulations and news, visit our minisite here.

The man with his brain for a lamp

A Swedish designer has put his brain to good use - by making it into a lamp shade.

Alexander Lervik, whose interior and product design plays with the language of light and physiology, decided he wanted a permanent reminder of his source of brilliant ideas, which have produced a wide portfolio of furniture, hardware and lighting. His replica brain was created by originating an MR scan at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. The image was then processed through a 3D-printer, and manufactured into a suitably Scandinavian lamp stand.

Unlike much of Lervik's designs, the finished article has a curiously warm glow to it. There is something of a touch of vanity about the whole thing, although as exhibitions of bodily organs go, it is more tasteful than some artworks I can imagine.

It is unclear whether there are plans to put the Mybrain Lamp into full production, but the possibilities could be endless. The more powerful the brain, the brighter the light? Linked to brain activity? ITV viewers better start lighting the candles now ...

The cutting edge of entertainment

It is perhaps no surprise that Britain’s oldest recorded town, once a likely home to gladiatorial games and chariot races, should host the longest-running ‘Robot Wars’ event in the UK. For this is combat of a similarly primitive nature, offering up sacrificial victims to a baying crowd.

Some of the weaponry on show at Colchester's ‘Robot Rumble’ over the Easter weekend would not have looked out of place in Ben Hur. The metal-clad gladiators were armed with all manner of saw blades, serrated wheels, giant pincers, protruding spikes and swinging pick-axes, all intended to cause maximum damage to their opponents.

Unlike their Roman counterparts, the victorious robots Pressure and Skink did not have to beg the approval of the big man in the expensive seat. Finding favour with the head of the judging panel, the inventor Rex Garrod, was sufficient.

Rapid Electronics have sponsored the event for several years and it remains one of the highlights of the roboteering calendar. For more pictures, click here.