Neatorama » MIT

A Self-Balancing Motorized Unicycle

Zeon Santos — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:39:39 +0000

Who wouldn’t want a self-balancing, motorized unicycle of their very own? Riding around on this unicycle means flaunting your unconventional nature, while being practical about how much dedication you have towards mastering single wheel locomotion.

You don’t have to work hard and practice in order to stay up, on this mechanical marvel created by MIT student Stephen Boyer you can just go, leaving your mind open to other activities, like juggling bowling pins, or calculating the proper speed and angle needed to survive jumping through a flaming hoop. Unicycle stocks are about to go through the roof!

Link

Crónicas de Héroes

Joanna Ong — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:57:06 +0000

Shown above is the voice of an everyday hero from Juárez, a city suffering from violence propelled by the Mexican Drug War. From MIT’s Center for Civic Media, Crónicas de Héroes attempts to bring optimism to cities by sharing the stories of everyday people who do good. It’s a bit reminiscent of foursquare in it’s social capabilities, and is inspiring in its brilliance.

Link -via Boing Boing

Printable Solar Panels

Zeon Santos — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:49:59 +0000

Engineers at MIT have been busy creating all sorts of solar powered fun, but their latest innovation promises to make the solar panel manufacturing process easier than ever before. They have discovered a process in which solar panels can be printed on an average sheet of paper, and what’s more this solar cell is foldable, bendable and manufactured with a simpler vapor deposition process, a process MIT brains claim most manufacturing facilities can handle with ease. Read more about this fascinating development over at PopSci,

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Minecraft Meets 3D Printing

Zeon Santos — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:57:51 +0000

Members of the MIT Media Lab have created a python script called Minecraft.print() which will allow players of Minecraft with access to a 3D printer the opportunity to print out their creations. And while the odds of an average person having access to a 3D printer are slim, this script is a step in the right direction when it comes to programs playing nicely with 3D printers. Check out a video of the printer in action over at Forbes Online.

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TARDIS at MIT

Miss Cellania — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:35:27 +0000

Doctor Who apparently made a visit via his time machine/police call box to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Entering freshman paused in their moving procedures this morning to see a blue TARDIS atop a building on Mass Avenue. A close up showing the sign on the time machine can be seen at the Boston Globe. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Melanie McCue)

Flyfire: Flying Pixels Put You Inside a 3D Monitor

Alex — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:57:34 +0000

What do you get when you mix tiny remote-controlled helicopters, LEDs, and MIT Researchers?

Introducing Flyfire, an awesome project that aims to produce fully immersive and interactive environment. It’s sort of like being in a 3D monitor with the pixels actually flying around you:

In its first implementation, the Flyfire project sets out to explore the capabilities of this display system by using a large number of self-organizing micro helicopters. Each helicopter contains small LEDs and acts as a smart pixel. Through precisely controlled movements, the helicopters perform elaborate and synchronized motions and form an elastic display surface for any desired scenario.

With the self-stabilizing and precise controlling technology from the ARES Lab, the motion of the pixels is adaptable in real time. The Flyfire canvas can transform itself from one shape to another or morph a two-dimensional photographic image into an articulated shape. The pixels are physically engaged in transitioning images from one state to another, which allows the Flyfire canvas to demonstrate a spatially animated viewing experience.

Link | BuzzFeed has the video clip

The Odds Are Good, But The Goods Are Odd (And Now, Stinky)

Alex — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:40:25 +0000

"The odds are good, but the goods are odd" is the unofficial slogan of MIT. During finals time, however, it should also be noted that the goods are sometimes very, very stinky.

Apparently, the prestigious university’s student body has a little B.O. problem as students opt to spend their time studying rather than showering.

The situation has gotten so bad that the Student Senate is actually giving out soap and deodorant to try to solve the odor problem: Link (video clip)

May we suggest the bacon soap, guys?

The Biomimicry of the “RoboClam” Boat Anchor

Minnesotastan — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:22:38 +0000

Even the best-designed boat anchors are suboptimal in their holding power; when they drag across the floor of a lake or ocean they can do extensive damage to their surroundings. Now researchers at MIT have developed the prototype of an anchor that drills into the sediment using the same mechanism employed by a clam.

The clam first wiggles a fleshy foot into the sand below and pushes its shelled body upward. This creates a tiny pocket of space under the shell, which sucks in both water and sand. At the same time, it clamps shut its shell with a pronounced twitch that creates more slick slurry, while pumping blood into the extended foot.

The RoboClam prototype is powered by compressed air; production models will have internal power sources and will be able to “unset” themselves with minimal disruption of the seabed.

Link, and related video. Photo: RoboClam on the right, and a razor clam on the left. (Donna Coveney/MIT)

Autonomous Indoor Helicopter

John Farrier — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:18:59 +0000

(YouTube Link)

Researchers at at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been working since the 1990s on helicopters that can navigate indoor spaces autonomously. This one won the 2009 AUVSI Aerial Robotics Competition. Laser scanners and cameras allow it to move through a building on its own. Potential applications include industrial inspection and disaster rescue in hazardous locations.

Contest Page via Popular Science

Seven College Pranks

Stacy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:06:20 +0000

You know all about student pranks – greased pigs in the cafeteria, cows being led upstairs, all of that juvenile stuff. Maybe you’ve even heard about the more complicated college stunts – when M.I.T. students erected a police car on the top of the school’s Great Dome, for example. Its license plate number was pi. Anyway, here are a few lesser-known student stunts. If you’re, um, “inspired” by some of these, I claim no fault… but be sure to take pictures.

Harry Potter and the Scheming Students

In 2007, M.I.T. students pulled two pranks of smaller proportions to commemorate Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since we’re just a couple of days away from the latest movie, I thought it would be appropriate to mention them. The first appeared a couple of days before the final book came out: a broomstick parking area, complete with broomsticks and appropriate signage, appeared in the Student Street area of the Strata Center. Then on the day of the actual release is my favorite: the Death Eaters acknowledged their presence at the school by setting off an eerie, glowing green Dark Mark on the roof of the Student Center. Awesome. This gives me an idea for Halloween… Photo from Eric Schmiedl.

Screwy Scoreboards

Caltech is M.I.T.’s biggest rival in pranks, despite being located at opposite ends of the country. They often take potshots at one another and are especially prone to pranks at football games. Although the Great Rose Bowl prank is pretty well known, another football stunt occurred when Caltech wasn’t even playing. During the 1964 Washington vs. Illinois Rose Bowl game, the audience of 100,000 was rather bored by a somewhat lackluster game. That is, until they looked up and realized that someone had changed the electronic scoreboard to make it appear as if Caltech was putting the hurt on M.I.T. It happened again in 1984 – although the teams were UCLA and Illinois (again), it appeared as if Caltech was stomping M.I.T., 31-9.

“We Suck”

During the Harvard-Yale game of 2004, some students took the Great Rose Bowl Prank to the next level. In case you didn’t click the Rose Bowl Prank link above, the story goes something like this: Caltech students handed out a bunch of colored placards to the opposing team and told them that when flipped over at a specified time, it would spell out the name of their team. It didn’t, of course, it spelled out “Caltech.” Yale students repeated this stunt by handing out similar placards to a group of Harvard students and alumni. When they flipped the cards, which they thought would say “GO HARVARD,” it actually spelled out “WE SUCK.” Photo from Yale Daily News

In Cod We Trust

Another one from our friends over at the Museum of Hoaxes – the theft of the Massachusetts Sacred Cod. Yes, Massachusetts has a sacred cod, and they really refer to it as such. The pine likeness is about five feet long and can be found hanging over the entrance to the House of Representatives chamber in the Massachusetts State House – at least, that’s where it is usually found. In 1933, staff at the Harvard Lampoon decided that the fish was theirs. They simply walked into the State House with clippers and a flower box, snipped the Cod down when no one was looking, hid it in the flower box and strolled on out of there like they owned the place. After a couple of days of drama – allegedly the river was even dragged – the Harvard Chief of Police received a tip that he should show up on a certain road at a certain time and follow a certain car. He did, and when the car pulled into a forest, two disguised men jumped out, handed him the Cod, and fled. Photo from MassMoments.org

Rooftop Ride

Pranks aren’t limited to U.S. schools, of course. In June of 1958, Cambridge, England, woke up to find an Austin Seven sitting on top of the Senate House like it was in the middle of a skyward road trip. It took a week for firefighters, police and civil defense units to figure out how to get the thing down – in the end, they decided just to take it apart piece by piece. And the really great thing about the whole prank is that the perpetrators were never caught. That is, until 2008. Fifty years later, 9 of the 12 guys who participated in the prank had a reunion dinner and told the press how they did it. In the middle of the night, they hitched it up to the roof using a makeshift crane of steel cable and scaffolding pieces. Although they had never revealed their identities, the then-Dean suspected the group of men and had a case of champagne sent to them to congratulate them on such an amazing prank. Click the link for a diagram of how they pulled the stunt off. Photo from the Daily Mail.

Rice Gets More Comfortable

In 1988, a group of students at Rice decided that the 2,000 pound statue of William Marsh Rice would probably prefer to face the library instead of having his back to it. So, obviously, they moved it. After a couple of botched attempts, the pranksters got serious. They got plans of the statue from the library to figure out the exact weight, then built some A-frames with one-ton hoists on either side. After practicing with a Toyota a couple of times, they got the hang of things and headed to campus to give Mr. Rice a better view. They were caught moving the A-Frames across campus by some cops, but managed to convince them that they were part of a senior project. They successfully moved the statue, but one of them, Patrick Dyson, was caught and made to pay the cost of moving William back to his rightful position, which for some reason was going to cost up to five times as much as it cost to get him in the new spot. Students rallied behind Dyson, designing t-shirts that said “Where there’s a Willy, there’s a way,” and raised more than enough money to turn Rice back around. Photo from Rice.edu.

Fictional Facebook Fox

Here’s a prank in keeping with our social media-obsessed society. There’s a moral to this one too, if you’re inclined to find one. In 2006, USC basketball player Gabe Pruitt (he’s a Celtic now) was the star during a game against UC Berkeley. He had been cultivating a, um, “relationship” with a girl named Victoria from UCLA – he met her over Facebook and not face to face, but they had been IMing and she sent him pictures. The only problem? She wasn’t real. When Pruitt got up to shoot a free throw, Cal fans started chanting, “Victoria! Victoria!” and promptly followed that up with Pruitt’s personal cell phone number, which he had given to the fictional Victoria. They kept it up for the whole game and Pruitt ended up shooting 3 for 13. There are nine other college sports pranks over at SI.com if you’re interested, including the somewhat sordid history of poor Tommy Trojan over at UCLA.
Photo from BigGreenMachine.

LOLrio Kart

Miss Cellania — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:09:51 +0000

Developed by MITERS, a group at MIT who build things, this souped-up shopping cart can achieve speeds of up to 45 mph! I don’t know, it doesn’t look all that safe to me. Link

The World Outside of World of Warcraft is Now Superfluous

John Farrier — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:40:06 +0000

Gamers at MIT have built a self-contained life pod in which to play World of Warcraft. It features a built-in toilet, three days worth of food rations, fresh water, and a small cookstove. Thanks to these Prometheuses among us, it is no longer necessary to go outside or interact with people face-to-face. Truly, we live in an age of marvels.

Link via Geekologie