We are sure that Natrium42 had the best of intentions when he put together RoboDS, an open robot platform that uses a Nintendo DS as an electric brain to receive commands via its Wi-Fi Connection, but we fear his creation might be what eventually spells mankind's doom. The homebrew superstar has not only brought this mechanical monstrosity to life, but he has ensured the robot army's dominance over earth and the enslavement of the human race by allowing curious tinkerers everywhere to pre-order their own RoboDS war machines.Natrium42 has a prototype RoboDS in his basement that you can watch and control from your internet browser. With the three-camera setup, you can either view snapshots of the wheeled handheld's movements or watch streaming video from its two affixed webcams when it's your turn to navigate the futuristic beast. There is even an attached laser that would be perfect for PowerPoint presentations or tearing down our cities.
At this early stage, the prototype RoboDS is prone to malfunctions which can leave the platform moving in circles or completely unresponsive. While we would like to attribute these glitches to coding errors, our distrust of technology has convinced us that RoboDS is actually reprogramming its AI ... for murder!
[Via Drunken Coders]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-12-2007 @ 2:05PM
JM said...
I hope he was smart enough to give the top screen of the ds an expressive face. I can't tell from any of the pictures on the site. I would actually buy this if it had an animated face.
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3-12-2007 @ 6:04PM
spinthelights said...
Wait, wait, are these circular "malfunctions" clockwise or counter? Because I swore I read a book a book in college extolling the end of humanity being precipitated by the "mad gyrations of a bionic plumber in the manner of a water closet vortex."
Could be wrong though, my head wasn't to clear during a lot of those years.... *ahem*
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3-13-2007 @ 8:25AM
strider_mt2k said...
That's very interesting!
I built an outdoor wheeled ROV a few years ago and I wouldn't mind retrofitting WiFi controls into it.
Food for thought. :D
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