We have covered a bunch of awesome drones here in the past. The Fotokite Phi happens to be a foldable drone that holds your GoPro, allowing you to produce great aerial video. It operates on a tether and can be deployed in seconds. The electronic leash lets you control your Fotokite Phi with simple gestures. The drone follows you and lasts up to 15 minutes in the air.
There are plenty of fancy, expensive drones available on the market. Not all of them are suitable for beginners. The Blade Inductrix happens to a micro drone that lets you get started fast. It has 4 EDF rotor systems for a smooth performance. It has durable rotor housing to prevent damage.
Many of us have used drones for aerial cinematography in the past. Thanks to the Vertical 1 Camera Controller, you can upgrade your drone to capture even more professional videos. Vertical 1 lets you control camera movements at the touch of a button. Just tap on your tablet to focus on subjects.
Drones are getting more sophisticated and affordable all the time. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get your hands on an easy-to-use 1080p quadcopter these days. The XIRO Xplorer is a cool drone with a camera capable of shooting video at 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps. It also captures 14 MP photos. You get a real time live preview by attaching your iOS or Android phone to the remote controller.
In the past few months, we have covered a bunch of cool humanoid robots. They are fun to program and play with. As this video by Daniele Benedettelli shows, it is possible to control humanoid robots like the Cyclops MK II using a wearable LEGO exoskeleton. The below video shows what he pulled off:
It is no secret that you can build robots and all kinds of fun gadgets with Arduino. Thanks to the LightBlue Bean, you are going to have an easier time creating smarter Arduino electronics. It is a Bluetooth Arduino microcontroller that can be programmed wirelessly and run on a coin cell battery.
Meet the Veho Muvi X-Drone: a remote controlled drone with a 1080p HD camera to capture action outdoors. It can capture 1080p videos @ 30fps or 16 MP photos. The 5300 mAh battery lasts up to 25 minutes. The drone is compatible with iOS and Android devices. There is also an advanced GPS system allowing you to control your drone more conveniently.
Meet Lucy: a smart robot that follows the sun to provide you with natural lighting all day long. This is a smart mirror that reflects sunlight in the same spot all day. It can be positioned indoors and outdoors. To get started, just position it, point it, and the robot takes care of the rest for you.
There are plenty of sophisticated chess engines online these days. Playing against Stockfish or Komodo on a computer can be fun, but some of us prefer playing on a real board. You could always build a robot to do the job. This DIY Chess Robot uses an intelligent system to reach all 64 squares. It relies on sensors to keep up. has shared the instructions for this chess robot on Instructables.
The Nao humanoid robot is quite fascinating to play around with. It has various sensors and is programmable. You can use it to learn about robots and programming. As the below video shows, you can also play rock paper scissors against the robot. The robot tracks the player with its built-in camera and recognizes the gesture.
