After announcing a $400 remote control model of the vehicle in early 2020 (that’s only just now hitting store shelves), Hot Wheels parent company Mattel unveiled a new $100 Hot Wheels 1:10 R/C Cybertruck package in mid-May of this year. At one-tenth the size of the life-size futuristic transport, the Tesla mini-me is pretty fast. “Collectors will love the insane detail and epic design features of the Cybertruck, while R/C enthusiasts will marvel at its speed, reaching up to 12 mph,” the company website says. Of course, that’s only about half as fast as the first toy model.

Part of those “insane details” are the working headlights and taillights. Just like in the highly anticipated real Tesla, the headlight bar wraps around the entire front end while the taillights comprise one solid bar across the back. Reviewers of the original model say that although they are mostly cosmetic, these lights are fairly powerful and could be helpful if the car were to get stuck in a small, dark space.

The new accompanying remote control is exclusive to this version, patterned after the actual Cybertruck’s U-shaped steering wheel. After three hours of charging, the battery on the truck can deliver up to 25 minutes of run time.

The newer replica lacks the removable body shell like the previous toy, and it’s certainly not as durable as the real-life stainless steel car. However, sneak peek reviewers have been impressed with the new R/C’s all-wheel drive powertrain, and its ability to easily maneuver through grass.

Also included in this cheaper update is a miniature free-rolling Cyberquad, Tesla’s mostly mythical all-terrain vehicle. While it’s not a power toy itself, it can be added or removed from the open truck bed just like it was in the original company presentation. Using it as a “one more thing” gimmick during the 2019 Cybertruck unveiling, company founder and CEO Elon Musk wowed the audience by loading his space-age ATV into the back of the truck, demonstrating its huge loading capacity. While the CyberQuad was later promised to be an add-on to Cybertruck package, little has been heard about it since.

As for the eagerly awaited Cybertruck itself, it’s likely to be delayed. It was initially supposed to start shipping in late 2021, but since Musk announced that the vehicle would be produced in the Gigafactory Texas, which also has not yet been completed, expectant buyers – including the 250,000 who preordered the $40,000 truck within the first week of its unveiling – should prepare themselves for a much longer wait.

The Hot Wheels copycat seems to be just as coveted. The limited quantities sold out within hours of being made available on the company website, even with limits of “two per person, five per household.” Those lucky enough to have snagged the R/C bundle can expect it to ship by September 15th, 2021.

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Showerheads considered “smart” can combine water savings with new technology that doesn’t leave you suffering from local restrictions. These fixtures function by threading a powerful air blast into the water spray for a full water effect with up to 30-percent savings. Other “smart” showerheads connect to your home assistant or a phone app to provide features such as remote start and pre-saved spray preferences. Yes, really.

Here’s a list of highly-rated, advanced design options to consider:

Moen Bathroom Controller

The first item on our list isn’t even a showerhead, but the brains behind a great shower experience. This controller, well, controls everything in your shower, from the amount of water pressure to the temperature. Like auto-start for your car, you can prep all the settings to your liking before you even step foot inside the shower. Using manual touch or your phone, you can get the party started. When synced with Alexa, you can even voice command your morning shower. Plus, the feedback report will lay out the amount of water and electricity used for each shower, making it easy to track your overall water consumption and improve savings.

Moen S6320 Velocity Rainshower

Also by trusty brand Moen, this rainshower gives you the full Singin’ in the Rain experience, with better options than many other rain showers, which barely rinse the soap from your skin. It features an eight-inch head that provides ample water coverage. And while you can enjoy the rain-like effect of the lighter spray whenever you like, you can switch to a higher capacity when it’s time to rinse to get the job done efficiently.

WaterHawk 6″ Smart Rain Showerhead

Although smaller than the Moen mentioned above, the WaterHawk is considered more of an eco-friendly smart showerhead due to its high level of water efficiency. The real-time feedback provides an up-to-date usage report as you shower rather than having to rely on data reports later in the day. Adding to the Earth-friendly features is the ability to monitor efficiency of water temperature and shower duration in order to meet your water consumption goals. The WaterHawk also features another stand-out bit of innovation: it uses the force of the water to power itself, making it a battery-free solution. Plus, it adds some color to the experience with LEDs that change color with the water temperature.

DreamSpa

While some models try to get away with inexpensive materials, this smart showerhead is all quality. In addition to a stylish look, the DreamSpa offers some high-tech features you’d expect from a smart showerhead, such as a zero-battery design and water-saving abilities. It also allows you to visually ascertain the temperature of the water, with LED lights color-coded in response to different settings. When it switches from cool-water blue to warm green or red hot, it’s time to get in. Flashing red, however, warns the water is too hot for safety (a particularly nice feature for kids and older folks). Installation requires no tools and is hassle-free so you can quickly set up and enjoy the five modes: Hydro-Mist, Pulsating Massage, Economy Rain, Water Saving, and Power Rain.

Nosame

Well water presents unique challenges, from mineral smells to dry hair and skin. Nosame incorporates multi-layer water filtration and promises a healthier overall experience. The Rainfall, Massage, and Jet Spray modes provide settings options whenever you need them, yet the technology provides ample water pressure with consumption savings of up to 30 percent. This is an inexpensive handheld model that screws into any existing shower hose outlet and is backed up with a warranty and money-back guarantee.

The post The 5 Best Options For Getting Smarter in the Shower first appeared on Dornob.

The RoboMaster S1 was inspired by the international robotics competition DJI RoboMaster. Since being founded in 2015, over 20,000 students from more than 400 schools have participated in this thrilling event that tests wit, engineering, and problem-solving skills. The S1’s creators wanted to embody the spirit of the contest in a single robot, and the result is both part toy and part STEM classroom.

The educational robot arrives in pieces on purpose, immediately giving the student a lesson in both assembly and design. Following directions and online videos as needed, you can put the RoboMaster S1 together in a relatively short amount of time, even attaching some additional accessories if you like.

With the bot assembled, you’ll want to fire up the accompanying RoboMaster S1 app (available for iOS, Android, and Windows). This is the mechanism through which you’ll actually control it. Oh, and while it is technically a robot because it is robotic, it looks and acts a bit more like an RC car, with mecanum wheels that move in all directions for both side-to-side and front-to-back mobility options. Combined with its chassis and front axle suspension, this allows for virtually unlimited movement capabilities — in stark contrast to old-school remote-controlled cars that basically only moved from front to back or in circles.

The technology behind the S1 is advanced and impressive, supporting both Scratch and Python programming languages. This allows the student to learn coding on an easy-to-use interactive interface. Once in the app, simply drag and drop blocks to program the chassis, gimbal, and blaster and then test them out to see the effects of your inputted data.

You didn’t misread it when we said “blaster,” either. Even more than its RC car base or robot-looking upper, the most fun aspect of the RoboMaster S1 is undoubtedly its blaster, which shoots red infrared light or actual non-toxic gel bead “ammo” as the robot races across the floor. This makes it the perfect tool for races or battles with friends. You can even throw in some bonus abilities like electromagnetic interference or dizziness to throw opposing bots off their game. Pressure sensors on each Robomaster react to different “hits,” but you can always code a custom move to outpace the competition with an unexpected figure eight or full stop. To top it all off, you can film all the action with a touch of a button and share it with the world.

Intended to help young people practice coding, the RobosMaster’s easy-to-use programming software allows you to train your robot to identify people and objects or move along a specific path. The S1 also boasts six programmable artificial intelligence modules that allow you to work some hands-on AI coding into your education, too.

It’s a lot of software, engineering, and technology to take in at once, but the company website is loaded with tons of support material to back you up as you learn. This includes video courses and tutorials with detailed instructions, downloadable documents, a FAQ section, and even a comprehensive programming guide.

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The innovative folks at Honda were well aware of this soothing automotive trick but recognized that it’s not always so convenient to schlep your kid around in a car — especially if you live in a big city. After consulting with experts at Japan’s Sound Healing Association, they decided to carry out a fun little experiment that combined children’s toys with carefully chosen audio components.

The resulting “Sound Sitter” is a cute red car-shaped stuffed toy that emits the sounds of three different engines to help lull babies to sleep. The Japanese automaker reportedly tested recordings of thirty-seven engines from its own models (dating back to 1962) until they came across the most effective ones, including those of Civics, Accords, and Integras. The three winning sounds came from the engines of the 2018 NSX, 2001 Integra Type R, and 1999 S2000.

“Baby’s job is to cry a lot,” reads the Sound Sitter’s official website. “I think that it should not be denied that. However, it is also true that there is a mother / father who is getting bored with going out from the feeling that ‘whatever you do…please don’t cry in a bus or shop.’ We, Honda, wanted to manage that trouble as a company that supports mobility.”

Researchers found that 11 out of 12 newborns between the ages of six months and 1.5 years seemed to be comforted by the remote-controlled Sound Sitter, with seven babies also showing reduced heart rates. Honda then distributed the stuffed toy to families in Tokyo, holding a public event there to demonstrate its sleep-inducing abilities. Parents report that it worked like a charm, especially when toted around in a stroller. The results are clear enough just in the first few seconds of the video above (which is only available in Japanese, but you get the idea).

Keiichiro Kida, president of the Sound Healing Association, explains that car engines sound remarkably similar to many of the sounds heard within the uterus, including low frequencies like the mother’s blood flow and heartbeat. Honda’s Sound Sitter toy incorporates low frequencies of 250 Hz or less for a calming, sedative effect.

For all we know, the Sound Sitter might even work on adults. While Honda isn’t releasing the stuffed toy to the public just yet, they have made the audio files available online, which means you’re more than welcome to listen and find out for yourself. If you wanted to, you could probably even DIY something similar by loading those recordings onto a remote-activated audio player and putting it inside the toy of your choosing.

The post Lull Your Baby to Sleep with Honda’s Sound Sitter Stuffed Toy first appeared on Dornob.

In hopes of alleviating some of this devastation, former MythBuster Jamie Hyneman has recently designed and built a brand new kind of driverless vehicle: a firefighting tank fitted with massive water containers that can be piloted remotely to roll directly into flames.

The Tank

The idea for the remote-controlled, self-cooling, fireproof tank first came to Hyneman in 2003, when he was hired to build a soda-vending robot for a 7Up commercial. More specifically, he engineered a vending machine on tank treads that rolled up to people and aggressively shot cans of 7Up at them. Those tank treads made him think “surface area” and eventually turned his attention to fires. His next idea was that the treads would be continually doused with water as the tank rolled over the flames. That engineering began with a M548 tracked cargo carrier that Hyneman bought in 2017, which, at 14,500 pounds, is still light enough to be relocated via airlift.

The Funding

By 2015, Hyneman was working on a prototype. Financial backing came in 2016, when he met Palmer Luckey at a venture capitalist’s picnic. Luckey is the founder both of Oculus VR, which he sold in 2014 for $2.3 billion to Facebook, and Anduril Industries, an innovative outlet for defense contract projects that apply virtual reality. To prep the tank for Anduril’s technology, Hyneman brought on Jim Newton — an advisor on MythBusters who went on to found the TechShop maker spaces — to devise, program, and build a network of necessary sensors and microcontrollers.

“Sentry,” which Hyneman’s team finished building in late August 2018, towers about 12 feet tall, boasting a highly-reflective aluminum surface and two five-hundred-gallon water tanks. Professional-grade water monitors are able to raise, lower, pivot, and empty the tanks in under five minutes. A tailored heat-resistant suit that Hyneman calls “fire jammies” blankets the whole vehicle.

The Rainstorm

“When you have instead of a truck a tank and instead of a driver a remote pilot, you can charge through the wall of flames,” says Luckey. “You can crush smoldering debris like tinfoil.” That may sound like an awesome vision, but solving the problem of fireproofing a tank filled with wiring, servopneumatic valves, batteries, sensors, and pumps requires even more new solutions.

Cue the incorporation of a rainstorm inside the tank. A 50/50 coolant mix of glycerin and water sprays down the entire interior continually, draining down into a bilge and transferring its heat to the thousand gallons of water in the tanks. It can then be pumped back up and continually reused. of course, the tank is also meant to carry people. “If you go in here to get rescued,” Hyneman says, “you come out like you’ve been in a spa.”

In late September 2018, Sentry arrived at Anduril HQ in Orange County, California, to work out the VR kinks and begin field tests. According to Luckey, Sentry will eventually drive autonomously using Anduril’s Lattice AI sensor networks. Remote operation will make full use of VR, with sensors streaming views of the area to firefighters’ headsets and smartphones.

Hyneman remains cautiously optimistic about the project, stating: “It’s conceivable that [Sentry] would be autonomous at some point, but then it’s conceivable we’ll have people on Mars before long, and that AI is going to do us all in. That may well happen but not right now. The fires are right now, and remote control is right now.”

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The POWERUP FPV is here to change your idea of the paper plane forever. Each plane boasts a carbon-fiber and nylon reinforced frame to help it live a long life, so don’t worry — it’s very different from the paper plane you remember throwing in the schoolyard. The company even gives you a set of templates to help you fold exactly the type of plane you want.

The POWERUP experts recommend trying the “Invader” model first, which is folded from a piece of 11″ x 17″ paper: “It is the most robust model we have. With average speed and maneuverability and high stability, it is the plane to start with!”

The magic really happens when you attach a “conversion kit” to the plane, giving you access to live-streaming video that you can enjoy as it happens and share with your friends afterwards. “The fully rotating wide-view camera lets pilots capture their flight while looking forward from the cockpit, off the wings, or even a dramatic rear-view shot as they launch their planes into flight,” the company says. “They can then share video and images immediately via Wi-Fi to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or another social media platform.”

The FPV is capable of reaching speeds of up to 20 mph, and it can stay in the sky for about 10 minutes of continuous flight time. All you have to do is keep the plane within a 300-foot range. After that, the onboard camera will start livestreaming video straight to your smartphone via Wi-Fi. If you want to go back and watch this footage later, you’ll just need to save it to a handy MicroSD card.

As far as actually flying the plane is concerned, you’re supposed to control it using your head movements and a smartphone-powered headworn display. Of course, you can always just switch to the on-screen gamepad in the POWERUP app. If you’re an absolute beginner, you’ll be happy to know that the FPV’s “autopilot” mode makes flying incredibly easy, especially in windy conditions. There’s even automatic self-navigation so the plane can find its way back to you with “return home” mode.

Each POWERUP FPV kit comes with a twin motor Wi-Fi camera module, two spare propellers (left and right), a carbon-fiber and polypropylene stabilizer crossbar, four printed template sheets for the easy-flying A3 Invader design, and one Lipo battery 550mAh. The Google Cardboard FPV viewer, however, is sold separately.

Once you’re really sure you’ve caught the paper plane bug, check out the POWERUP DART, a clever little plane that can do all kinds of stunts. Just attach the DART to your paper plane and and use the accompanying smartphone app to control it. “Tilt your wrist for simple turns then sequence a few tilts, flicks, and speed boosts to pull off a variety of mind-bending aerobatic tricks,” explains the design team. “Attaching the wheels turns any flat surface into your personal runway, so you can take-off and land anywhere.”

The post POWERUP: The Remote-Control Paper Plane with a Camera On Board first appeared on Dornob.

But what if you could just stick a robot outside your front door, press a button on a remote control, and watch it clear paths for you while you’re still in your pajamas? It sounds like a retro-futuristic dream from a more optimistic era, but believe or not, autonomous miniature snow plows are quickly becoming a reality. As technology continues to progress and self-driving vehicles become the norm on our roads, it’s likely that robust robotic snow plows will become more common, but remote-controlled snow plows already exist. Do they really work, or are they just toys?

The answer is a little bit of both — at least for now. While most of the remote-controlled snow plows currently on the market aren’t powerful enough to push much snow around, more robust models do exist, and some people have even managed to DIY their own versions. For instance, the video above shows off what the ATR-Orbiter, a fully radio-controlled mobile robot crawler, can do.

SuperDroid Robots built a custom six-wheel-drive remote-controlled robot and equipped it with a snow plow attachment that’s sure to pack a powerful punch thanks to its rigid aluminum frame. The plow is raised and lowered by a 400-pound electric linear actuator, and the wheels are mounted on solid steel axles supported by heavy-duty block bearings. Essentially, this plow is quite a beast — one made with many of the same high quality materials you’d find on a full-sized vehicle. Interested? You can order your own ready-to-ship Prebuilt 6WD RC Snow Plow Robot, but it’ll set you back nearly $7,000.

A company called Creative Robotic Systems offers the Roboplow, a custom-made robot that does a halfway-decent job of clearing a path. This particular robotic snow plow was available to the public for a while, but it now seems to have gone off the market.

If you’re a robot-building enthusiast, perhaps you could learn a thing or two from RCSparks Studio, the company that created the DIY “OVERKiLL Snow Plow,” which is powered by a remote-controlled monster truck, and the “Rotary Snow Plow,” which uses a semi-truck as its base. Both of these mini-plows were built just for fun and tested in extremely cold temperatures reaching up to -35 degrees Celsius.

Popular Science has a tutorial for an RC Snow Plow that may not replace good old-fashioned shoveling, but it’ll definitely look cute scooping tiny piles of snow up in the yard. It takes about two hours to build at a cost of around $389.

Hoping for a cheaper more ready-made option? Amazon offers a variety of remote-controlled snow plows that are really intended to be used for entertainment purposes, but they sure look fun to use. Check out the Kyosho Blizzard FR, the Bruder MACK Granite Dump Truck with Snow Blade, and the Dickie Toys RC-Pistenbully, which range from $130 to $300.

The post A Robot Snow Plow is Here to Keep You Warm first appeared on Dornob.