Landmine Detecting Shoe Insoles Might Just Save Your Life

Most of us are lucky enough to live in peaceful places where landmines don’t threaten our lives on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many people still live in fear of stepping on landmines and losing their limbs – or worse, their lives. This is true for Colombia, where over 10,000 people have been maimed or killed because of these lethal weapons.

Well aware of this fact, design firm Lemur Studio came up with a landmine detector called “SaveOneLife” that fits right inside a person’s shoe.

As designed, it will use a small coil of conductive material that produces an electromagnetic field. This is key to how it works, as this field will be able to interact with the electromagnetic field of the landmines. When a landmine is detected, the user will get an alarm on the armband that works in conjunction with the sole – hopefully before they step on one.

Iván Pérez, Lemur’s creative director, explains: “The device was created with the goal of saving a life, hence the name, first by the families of the victims and second for the cost effects of military forces by the loss of his men in combat.”

SaveOneLife is still a concept design for now, but here’s to hoping it becomes a reality.

Power Generating Soccket Soccer Ball Now Available

Last year we talked a bit about the Soccket soccer ball, or football depending on where you are from, when it turned up on Kickstarter. At the time a pledge of $89 would get you one. If you missed the Kickstarter campaign and want to get your hands on one of the power generating balls, you now can.

It uses tech inside the ball that captures and stores electricity when the ball is kicked around. It’s designed primarily for use in developing nations which have limited access to electricity, and can provide three hours of light after 30 minutes of play, using the flexible LED lamp included with each ball.

The power captured by the generator inside is stored in a battery pack. If you don’t need a light, the power can be used to charge a smartphone. Keep in mind that its USB jack offers only 6W so it’s not enough for most tablets.

The Soccket ball is now available to purchase for $99(USD).

Arcade Machine Accepts Bitcoins: Bitcoin-op

A growing number of establishments are accepting Bitcoin as payment. Now you can even use it to play arcade games. British company Liberty Games combined the cutting edge currency with the aging gaming platform to make a simple transaction hilariously complicated. The company used a Raspberry Pi and aPiFace add-on to make the payment interface.
Liberty Games first tried their Bitcoin payment mod on a pool table. After receiving good feedback for that mod, the company decided to apply it on an arcade machine.
The great thing about their method is that it doesn’t mess with the machine’s software, which means it can be performed on pretty much any coin-operated arcade game. Not that you should.

Honda Concept Cars 3D Models: You Would Download a Toy Car

The new PS3 racing game Gran Turismo 6 lets players drive concept cars made expressly by automotive companies and other brands for the game. Honda is one of those companies, but it’s also using a newer form of technology to reach out to its fans. The Japanese automaker recently made 3D models of its concept cars available for download.
As of this writing the Honda 3D Design Archives features five downloadable 3D models, headlined by the 2013 Acura NSX Concept. You can also download the Fuya-Jo, the FSR Concept, the Kiwami and the toaster-like Puyo from the website. Not familiar with any of those cars? Check out this video:
Man, I need to step my daydream game up. Drive your browser to Honda 3D Design Archives and download the models.

Paper-Thin Keyboard: Print and Press

The printed word is dying, but the printed keyboard is alive and kicking. And no, you won’t need a 3D printer to make one. A company called Novalia has made an incredibly thin Bluetooth keyboard made of photo paper, conductive ink and its proprietary electronic module.
Novalia made the keyboard to show off its advancements in printed technology, particularly the electronic module based on Nordic Semiconductor’s system-on-a-chip and a printing process that allows conventional printers to mass produce capacitive sensors.
Novalia’s technology could be used to make not just keyboards but other input devices as well, and existing printing presses could churn out hundreds of overlays with built-in sensors in a matter of minutes. Nordic Semiconductor says the module can last for up to nine months on a single CR2032 button cell battery.

I’m not sure if Novalia will make the keyboard available to the public. It does have Switchboard, a much simpler version of the keyboard on its online shop . That one’s made of foam board and has eight capacitive keys and sells for £25 (~$41 USD)

3D Printer Turned into Air Hockey Robot: It Prints, It Scores!

A few years ago we found out about mighty Roombas that were moonlighting as sumo wrestlers. Jose Julio’s RepRap 3D printer also has a sporting spirit. The robotics enthusiast unlocked his gadget’s potential and turned it into an air hockey player.

The robot has three motors: two for moving its mallet across the y-axis and one for movement along the x-axis. Jose Julio wrote the drivers for the motors in Arduino. He then color-coded the mallet and the puck, installed a PlayStation Eye camera and wrote a program in C to make his robot see. Finally he wrote another Arduino program that predicts where the puck will go so that its motors can react appropriately.

Another neat thing about Jose Julio’s setup is that the table uses two old PC fans to create a cushion for the puck to slide on.

Jose Julio knows that his robot still needs a lot of practice – and programming – before it’s ready for primetime. For instance, it doesn’t know where the goal is, though as you saw in the video it can already score even with that handicap. But Jose Julio says he can easily imagine RepRap enthusiasts making air hockey robots of their own, improving and refining its programming so that robots could have different difficulty levels and even different strategies.

Insert a token in your browser and head to Jose Julio’s blog for more on his project.

Remote-controlled Snow Plow Robot Will Also Plow Through Your Savings

This robot fights the winter blues. A company called SuperDroid makes large remote-controlled snow plow robots. Use them to clear your front yard, push your cat back to your house, destroy your neighbor’s snowman and more from the warmth and safety of your home.
The robot has six 13″ tiller tires, each powered by a 24V motor. Its 52″ x 16″ snow plow blade is raised and lowered with the help of an air compressor.
Unfortunately, it does require a remote operator, and isn’t autonomous. SuperDroid can also install additional batteries, chains for the wheels and cameras on the robot. They can even make it work over the Internet so you can control it even if you’re on another continent. But you may not want any of those add-ons once you hear the robot’s basic price. Each one costs an ice cold $7,900 (USD). Dig your browser out of the snow and head to SuperDroid if you’re packing that much paper.