• iPhone controlled R/C Car
• An actual Oldsmobile
• Dance lights
• A minivan (2007)
• R2D2
• Dog feeders
• Military Drones
• A helicopter

What next? How about a bi-pedal walking robot named Walky.  The robot and controller were developed by a group of grad students from Keio University in Japan. Video after the break.

Walky understands a set of touch gestures that allow him to walk, jump, and kick.  Apparently they had attempted other methods of control like a PS3 Controller unsuccessfully and had settled on the iPhone. The touchscreen is more intuitive than a joystick since you can simulate walking using two fingers — remember the old Yellow Pages ads? Walky is pretty simple, but still seems well made and I like how they have broken the mold here with iPhone gestures.

No offense to Motorola, Verizon, or their Droid commercials, but this doesn’t seem like a very closed development system to me. Yeah, it’s true that the App store requires some approval, but that doesn’t seem to be discouraging too many people. The iPhone SDK is well thought-out and by far the easiest mobile development platform out there. Period. Plenty of people are using it to develop for reasons other then making money in the App store, including academic and scientific pursuits such as this one. I’m not going to be looking for the Walky Robot app on iTunes, but it’s nice to know that I could develop something like this if I wanted to.

Unleash your inner Spielberg: SkyShutter has released the AeriCam, a remote controlled helicopter for your video camera. Backyard home videos just got a lot more interesting.

The AeriCam is a “lightweight 3-axis camera mount coupled with a customized Industry Radio Control Helicopter.” Founder and commercial photographer, Jason Lam brought his R/C enthusiast skills to bear in this product, which seems like something really special. Capable of flying up to 400ft into the air, the AeriCam not only makes aerial photography much more affordable, it also enables professionals to access locations that would have been off limits to full-size helicopters because of nearby buildings and other regulations. And for the consumer who can afford a $3,000 camera accessory — well, it might not be for the everyday wallet, but taking flight lessons and renting a chopper isn’t necessarily a day’s paycheck, either.

Operating the AeriCam is a two person gig: one navigates the helicopter via remote, while the other person pans, tilts and rolls the camera while monitoring a live video feed. I imagine this would be a natural evolution for the Google Street View crew. Why stalk the planet solely by pavement when you could take to the skies in beautiful panorama, cinema-scope?

Aerial Photography New York from Jason Lam on Vimeo.

Have you ever wished you could have been a fly on the wall for a particular moment — for an entertaining squabble, an important moment in history, or simply just to spy on people for the fun of it? Well the Military does, and a group of researchers at University of California Berkeley are hard at work making that wish come true.

Researchers attached electrodes to various parts of a beetle and its brain in order to gain the ability to control it in flight.  These beetles are apparently zombie-like after the procedure (sorry, PETA), but the results are startling.  It’s pretty well known that the Military and researchers have been hard at work for a while on controlling insects, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in action — and from the video it’s pretty impressive.

I’m not sure of the actual device they use to control the beetle but it seems that they just activate an electrode to control left or right direction in flight.  There is obviously quite a way to go before they are controlling humans and spying with real flies, but it seems to be getting scarily close to reality.

Photo: Plantraco Microflight

Do you suspect your neighbors might be hatching a plot to overthrow the government? Concerned that Al-Qaeda may have just set up a headquarters down the street? Before you call the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist activity hotline, confirm your suspicions with one of these: the Micro Butterfly from Plantraco Microflight. Yes, for $149.99 you can have your very own, radio controlled plane with a tiny wingspan of just 3.5″. Add on a miniature voice transmitter for $35-80, and help keep our nation safe from terrorists.

Seriously, when we read about the Micro Butterfly in Charlie White’s DViCE post, we thought it was pretty cool. And we dug the video on YouTube, too (see below). But commenter @jay trini really opened our eyes to the possibilities here. After all, this seems far easier and cheaper than those spy pigeons we’ve been sending to Iran lately.

Remote control car racers from all over the US are gearing up for tomorrow’s Race Against Leukemia event at Staub Brothers’ RC Speedway in Bonneauville, PA.

According to Tim Stonesifer, who publicized the races in yesterday’s York Daily Record, the annual event was founded in honor of the speedway owner’s childhood friend. Scott Staub was only in college when his friend Alan Funk died of Leukemia.

Over the past ten years, Staub Brothers’ RC Speedway has raised more than $20,000 for Leukemia research. This year, they’re hoping to raise more $4,000 though pledges collected by entrants in tomorrow’s races and on-site donations.

Tomorrow afternoon, they expect 80-100 remote control car enthusiasts to compete in a handful of divisions. These aren’t your average hobbyists though; many of the people “driving” in tomorrow’s races have driven in full a full size series before. Some of the RC racers even use the same type of transponders used in NASCAR to calculate lap times, speeds and racing order.

Staub encourages all Gettysburg-area racing fans to and join him, free of charge, in honoring Alan Funk at the Annual Race Against Leukemia. If you’d like to make a donation by phone, please call 717-334-8488.

Photo: Circuit Projects

This one seems promising — and certainly more safe than controlling your real car with your phone. Circuit Projects is reporting on the start of a project for an R/C car controller based around the iPhone. Of course the iPhone controller for an R/C helicopter is already a reality — at least the concept is proven, anyway.