Without a Traceroute

It’s like regular fame, only without any of the wealth, recognition, or offers of sex that usually accompany it.

So Roboexotica was featured on BoingBoing Gadgets, the recently-launched BoingBoing spinoff which is kind of exactly like Gizmodo, Engadget, Gadgetizer, GadgetVenue, Wired GadgetLab, TheGadgetBlog, and Ubergizmo. Clearly, the world was crying out for a new gadget blog.

Anyway, the photo they chose for the story features none other than yours truly, driving Chassis! His creators were very kind in letting me drive their expensive, awesome robot. He’s fairly simple to control, with a two-joystick tank-tread-style control scheme. But the joysticks are analog, and his motors are actually pretty powerful. It’s easy to push too far and send Chassis careening across the room. Also, one joystick is a bit more sensitive than the other (“He has a limp,” they tell me) so you have to learn to correct for that if you want him to go straight at all. There are also buttons on the remote that make him blink, wink, dispense beer, or rotate the little metal fan on his head.

They also let me try the headset and take a turn doing the voice for Chassis, frightening small children when the robot talked to them (I was nice!) and amusing drunk adults.