The first time I ever saw a picture of Domo-Kun, I was in seventh grade. It was a really old internet meme, a fake PSA about being the “master of your domain”, and it featured an image of two Domos chasing a kitten. He’s a pretty shapeless, brown and shark-toothed Japanese character that’s always been somewhat of an enigma to me but a beloved character to Otaku everywhere. Anyway, I’m still not exactly sure where he’s from so maybe I’ll do a quick Wikipedia and in the mean time you can check out this cool Domo-Kun inspired balancing robot.
Domo-Kun
Much like the character himself, the robot is a pretty simple R/C pair of wheels that balances a giant Domo-Kun face and keeps it upright. It was created by user Chein from instructables.com. Here’s a picture of the WobblyBot without the Domo-Kun:
And here’s a video of the pair of wheels in action:
The robot brilliantly scoots around and stays as cool as a cucumber without falling over. Before reading about it, I had originally suspected that the robot had some sort of gyroscope to keep it upright, like the Segway, but as it turns out, it’s much simpler than that. They key to the Wobbybot is good ol’ weight distribution. That’s right, it’s bottom heavy. According to the maker, the robot “is essentially a simple pendulum, with the pivot at the wheel axle.”
Here’s the second video posted of the fully functioning robot with it’s beady eyes. I’m not really sure how practical a robot like this might be. I suppose you can use it as a sort of bill-board or use it to mess with your cat or dog.
If you would rather wear Domo than play with him, check out this Domo-Kun plush hat or this Domo-Kun manicure.
Via: Instructables
