Jalopnik: RC Cars

RC Car Plays Mario Brothers Theme On Bottles

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:20:00 EDT

OCD and a lot of time combine to give us an auditory experience taking one right back to that magical day in 1985 when that epic masterpiece of video game history was revealed — Super Mario Brothers. Our heroes set up a long line of bottles filled with liquid to tune them to a the correct pitch, and then drove an RC car down the line to play that wonderful 8 bit tune. Congratulations random Asian kids, you win at the internet today. [Break via BoingBoing]

200 MPH Nitro Powered Radio Controlled Car

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EDT

We really studied this video with a close eye, because it does not make any sense in a space v. time kind of way. Here's the set up, a sleek, long bullet of a radio controlled car powered by nitromethane, attached at the hip by a cable to a central spike and running around a circular track. Odd certainly, but you can't argue with the results. You can watch the effect of centripetal force elongate the wire as the speed increases. We're totally on board till about till about the 55 second mark — that's when things just get ridiculous. And yet the flag waves normally, the bugs fly around at the same speed and there is no evidence of accelerated video shenanigans. Wow, that's fast. [Youtube]

Jalopnik Drives Real Live Tank By Remote Control, Can Now Die Happy

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:59:00 EDT

Guess who got handed the manual remote control pendant for BAE Systems' Black Knight fully autonomous tank? Yeh, I'm in as much shock as you are but can't stop thinking "Holy shit, I drove a robot tank! ROBOT. TANK." The 12-ton Unmanned Combat Vehicle (UCV) was developed by BAE Systems as an internal test bed for next generation technologies in ground warfare support. The Black Knight (we love the name, so take that Batman) is powered by a 300 HP Cat diesel and although it's quiet as a mouse is capable of up to 48 MPH. It's the largest robot with a safety release from the US military and has undergone field testing at Fort Benning. The tank can operate up to 15 MPH autonomously or by way of pendant in a command vehicle like an A3 Bradley from distances as far as three miles away. By the way, did I mention I DROVE A FREAKIN' ROBOT TANK? And now, since we did drive it, it's only fair to give it the good ol' Jalopnik Review treatment below the jump, star ratings and everything:

Exterior Design: *****
It's a robot tank in desert brown, it has a 20mm cannon and tracks. 5 stars aren't enough.

Interior Design: **
It doesn't really have an interior, but since it can be operated from long range, you can be pretty much anywhere within 3 miles and run it, so the outside is the inside. We were standing in a parking lot in Sterling Heights and it was cold out. 2 stars.

Acceleration: Inc.
How do you gauge the acceleration of a tank? The Black Knight stayed in first gear, I wasn't in it, it seemed pretty responsive when I was driving it (Did we mention I DROVE A FREAKIN' ROBOT TANK?!?) but there's no way to say whether the acceleration was good or bad.

Braking: ****
Stellar. As you can see from the video, the tank stops like it's hitting a brick wall. With no need to prevent broken noses on passengers it can stop however hard it feels like.

Ride: Zero Stars
Better than a 1982 Corvette, but that's sure not saying much. We award it zero stars and may God have mercy upon the rears of any souls unfortunate enough to need a ride inside.

Handling: **
Er, how does a remote controlled tank handle? How about this — it did exactly what I asked it to do. A pirouette? Sure. Straight line? Right away, sir. Does it count if I felt the Earth move because the Earth was actually vibrating from it? No? Then it gets what it has coming to it.

Gearbox: Inc.
Without a shifter to throw or a seat to throw it from we couldn't tell how good or bad the cog-swapper was. Not only that, but the Black Knight's handlers kept the thing in first so, you know, no drag racing to be had in the parking lot.

Audio: **
There's no audio system save the gentle hum of the Cat diesel pushing it along. In fact, the tracks are actually nearly silent front the coat of rubber on them. But that's a far sight better than a few in-car radio systems we've experienced.

Toys: *****
Did we mention this a fully autonomous tank (OMG, I just remembered, I DROVE A FREAKIN' ROBOT TANK!!) with a 20mm cannon capable of real time obstacle detection and independent situational awareness? Yeah, cause it's got that. Again: Robot. Freakin'. Tank.

Value: Inc.
Depends. We don't know how much the price tag is on this system. But how do you put a value on keeping your soldiers out of nasty fire fights? That's for congressional appropriations committees to decide.

Overall: *****
FREAKIN'. AUTONOMOUS. ROBOT.TANK.

The G-Wiz Electric Car Crumples Like A Tin Can

Ray Wert — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:00:00 EST

After Top Gear took the G-Wiz to the heights of what you can do with a remote control last Sunday night, we wanted to remind folks why the British boys dislike the G-Wiz 'lectric so much. We feel like maybe it has something to do with the way the "Aww" G-Wiz crumples like a tin can when it hits anything at pretty much any speed. Like here, in what we're told is a 40 MPH offset head-on crash. The end result is nothing short of epicly bad. Hey, is the driver door supposed to flop open and forward like that? Oh, it's not?

Radio Free Hoonage: Driving Miss Camry

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 09:24:14 EST

A bunch of mechanically inclined hoons rigged up a 1982 Toyota Camry with remote-controlled servos and hydraulics — in effect, making it a full-sized RC car — and took it to a dry lake bed in the desert, where they put it through a number of stupid RC-car tricks, including doughnuts, reverse-gear jumps and, ever popular with hollywood stuntmen, the swivel. The soundtrack's awesome too.

Full-Scale RC Car, 1982 Toyota Camry [Google Video via del.ici.ous]

Related:
Google Video Mining: Drifting RC Cars [internal]

Google Video Mining: Drifting RC Cars

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:38:43 EDT

Who needs TV when you have Google Video? This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between us and the Googs, who, if you hadn't heard, launched a search engine for video clips. Where to start? Let's turn to SpeedWay Pal of Japan, bringing us this fine clip featuring the sport (hmm) of drifting RC cars. The tires are of PVC tubing, and the skillz are mad. Enjoy.

RC Drifting [SpeedWay Pal via Google Video]

Related:
Trans Am WS6 vs. Nitrous-Powered Go-Ped (a classic) [internal]