Christmas Nutcrackers For Nerds. Robot Nutcrackers by Matthias Zschaler for Suck UK.

Designed by Matthias Zschaler for Suck UK is a fun twist on the traditional Christmas Nutcracker. Two Robot nutcrackers, one large and one small, are made of beechwood and painted in bright retro colors.




Using the 'wind up key' to break the nut, any nut, placed in their belly they are both fun and functional and make great gifts for the holiday season.

Large Blue Robot Nutcracker:




The large Blue Robot Nutcracker measures: Width 125mm x Height 330mm x Depth 60mm
price: $40

Small Red Robot Nutcracker:




The small Red Robot Nutcracker measures: Width 140mm x Height 220mm x Depth 50mm
price: $30



Buy them here

Robots Reborn. Upcycled Illuminated Robot Sculptures by +Brauer

Bruno Lefevre-Brauer, known as + Brauer, is a graphic designer living in Paris. Over the past 20 years he has designed numerous album covers for French and international artists and pursued his personal artistic expression through painting, photography and sculpture.



An artist who regularly exhibits in Paris, these charming illuminated metal upcycled robots are from his series "Viva la Roboluciòn!"









More than their technological features, he tries to reveal the original, almost primitive, form of the robots he creates. +Brauer carefully chooses vintage objects that have an industrial past, that are marked by time and whose patina has been moulded by years of manual use. He admires the beauty, sometimes hidden, of these discarded industrial parts, alters their appearance, sculpts them, and incorporates light sources into their structure before assembling the parts together to create a unique and poetic piece.





The beauty of the materials and the venerable patinas express their beauty in the light of day, while at night, it is the turn of the strange, evocative light fittings to reveal their magic. Right from conception, the element of light is an integral part of the artwork: each robot is designed to interact with it’s environment in a different way whether it is turned on or off.




Abandoned or forgotten in workshops and garages, the industrial parts are reborn in unique works of art that embrace us with their kind presence, imposing personality, and amazing humanity.


images and info courtesy of the artist

Each piece is a statement of poetic resistance to mass-consumption.

See more and other works by +Brauer here

The CUBEBOT Robot Lounge by David Weeks, Quinze & Milan and AREAWARE.

Cubebot (2012), qm foam, 250 x 160 x 180 cm

David Weeks, the award-wining American-based designer, Quinze & Milan, the innovative Belgian design company and AREAWARE, the New York City based producer of unusual design objects, have joined forces for MOST.




At twenty times his original size, the lounging Cubebot sculpture in QM FOAM will put a smile on your face and provide a comfortable spot to take a break.






David Weeks' sustainably harvested wood Cubebots for AREAWARE:



MOST SALONE BY TOM DIXON
MOST is a new destination instigated by Tom Dixon which will turn the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan into an ambitious environment for innovation and culture. MOST delivers a diverse group of leading global brands and young designers who will be located in the extraordinary historic spaces of the museum. This collision of technology, culture and design is set to be one of Milan's highlights during Salone del Mobile 2012.

Robox - The Robot-Shaped Bookcase for Casamania by Fabio Novembre.

Looking for a fun way to store the books in your children's room or modern office? Irreverent designer Fabio Novembre's Robot shaped bookcase for Casamania may be just the thing. Presented at this year's Salon del Mobile, the Robox is made of varnished metal and stands 184 cm tall.





Fabio Novembre

Eggs + Sharpies And The Egg-Bot Will Do The Decorating Work For You.

Now you can impress the Easter Bunny with stylish and artfully decorated eggs created by the Egg-Bot, a robotic kit that is available for purchase.



The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit-- roughly 1.25 to 4.25 inches in diameter (3 - 10 cm). The kit is based on the original design by Bruce Shapiro. The newest version, the "Egg-Bot 2.0," is a modern and friendly update, designed with the assistance of Bruce and his team.



The Eggbot is super adjustable, and is designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally "impossible" to print on. Not just eggs but ping pong balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses-- with a bit of work. In the photos, you can see just a few of the things that you can make with an eggbot: Incredible personalized golf balls, christmas ornaments, light bulbs, and (yes) eggs.




The Eggbot chassis is made of tough fiberglass, with integrated heat sinks for the included motors. The pen and egg motors are high-torque precision stepping motors, and the pen lift mechanism is a quiet and reliable servo motor.




The Eggbot kit is easy to assemble in a couple of hours, and only requires a couple of basic tools like miniature Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers. You'll also need a recent-vintage computer with an available USB port (Mac, Windows or Linux), plus internet access to download assembly instructions and necessary software.



Eggbot w/ EBB Driver Board The Eggbot kit comes complete with a fully assembled and tested EiBotBoard v2.0 (EBB) USB interface/motor driver board. No soldering or programming are required.



The EBB allows your computer to directly control the stepper and servo motors. The onboard 16X microstepping driver chips along with the 200 step/revolution stepper motors give a combined resolution of 3200 steps/revolution in both axes. A universal-input plug-in power supply (9 V 1.5 A) is included with the Eggbot kit, as is a USB cable.

Basic operation is much like that of a printer driver: you import or make a drawing in Inkscape, and use the extensions to plot your drawing onto whatever object you've mounted in the Eggbot. It's all handled through an easy to use graphical user interface, and works cleanly on Mac, Windows and Linux.



The standard pen holder included with the EggBot kit is designed to fit various art pens including Sharpie Ultra Fine Point pens. However, it can actually fit almost any pen of similar size. If you want to use a pen that doesn't fit, the pen holder is made of wood and can be enlarged to suit your taste.

You can even fit a lot of things that aren't pens. One example: They'll be offering a diamond-point engraver tool as an optional add-on for the EggBot kit in the near future.


above: The Eggbot Logo on an Egg

If you have additional questions about the Eggbot kit, you may want to look at the Eggbot FAQ.

The Egg-Bot 2.0 kit was designed by Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman with extensive help from Bruce Shapiro and Brian Schmalz. The kit includes assembly and use instructions, open source hardware release documents and example plot files.

The Eggbot kit is available here.