I had been seeing a few posts for this "Murata Boy" bicycle riding robot on some of the tech sites I frequent. I looked at the photos and thought that it might be neat, but ultimately, I was envisioning the old Evil Kineval gyroscopic motorcycle toy I had as a child and figured it was nothing worth looking into. Then, I found some videos of it and was able to appreciate the precision and control which this robot exhibits even while not moving.

As if that's not enough, it appears to operate the bicycle using a vision system where it can discern the path it wants to ride along and then steer the bike to follow it. You can observe the balancing mechanism in the chest especially well in two of the videos.

Anyway, watch the videos below and appreciate the Murata Boy bicycle riding robot for yourself.

When I first started watching this video, I thought, "hmm more trivia." But, by the end, I was intrigued as to just how much things are changing around us and how quickly.

One quote is that a week's worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person would be exposed to over their entire lifetime in the 18th century. That alone helps me to understand why my grandparents are so completely baffled by computers and technology in general. I wonder if I'll be in the same situation when I'm their age...

Something about steam power is intriguing. It's not exactly mystical in any way, yet it holds a certain charm. When I was a kid, I always thought it would be cool to have one of those little steam-powered engines that sits on your desk and burns tiny blocks of wood.

Well, take that simple steam engine and multiply it times 100 and you get this radio-controlled steam tank. There is a butane/propane tank which fuels the boiler to produce steam, just as you'd expect. The unusual thing about this design, though, is that it uses a steam turbine for as the engine, rather than a my typical piston type design.

You can definitely hear the turbine in the video below -- it's got quite a scream! It takes a bit to spin-up to full speed, but once it does, the power is sent to the chassis where a servo can brake either tread to give it skid steering.

The tank looks really cool too -- definitely a vision of the Wild Wild West type of old fashioned steam plus modern technology. Check it out in the video below.

You can see more info on the steam turbine powered radio control tank at the creator's site. It's really a well-done project and he has lots more information if you're interested.