Caravan Pod is a portable mini-RV that looks like peas to be attached to the rear of your vehicle.  With 12 volts of DC powering the pods, you have basic amenities available to you.

It seems a little dangerous for anyone to actually be inside while the pod is being towed but does provide enough “modern” comfort for those short week-long trips to Burning Man.

Overall, I think these will become more popular if they could make it affordable for your everyday working man/woman.

These Caravan Pods are collapsible and can fit into standard car parking spaces. They are designed to be cool city-getaway for young professionals, while being light enough to be towed by small cars. The Pods are divided into two compartments, The Comfort Pod which provides seating and sleeping space for two adults, with a 12 volt power supply and audio system and the Service Pod offers a water system, power supply and storage space for personal items.

via dm, newlaunches

SX02 Flight Simulators with Surround Sound and 3 LCDs!

For gamers and flying enthusiasts, having a SX02 Flight Simulator in the house might not be such a bad idea.  Afterall, the SX02 Flight Simulators come loaded with surround displays (3 LCDs) and every control, peripheral you need to enjoy a good virtual flight in your livingroom.

There’s no cost information on the product page but do expect to drop at least couple grand on a setup like this.  (Better yet, go build one yourself with a real ejaculated jet plane seat.  But don’t ejaculate.  LOL)

With surround sound, you get surround vision as well. Utilising Matrox technology, we can format a triple screen layout, so you can be totally immersed in the cockpit. Experience surround graphics for yourself.

The SX02 fighter layout, featuring a centrally mounted HOTAS Joystick, a tension adjustable hand throttle, with digital programmable readout, Saitek adjustable flight pedals, a trackball for formatting the PC and a Logitech backlit keyboard, the SX02 Simulator will immerse you like never before.

The Simworx Flight Deck can be adjusted fore and aft, up and down and is flexible enough to support a variety of control hardware formats, including a yoke and throttle quadrant for general aviation.

via bornrich, Product Page

DIY - How to Make your own RC Helicopter!

Although most of us would be better off buying an RC helicopter off the rack at the local hobby store, you can make your own if you want to with this terrific DIY guide on how to make your own RC helicopter.

Flying RC helicopter is really very exhilarating. Their versatility gives a RC pilot a complete access to the three-dimensional space in such a way that no other machines can! I have played RC helicopter for more than one year but still find that I have just learnt a few tricks that it can perform.

There are generally two micro-helicopters ( indoor ) in the RC market. I have already planned to buy one of them as they can fly inside the living room and even take off on ours hand. Unlike those operated by gas, these electric helicopters are very clean and give out no terrible noise at all. In one nightfall, I visited a web site, which is about how to make a hand made RC helicopter. I was totally impressed and started designing my own helicopter. Here is my helicopter:

via hackedgadgets, DIY Page

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Stanford computer scientists have figured how to teach autonomous helicopters how to do stunt maneuvers.

It sounds like a great idea to me if they can apply this to general robotics.

Stanford’s artificial intelligence system learned how to fly by “watching” the four-foot-long helicopters flown by expert radio control pilot Garett Oku. “Garett can pick up any helicopter, even ones he’s never seen, and go fly amazing aerobatics. So the question for us is always, why can’t computers do things like this?” Coates said.

Computers can, it turns out. On a recent morning in an empty field at the edge of campus, Abbeel and Coates sent up one of their helicopters to demonstrate autonomous flight. The aircraft, brightly painted Stanford red, is an off-the-shelf radio control helicopter, with instrumentation added by the researchers.

For five minutes, the chopper, on its own, ran through a dizzying series of stunts beyond the capabilities of a full-scale piloted helicopter and other autonomous remote control helicopters. The artificial-intelligence helicopter performed a smorgasbord of difficult maneuvers: traveling flips, rolls, loops with pirouettes, stall-turns with pirouettes, a knife-edge, an Immelmann, a slapper, an inverted tail slide and a hurricane, described as a “fast backward funnel.”

via engadget, Helicopter Site

Check out this EarthRace Boat which runs on 100% biodiesel and is 100% carbon neutral, meaning this cool boat doesn’t excrete any CO2 or poisonous fumes to the atmosphere.

It’s been an exciting month as we’ve seen green transportation records set on the ground and in the sky, so naturally we are taking the next step and bringing you to the sea with the Earthrace, a 78 ft tri-hull “wavepiercer”. The biodiesel boat recently completed a carbon-neutral tour of the globe in an incredible 60 days and 23 hours, besting the previous world record by 14 days!

via inhabitat

The chances are that you don’t want to build your own submarine although this Chinese guy did it.

The better alternative is to get one of these personal submarines with 360 degree clear-view glass.

Now, someone reserve me one, I will pay you after you ship it to me. :p

They have developed a sub for 2 people. Called the Triton 1000, it is lightweight, and can function as an additional feature to your existing yacht. You can just go ahead and deploy the sub from your medium-large yacht. If you still don’t own a yacht, you can attach the sub behind a truck or a SUV and just negate the need to buy a yacht. With excellent visibility and luxurious interiors, the pilot of the sub will have a very comfortable journey under the water. The submarine is built specifically for the enjoyment of piloting one and hence the operations are easy. At about $1.69 million, Triton 1000 may be a little too heavy on the pockets, but you can do what no other yacht owner can do, view corals and the amazing underwater life or just have a romantic sub-ride with your partner.

via bornrich, hackedgadgets, Product Page

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Here’s a new way to skate down the gravel road with the Dirtsurfer, a hybrid surfing system consisting of skateboard and bicycle wheels flopped together.

It looks promising and fun but I am not sure if I am inclined to wear all that safety gear just to get on one.

The Freestyle Dirtsurfer features all the upgrades of the Flexi-Pro on a shorter length frame and smaller
16″ tires. The reduction in size allows for a lighter board that is more maneuverable so you can pull off
the biggest tricks imaginable! This board skates extremely well, but can still tackle the rough terrain.

via gizmodo, Product Page

Check out this awesome Speed Vest, which let’s other drivers on the road how fast the biker is going.

The SPEED-VEST is a bicycle safety device and advocacy tool which displays the wearer’s current speed on their back in easy-to-read lighted numerals. It improves rider conspicuity while legitimizing bicycle speeds on the roadway. Originally conceived by Brady Clark and engineered by Mykle Hansen, it just won the Hub Bike Shop’s Bike Gadget Contest in Minneapolis, MN.

via ohgizmo, ladyada, mykle

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Perhaps, this MotoPod will let more people with personal airplanes to get around town easier by letting them stash their favorite dirt bike/motorcycle under the plane.

…basically a cargo pod that allows you to carry a street-legal motorcycle underneath your plane.
The motorcycle is a Yamaha XT225 which was selected because it was both economical and lightweight, and overall the pod and bike add about 500 pounds to an aircraft’s total weight. (Resulting in an airspeed cut of about 9 knots.) The bike does require a bit of assembly before it can be ridden, but the pod is easily lowered with a built-in powered winch and you can apparently be on the road just minutes after landing. The MotoPOD is expected to go on sale later this year with a price tag below $10,000 (including the motorcycle) but you can reserve one now for a fully-refundable $1,000.

via ohgizmo, gizmag, Product Page