Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. News

Just in time for Halloween, this spooky robot mask will help teach you to code

By
Creoqode NOVA | DIY Artificial Intelligence Robot
There are plenty of cool educational robotics projects we
Recommended Videos
see on a regular basis but, to the best of our knowledge, only one which promises to give you a super-creepy Phantom of the Opera-style robot mask to learn to code on. That’s the spooky gift the makers of Nova have given the world with their new Arduino-based artificial intelligence robot,
Related
now available on Kickstarter.

Creoqod’s Nova is a do-it-yourself kit, which lets users build their own artificially intelligent robot, while practicing their coding and engineering skills. It’s compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and promises to be both a great tool for newcomers, and a fun testing platform for seasoned professionals. Building it will provide a good overview of various engineering and computer science concepts, ranging from computer vision and image processing to kinematics and control theory. The finished robot can recognize and track faces, identify colors, measure distances, and move in five different axis — all while looking like a cross between The Terminator and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s aforementioned scarred musical maestro.

1 of 5
creepy robot mask coding novaedit09
Image used with permission by copyright holder
creepy robot mask coding novaedit06
Image used with permission by copyright holder
creepy robot mask coding novaedit35
Image used with permission by copyright holder
creepy robot mask coding novaedit28
Image used with permission by copyright holder
creepy robot mask coding novaedit36
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Nova is fully customizable,” Cem Eltutar, CEO of Creoqod, told Digital Trends. “Users can literally do anything they can imagine with it. Any type of sensor and electronic gadgets can be connected to add new functionalities — to name a few, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, microphone, speakers, thermal vision, wheels, and additional motors. Nova will appeal to everyone who has a passion and interest in robotics, artificial intelligence, electronics, computer programming and engineering.

This kit is ideal for people who want to see and understand the working principles of such a device. Additionally, we will be providing Nova to universities for their robotics, engineering and computer programming classes. Many concepts that are only thought about theoretically in the classroom can be demonstrated practically with Nova. This increases the quality of the education and adds value to the learning experience.”

Nova can currently be pre-ordered on Kickstarter. An early bird version of the kit — consisting of board, servo motors, servo shield, joystick, acrylic body parts, mask, HD camera, ultrasonic sound sensor, jumper wires, power adapter, USB data cable, and assorted screws, nuts, and spacers — will set you back $183. You also get an assembly instruction booklet, while tutorials and educational guides are provided through Qode Share. Shipping is set to take place in May 2018.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Luke Dormehl
Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Range Rover’s first electric SUV has 48,000 pre-orders
Land Rover Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition

Range Rover, the brand made famous for its British-styled, luxury, all-terrain SUVs, is keen to show it means business about going electric.

And, according to the most recent investor presentation by parent company JLR, that’s all because Range Rover fans are showing the way. Not only was demand for Range Rover’s hybrid vehicles up 29% in the last six months, but customers are buying hybrids “as a stepping stone towards battery electric vehicles,” the company says.

Read more
BYD’s cheap EVs might remain out of Canada too
BYD Han

With Chinese-made electric vehicles facing stiff tariffs in both Europe and America, a stirring question for EV drivers has started to arise: Can the race to make EVs more affordable continue if the world leader is kept out of the race?

China’s BYD, recognized as a global leader in terms of affordability, had to backtrack on plans to reach the U.S. market after the Biden administration in May imposed 100% tariffs on EVs made in China.

Read more
Tesla posts exaggerate self-driving capacity, safety regulators say
Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned that Tesla’s use of social media and its website makes false promises about the automaker’s full-self driving (FSD) software.
The warning dates back from May, but was made public in an email to Tesla released on November 8.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the FSD software, following three reported collisions and a fatal crash. The investigation centers on FSD’s ability to perform in “relatively common” reduced visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust.
In these instances, it appears that “the driver may not be aware that he or she is responsible” to make appropriate operational selections, or “fully understand” the nuances of the system, NHTSA said.
Meanwhile, “Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Gregory Magno, the NHTSA’s vehicle defects chief investigator, wrote to Tesla in an email.
The postings, which included reposted YouTube videos, may encourage viewers to see FSD-supervised as a “Robotaxi” instead of a partially automated, driver-assist system that requires “persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver,” Magno said.
In one of a number of Tesla posts on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a driver was seen using FSD to reach a hospital while undergoing a heart attack. In another post, a driver said he had used FSD for a 50-minute ride home. Meanwhile, third-party comments on the posts promoted the advantages of using FSD while under the influence of alcohol or when tired, NHTSA said.
Tesla’s official website also promotes conflicting messaging on the capabilities of the FSD software, the regulator said.
NHTSA has requested that Tesla revisit its communications to ensure its messaging remains consistent with FSD’s approved instructions, namely that the software provides only a driver assist/support system requiring drivers to remain vigilant and maintain constant readiness to intervene in driving.
Tesla last month unveiled the Cybercab, an autonomous-driving EV with no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle has been promoted as a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle operated as part of a ride-paying service, such as the one already offered by Alphabet-owned Waymo.
But Tesla’s self-driving technology has remained under the scrutiny of regulators. FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s technology relies on premapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), which might be very costly, but has met the approval of safety regulators.

Read more