Gizmodo Australia » large

Panasonic’s Giant Remote Actually Works

Nick Broughall — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:23:22 +0000

Panasonic had a big event today, and Giz AU was there. I’ll tell you all about the new range of plasmas they were showing off tomorrow, but thought I’d show you this awesome giant remote control. The best part about it? It was actually used to control the TV behind it.Apparently Panasonic uses these giant remotes for point of sales in Japan. Not sure if giant robots or Godzillas control them , but they’re pretty awesome nonetheless.
Update: Here’s a short clip…

Video of the World’s Largest Fully Working Phone

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:15:18 +0000

Samsung and Cricket scaled the Samsung Messager to make it the biggest mobile phone in the planet. It works exactly like the real thing, but requires fingers the size of Dr Manhattan’s schlong in colossal form.

World’s Largest Robot Vehicle Coming from Caterpillar and Carnegie Mellon

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:30:00 +0000

The celebrated roboticists of Carnegie Mellon University are using their DARPA Urban Challenge know-how to give the gift of autonomous operation to a 700-ton mining truck formerly known as the Caterpillar 797B. As you might have suspected, the Japanese construction-gear firm Komatsu was actually first with an automated mining vehicle, but being Japanese, it’s more compact, OK puny. Officially no mobile robot will have weighed as much as this bright yellow bastard, according to Discovery. It’s way too easy to make a Terminator reference here, so I’m gonna have to play the Maximum Overdrive card. Not scared yet? Read on.

The top layer of autonomy is aided by GPS—following a map and relaying your position is the simplest way to stay out of too much trouble. The next layer of sensibility comes from laser range finders. These would scan everything in the road to see if it is free from obstruction. According to the Discovery story:

Video equipment would then determine if the object is a hazard, such as a rock, or not. All of the information would then be run through a computer program that would tell the robotic driver to avoid the obstacle or not and by how much.

So how come it’s “rocks” that are dangerous? And how is “man” categorised in this seemingly arbitrary catalog? I don’t think I’d want to be anywhere near that mean-looking grille when the Carnegie nerds flip the on switch. For more information that may help you survive an uprising starring the 797B (”b” for bloodthirsty, I will guess), hit both source links. [Discovery via Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends]

C-17 RC Model Aeroplane Can Probably Carry a Real Tank

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:50:00 +0000

I don’t know if this Boeing C-17 GlobeMaster III is the biggest RC aeroplane model in the world, but comparing it to the now-dead previous record holder it looks like we almost may have a tie. In any case, its six metres of wingspan, four turbine engines, and perfect detail make it a worthy competitor for the Top Gun competition. Check the stills to get an idea of this model’s majesty.

The original C-17 is 53m, has a wingspan of 51.75m, and can carry 102 troops, a payload of 170,900 lb (77,519 kg) of cargo “distributed at max over 18 463L master pallets or a mix of palletised cargo and vehicles.” Its remote-controlled counterpart is made at a 1/10 scale. According to its creators, the model weights 120kg.

It was presented at the EURO Flugtage 2008 RC show byt the Aero-Club Rheidt. [Aero-Club Rheidt -- Photos from Flickr]

The Biggest Mo-Fo Of A Printer I’ve Ever Seen

Nick Broughall — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:15:50 +0000

Sure, it’s not really new, and it’s almost certainly not the biggest printer in the world, but the HP DesignJet Z6100ps is still one of the largest and meanest looking printers I’ve ever seen – for some reason it reminds me of a Decepticon hungry for some human suffering.

The 120kg monster measures in at 197 x 96 x 135 cm and is compliant with HP’s DreamColor technology, which allows it to recreate one billion colours and if you own a HP DreamColor monitor, what you see on screen is exactly what you’ll get printed out, colour-wise.

As you can see the print outs are huge, and the quality is pretty sweet. And if you want to own one for yourself (perhaps for some form of world-domination plot), they cost about $US12,495.

LHC Ignition Delayed Until August, Earth Spared Another Month

Gizmodo US Edition — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:15:00 +0000

The scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have decided to delay the ignition of the massive particle accelerator. The LHC countdown now shows 30 more days, so you can enjoy July to its full potential. In case you don’t know what a Large Hadron Collider is, it’s the thingamajig that is supposed to find the Force that binds all things or–according to some morons–was supposed to kill us all yesterday. Wait, hold on a moment here. Maybe they activated it. Maybe the first collision created a white hole that sucked the whole Universe in, and we got back in time.

Massive Dubai Fountain Will Be the Largest, Most Technologically Advanced Water Works of its Kind

Gizmodo US Edition — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0000

In Dubai, they’re doing things big these days. Big hotels, big palm tree islands, big wallets, and very soon, big US$281 million fountains. The biggest one in the world, in fact, and it will be large enough to give the famed fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas an inferiority complex. At 250 metres long, the unnamed fountain will be 25% larger than the Bellagio fountain. Powering the fountain will be pumps capable of shooting columns of water approximately 135 or so metres into the dry Middle Eastern air. A light and sound show produced by a network of 6,600 lights and 50 projectors will illuminate the burgeoning Dubai skyline at night. About 83,250 litres of water are expected to cycle through the fountain at any given time when it is completed in 2009. Now, if you’ll excuse me, nature calls.[Luxury Launches]

Best Fireworks Ever Not Happening Today but in Three Days

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

If you think you are going to see some cool fireworks today, just wait three more days. Because we just checked the countdown and that’s when the Large Hadron Collider will be activated in Geneva, Switzerland. Then we all will enjoy the mother of all fireworks. Well, not us, but the aliens, Tom Cruise, Elvis and the rest of what’s left of the Universe. So enjoy your weekend, my friends (you conspiracy morons of the world included) because life is too short, even if the LHC doesn’t destroy the galaxy. [LHC Countdown]

Report Confirms Large Hadron Collider Will Not Spawn Doomsday Scenario, End World As We Know It

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A new report from CERN allegedly puts the final nail in the coffin of doomsday theorists claiming the Large Hadron Collider will result in a reality-ending black hole on Earth. In a word, the report calls the project “safe,” and reiterates CERN’s original argument that even the most powerful collisions planned for the LHC are nothing compared to what nature has done already for billions of years. “The universe as a whole conducts more than 10 million million LHC-like experiments per second. The possibility of any dangerous consequences contradicts what astronomers see – stars and galaxies still exist,” said a layperson’s summary of the report. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt keep on keeping on about the LHC, regardless of the report, but for the more level-headed amongst us, there’s a certain finality to CERN’s findings. Not end-of-the-world finality, mind you, just peace of mind. The countdown timer says 16 days until activation. [Cosmic Log]

Dallas Cowboys Stadium Will Have World’s Largest Video Screen

Jason Chen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:20:00 +0000

The Dallas Cowboys will be taking over the world’s largest video screen crown from that Japanese race track in 2009. Their HDTV will be a total of 11,200 square feet—actually bigger than when they were talking about this back in 2006—which beats the 8,066 sqft. Tokyo Racetrack one by quite a large margin. If 48.5m by 21.5 metres is too big to comprehend, imagine how long four busses would be if they’re parked end to end. A cheerleader nipslip would turn into Mount Vesuvius. [Dallas News - Thanks Travis!]