Tomi and Kati Hyyppä created a spunky robotic beetle for Berlin’s Coding Da Vinci Hackathon. Their project took the “funniest hack” prize, and it is indeed amusing. Cyberbeetle is based on museum scans of the Chalcosoma atlas. Just like the beetle’s organic cousin, it dwells in a little wooden box. When it’s on the loose, the box tips up and reveals a “home entertainment system” with infrared sensors that tell Cyberbeetle it’s time to watch TV.
“The Cyberbeetle is usually a rather grumpy creature that crawls slowly and murmurs along the way, but as soon as the TV is switched on, he becomes very cheerful and dances little bit,” the creators wrote. We can relate. (Gif: Prosthetic Knowledge)
