The new 'V' energy drink Advert with Monster truck - And how to make your own
Monster truck from the 'V' energy drink advert
Video of my NXT monster truck
The complete video, done with Windows Moviemaker style editing to give an impression that it was done with a mobile phone even mimicking the shakes and the amateurish titles.
The advert has a URL link which takes you to a blog which is a centerpiece of a cleverly executed viral marketing type campaign that is going to run by itself once a critical mass of people have seen it on TV, and people start sending the link of the YouTube video.
But I am pretty impressed by the whole thing - it pretty much tunes into its target market.
But being a geek dad, what impressed me even more is the concept of the Monster truck itself.
Would n't it be cool to build your own monster truck?
That is what I did over the weekend. Inspired by the advert, I decided to build a remote controlled monster truck robot:
The picture on the left is the real remote controlled monster truck from the advert, and the one on the right is the NXT version !The only thing the NXT is doing in the truck is to provide power to the motors and act as a Bluetooth receiver for my my mobile phone I was using to control the robot!
To get the real feel of a Monster truck, I used 4 TECHNIC tractor wheels, and 4 PF-XL motors.
With 4 direct drive wheels, the vehicle can handle any terrain. The giant tractor wheels are amazing - it is great to watch it climb over rocks, mud and ride through long grass - that normal NXT robots struggle with.
Check out the video ...
Video of the NXT monster truck
In the coming weeks, I will be extending this vehicle with more autonomy, more features .....
Other related posts:
New iPhone announced - but Not for preorder in New Zealand until 28th October
Creating the ultimate chill-out room for a geek
Good Bye, Snorkel the Hippo (who just died at Auckland Zoo) - [shot with Canon EOS 550D in HD]
Comment by Jason Kyle, on 23-Jun-2009 08:37 , user id: )
Hi, Please contact me regarding FLL in NZ.
Comment by seanh, on 27-Jun-2009 11:32 , user id: )
Hi BlueTothKiwi, please excuse the intrusion but
I don't know how else to get in touch with you.
I have just bought the one-kit-wonders book and have gotten stuck as I can't identify some of the parts - the illustrations are rendered too dark to tell what some of the black pieces are. Do you have links to online versions of the illustrations, so I can turn up the contrast and see what they are?
In return I'd be happy to share whatever nxj java code I end up writing for each of the bots in the book that I manage to build.
Thanks in advance for any response, you have my email address now.
SeanH
Auckland NZ
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Comment by pebbles, on 2-Dec-2008 18:00 , user id: 23861)
thats very cool!!! and my gosh that advert is awesome too :)