This is a project by San Jose State University students and while they may have borrowed some inspiration from Hollywood (the Audi RSQ from I, Robot is prime example), this omnidirectional bike is very real and offers a world of possibilities. Consider what kind of maneuvers you can do when your have spheres for wheels. It’s not just about forward and back, since you can literally travel in any direction. Go sideways. Move around in a 360-degree circle while facing in the same direction.

Done right, it means that this ballsy bike can move from side to side without having to turn. This is fantastic for parallel parking,  but you can see how this kind of motion would be easily adapted for other applications too, like the military. I’m looking forward to what the extreme motocross people can do with this one.

At this point, the students from SJSU have tested some scale models and they’ve secured the parts they need for the full-sized version. The bike’s frame is complete and they have a couple of rubber-coated carbon fiber and fiberglass balls. The first (low speed) tests on the larger prototype are scheduled for later this year.

[Source]

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Of all the batman gadgets we have fantasized about, the most common would be the grappling hook gun which the Caped Crusader uses to scale buildings and walls.

Many companies and inventors have tried and brought out successful and decent grappling hook guns, though some were bulky and others dangerous. The engineering students at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah have come out with their own version of the Batman grappling hook.  Their effort is aimed at winning an Air Force competition where they hope to catch the eye of defense weapons experts.   The armed forces, adventure sport enthusiasts, emergency services, police forces and of course, masked avengers and caped crusaders, are all possible customers for their invention; which has a fire arm to propel the hook attached to a cable up into the air.

Once the hook is attached to a ledge or a crevice, a winch and pulley system pulls the person up onto the desired height.  Interesting, even though the video put up by the BYU inventors suggests that it requires a bit of a seasoning to scale the walls with ease like the Dark Knight does.  In the mean time, the BYU folks will be trying to impress the weapons experts at the Air Force during the competition, in which the team will get 20 minutes to demonstrate the tool and then train military representatives on how to use it.

The final test of the competition will be to get three people up a 90-foot vertical wall while carrying 300 pounds of gear each. BYU students claim that their tool can push a person up a wall as shown in the video below, at a speed of 30 feet per minute.

The post Batman’s Grappling Hook Gun Made at BYU appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The newest film in the Batman series focuses on Bane, Catwoman, and the end of a peace over Gotham that has seen Batman out of commission for a while.  It takes place eight years after the death of Harvey Dent and looks to be even more epic than ever before.

While I could keep talking about the film, a picture is worth 1000 words, and a video is worth a million. You get a quick look at the rugged Tumbler’s in action that we saw a sneak peak of this past summer.

Check out the video below and start preparing yourself for the next big entry in the Batman saga due out July 20th, 2012.

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If you were hoping for the next Batman film to come any time soon, well, don’t hold your breath. Christopher Nolan’s franchise is still in production. Although, like most Nolan films, production details are usually kept secret, but this time the crew of The Dark Night Rises was recently spotted in Pittsburgh filming some mystery scenes.

To the delight of people crossing by, the crew was spotted rolling around with a collection of three Tumbler urban assault vehicles. Some fans in the area managed to take photos of the three massive beauties parked on the streets, while YouTube user DoctaM3 was able to film the Tumblers rolling through Pittsburgh.  It looks like the black Tumblers we’ve seen in previous Batman films are now replaced with light camouflage ones, but they are looking just as menacing as ever.  And by watching the video, they even sound menacing, as the sound of the Tumblers rolling past the camera is quite fearsome.  If until now you were eagerly waiting for “The Dark Night Rises”, I’m you’ve just lost your patience.

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