Niko N900-Based LEGO Robot Controlled By Twitter [Video]

The Nokia N900 has already shown itself to be one of the more hack-friendly devices out there right now – we've seen it flirting with alternative OSes, unusual controllers and more – and the best part is that the Finnish company themselves are pushing for as much tampering as possible.  Currently Nokia is running the PUSH N900 competition in the US, asking teams to come up with unusual ways to implement the Maemo smartphone, and one such project is Niko, a Twitter-controlled robot.Video demo after the cut

Constructed out of LEGO Mindstorm NXT 2.0 parts with custom software, Niko can use the Twitter API to monitor a specially created account, @N900Niko, for instructions.  Users can remotely trigger a photo to be taken with the N900's 5-megapixel camera – complete with flash – or instruct Niko to move around the room.

The video below shows Niko moving automatically, grabbing a photo and uploading it to Twitpic for sharing – you can find the robot's photo account here – as well as responding to its touch sensor.  With a week to go until the competition finishes, the team are working on fettling the last of the code and getting things stable.

[via MAKE]