What better way for a father and son to spend the Thanksgiving weekend together than to build a robot out of a tin can and an Arduino. As far as robots go, this little autonomous aluminum can seeks out light and moves in the direction of it. The creator cleverly refers to this as a “flashlight leash.”

With an Arduino, a light sensor and a lower power DC motor, making your own light-seeking robot shouldn’t be too difficult of a task. With your kid helping you, who knows what you could accomplish?

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When one thinks of a submarine, solar energy is the furthest thing from their mind. After all, submarines dive down deep below the ocean’s surface where the sun does not shine. The Swiss energy company, BKW is a little more optimistic than myself. It’s unveiled the GOLDFISH project, which will feature the world’s first solar powered submarine.

How will they do it? How could they possibly get the sun to energize solar panels underneath the sea? The answer is quite simple: bring the solar panels to the surface. Duh! A floating solar array that takes on the appearance of a water lily will be capable of producing 30 kilowatts of electricity. Currently, BKW is still looking for investors for this project so that it may begin building it. The project is estimated to cost about $8.85 million. If you’ve got more money than you know what to do with, here’s an investment that could help save the planet and make you look good while doing it.

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I sure hope you’ve had a chance to dabble with LittleBigPlanet. If you haven’t, you’re certainly missing out on all of the fan-made levels that have flooded Sony servers, causing SOCOM to be unplayable. With all of the creative power behind the game, it’s no surprise players have already started recreating their favorite gaming classics such as Pac-Man, Tetris, Sonic The Hedgehog, Space Invaders and even Dig-Dug.

There will no doubt be more classics to come as the games creative utilities and player base become larger with each passing day. Looking for something challenging? Check out Vince’s level. He put some time in creating the most frustrating level known to platform games, but also threw in a hidden passage to bypass most of the stage! Genius.

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The Duemilanove (meaning “2009″ in Italian) is the latest addition to the Arduino line of microcontrollers. It looks like it’s predecessor, the Diecimila, and also shares similar specs with one main subtle difference: the Diecimila has a jumper which is used to select a power source (USB or external power) while the Duemilanove automatically selects the appropriate power supply , eliminating the need for the power selection jumper.

Other than that, you’re still getting all the luxuries you would from a Diecimila out of the Dueomilanove. Now, thanks to the removal of the power selection jumper, you’ll no longer have to worry about blocking the jumper after installing an Xport shield.

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No one likes doing yard work. It’s tedious and leaves those awful grass stains on your clothes. So, why not build a robot that enjoys cutting the grass as much as you enjoy building robots? Robotshop.se is providing all the essentials needed to build your very own autonomous mowing robot.  A complete lawnbot kit comes with everything you need for around $700, making it one of the most expensive lawnmowers you’ve ever owned. At least it’ll be one of your own making, bringing with it a whole new feeling of self-accomplishment and a nice looking lawn to boot.

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Three-dimensional printing is tough. That is, if you don’t make one out of LEGOs. Gene Hacker posted his creation on Instructables: a 3-D printer made out of LEGO bricks. It’s still in its infancy of development but is more than capable of rendering 3-D blobs of frosting.

Unlike regular Cartesian system printers, the one Gene built operates in polar coordinates, in other words, a circular motion of printing. When asked why he didn’t build a Cartesian system printer (similar to the LEGO scanner), he replied,

“I didn’t have enough LEGOs to build a Cartesian printer.”

Now, that’s funny.

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LEGOs are a fascinating toy that have been around for over 30 years. Rarely are we not impressed by some of the creations people make with them. Have you ever wondered where all the magic starts? Gizmodo goes inside LEGO to find out what makes the minifig the most expensive part of any LEGO set. What they find is horrifying.

Hundreds and thousands of parts and pieces making up the body of the minifig are scattered throughout the assembly line. You have never seen more body pieces in one bin. Really, I don’t care if your Charles Manson, you’ve never seen this. But perhaps the most complicated process during the construction of LEGO minifigs is the level of detail in the face and torso. The classic LEGO face was two dots and a curved line. Nowadays, we’ve got LEGOs that look like Stephen Hawking or Genghis Kahn. This means an increasing level of attention-to-detail is needed in order to layer the face and torsos appropriately. This is done by running them through the stamping process several times, producing multiple layers of color that eventually lead to the bricks taking their true form. Hit the link for the video in all its glory.

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Don’t get me wrong, the Donkey Kong clock was cool, but it was a motionless picture with not a lot going for it other than being just an ordinary clock. Since we enjoy LEGOs so much and regard Donkey Kong as one of the greatest inventions since blood pressure wary underwear, we’re positive this LEGO construct is sure to catch your attention.

The infamous barrel-chucking Donkey Kong and the resilient Italian plumber are recreated in LEGO form complete with sound effects, rolling barrels, a jump crazy protagonist and even a damsel in distress. It’s one of the cooler LEGO builds I’ve seen.

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Think that $130 NPX-9000 Firefox tablet or the OLPC $75 touch screen laptop are as cheap as it gets? Think again. The brains at MIT are sure of themselves that they can create a computer for a mere $12.  With a price tag like that, it’d only take a few hours of panhandling outside of a McDonalds to accumulate the money for your brand new PC.  No details on the rig’s component parts except for it starting out as an old Apple II. How or when it’ll become a twelve dollar functioning computer is beyond me.

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On Sunday, nearly all the LEGOs were gone. Needless to say, we were heartbroken, but then we came upon this redeeming build. A construct of White Castle slider boxes. What do you think it is? We have no idea. One thing is for certain, we’re getting a Crave Case for dinner tonight.