In a prime example of trickle-down cyborg robotics, the remote-controlled rhinoceros beetle created (modified, really) by DARPA may soon be available in a DIY kit, using cockroaches instead of giant beetles. It could help you realize your dream of turning your cockroach friends into remote-controlled errand-roaches.

The kit is made from parts from a HEXBug robot, a little spidery toy ‘bot, plus a few low-power chips that deliver electrical stimulation to a cockroach’s antennae nerves. Though the end product basically looks like a cockroach wearing a backpack made of the inside of an alarm clock, it really does work, granting bi-directional control. Apparently the only issues left to solve are the logistical problem of getting the gear to stay on the cockroach, and the reliability rate. BackyardBrains, the creators of the project, says only about 25% of cockroaches can effectively be controlled through this method, but they remain optimistic that that number can be improved.

Check out a video of the cyborg-roach in action–it might not be as polished as a flying beetle or some of the other scientist-modded animals we’ve covered, but for a DIY project, it’s pretty disturbing/impressive.

DIY Telepresence Robot

Johnny Lee wanted a telepresence robot, but he didn’t want to pay thousands of dollars for one. So he did what any good hacker would do: bought a netbook, bought a roomba-like iRobot, and built a simple one himself for about $500.

The setup is simple with only two real components: the iRobot Create robot and a simple camera-equipped Windows 7 netbook, both costing about $250. Running software he wrote in (it’s available for free on his site) and using a USB connector available from iRobot, he patched the two together so the netbook and the robot can be controlled remotely from another computer (for video chat he simply uses Skype).

The only real DIY project here is constructing a stand to raise the netbook up to seated level, should you prefer your ‘bot to have a higher-than-cat’s-eye view (the understanding here is that if you can’t fashion a simple stand, you probably shouldn’t be trying to build a telepresence robot). Lee has even outlined an advanced modification that allows you to park your remote bot in a wireless charging station so you won’t need another person to unplug your remote bot from the wall.

It’s not exactly an Anybots QB, but it’s not $15,000 dollars either. And we’re willing to bet you could still send it out for coffee, just like the QB. Get the step-by-step from Lee below.

Apple’s New Pentalobular Screws

If you thought Apple’s dictatorial stranglehold over the devices that you bought and paid for only extended to the company’s vice-grip control over its operating system and its app store, think again. According to the hardware hackers over at ifixit, Apple is switching to new kind of tamper-resistant screw that aims to keep you from dismantling your iPhone or Macbook at home, ensuring that the only person who can get at the guts of your device is wearing “Genius Bar” insignia.

The new screw is similar to a Torx screw, but rather than six points it has five, and they are rounded rather than sharp. Service manuals refer to them as pentalobes (that means they’re pentalobular), and the tool that extracts them is expensive, rare, and more or less only readily available behind the repair counter at the Apple Store. See how that works?

These screws first showed up on the mid-2009 Macbook Pro apparently, and since has shown up on the Macbook Air and in several non-U.S. iPhone 4 editions. New editions of the iPhone 4 will have them as well, and—and this is the real icing on the cake—if you take your phone to Apple for service, they will replace your standard screws with the new pentalobular versions, reportedly even if the service you require doesn’t require the screws to be removed.

In other words, Apple doesn’t want you to be able to modify your phone in any way without the company’s explicit permission and oversight (and a nominal service fee).

What will save us from this kind of technological tyranny? One thought generated at PopSCi HQ: more technology. Such “security” shenanigans may soon be rendered obsolete by technologies like 3-D printing, which would allow tinkerers to scan the shape of a screw head into their workbench console and quickly custom-print the proper tool for any task. Until then, ifixit will happily sell you a rather inexpensive iPhone 4 Liberation Kit.

Apple’s Diabolical Plan to Screw your iPhone from iFixit on Vimeo.

The DIY Coilgun

Every now and then a DIY project surfaces on the Internet that’s so cool we have to share it, especially those we should probably recommend you not try at home. YouTube user Larsplatoon’s 1.25 kilojoule coilgun is exactly this kind of project. We’re not even sure where this battery-powered projectile slinger falls with respect to your state’s gun laws, but perhaps the best advice we can offer is what’s plastered to the side of the coilgun’s receiver: “Danger. High Voltage. Do Not Touch. Death or Serious Injury May Occur.”

The 2-year on-and-off project packs a 12-volt high drain battery, four huge capacitor housings in the stock, and a charging circuit in the foregrip. A voltage regulator board salvaged from old cell phones keeps the thing from overcharging itself, and a standard trigger mechanism switches the power from the charger to the gate that dumps all the energy stored up in the capacitors to the coil, which generates a magnetic field strong enough to hurl a metal projectile downrange.

In other words: flip the charging switch, watch the capacitors charge up, and when the light switches from red to green, fire away. Larsplatoon claims in the video caption that the energy stored in the capacitors is 78 times the lethal amount for human beings. We haven’t tested the thing ourselves, but the video below speaks for itself. Destruction begins around 2:50.