Gizmodo: garage

What in the Hell Is This Thing? A Skateboard Etch-A-Sketch?

Dan Nosowitz — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:30:00 EDT

MAKE calls this a huge XY table. Crunchgear thinks it's kind of a mouse-controlled Etch-A-Sketch. All I know is, it uses a mouse, three skateboards and an Arduino microcontroller. But for what purpose?

I suppose it could be used as an inexact Etch-A-Sketch, using three skateboards for linear movement, but it seems like an awful lot of effort (and space—it must take up an entire garage!) for that. So help me out: What could this thing be used for? Should I be scared or excited? [MAKE via Crunchgear]

Finally, A Fighter Jet That Fits Into My Garage

Rosa Golijan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT

With huge, velcro-attached, weather-resistant prints from StyleYourGarage.com, you can impress your neighbors with a fighter jet, an elephant or a race car in your garage (or rather: on your garage door). [StyleYourGarage via DailyMail]

The Personal Sky Garage

Andi Wang — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:00:13 EDT

The En Suit Sky Garage, a personal elevator for your car, is pretty damn cool.

The idea of it is quite simple. When you pull up to the apartment building, at 200 Eleventh Avenue in New York, NY, the garage will automatically identify who you are and which apartment your car belongs to. After driving into the elevator, the lift will transport your car to the floor you live on, and will then allow you to pull forward into your own garage (attached to your apartment). Voila—you, and your car, are now two steps away from your living area. A steal at $3 million dollars. (You can't put a price on this kind of car convenience in Manhattan.) [200 Eleventh Avenue via Core77 via DVice]

Greasy Garage or Helluva Home Theater?

Mark Wilson — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST

The garage, also known as "car hole" in some circles, has traditionally been a somewhat wasted space. Aside from holding vehicles for a few hours of the day, it's often a crap collector, the place for rusty saws and tangled Christmas lights. Electronic House has assembled a list of five garages that have transcended the status quo to home theater status. This particular theater was converted from a 3-car garage and features a premium 1080p projector along with 7,000W of surround sound. So while the setup can't haul ass, worry not, it still annoys the hell out of the neighbors. [Electronic House via CrunchGear]

Hidden Batcave Raises From the Underground to Reveal Shiny Lamborghinis

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:45:00 EDT

Holy Batman on a bat-pogo bat-stick. I don't know where this underground garage is located—and probably I will never know since it's perfectly camouflaged under a stoned driveway—but who cares. Now that I know that you can build a hidden underground cave in real life, one with an hydraulic system that can lift it to reveal two Lamborghinis, I just care about one thing: Painting my rubber chicken outfit in black and adding pointy ears to the mask. [Thanks Ed!]

Master Lock SmartTOUCH Biometric Garage Door Opener

Brian Lam — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:58:22 EST

The Skinny: Opens your garage via fingerprint of up to 20 others. Survives in extreme temps from -30 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit and wet weather. Costs $130 bucks.
The Catch: The preferred way to open a garage is still the good old janky wireless remote from inside your car. [Smarttouch via Gearlog]

RC Mini 'n' Garage Combo the Hottest USB Thing in Yonks

AddyDugdale — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:07:05 EDT

See this remote-controlled Mini in Racing Green from Solid Alliance? You're probably not that impressed with it, are you? (I admit, the headlights are just shonky.) Well, you should see what it comes with: a garage that acts as a charger and connects to your computer's USB port. Find out how to control the car and watch the video after the jump.

[Solid Alliance via New Launches]

Park the Mini in the garage for just 10 minutes to charge it up. Then, you can make the car zoom all over your table, re-enacting scenes from the original version of The Italian Job, via the desktop application.
Costing $30, the RC Mini and USB Garage charger will be available at the beginning of next month.

New York Drivers Get Parking Help from Robotic Parking Garage

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:09:51 EST

Ok, so maybe there won't be a 7-foot tall robot who takes your keys and parks your ride, but that's not to say New York's first robotic parking garage won't be worth checking out. The garage (which will be located in Chinatown) will be able to squeeze 67 cars into a space that would otherwise fit 24. (Kinda like your studio apartment). You basically just drive your car onto a platform and...

upon stepping off the ramp, your car is lowered into the inner depths of the garage and slid into an empty spot. Everything will be computer-controlled though there will be a parking attendant present to collect your cash ($25/day, $400/month). Best of all, when your car is retrieved, it'll always come out facing the driveway, so you never have to inch your way out of the garage by driving in reverse. It all sounds fun and great until the machine brings you the wrong car or even worst, holds your car hostage for 26 hours (as these machines have done in the past in NJ). – Louis Ramirez

Robotic Parking Garage to Open in New York [Yahoo News]

PhantomPark: Take That Sports Car Underground

Charlie White — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:09:17 EDT

Got three cars but just a two-car garage? PhantomPark is a solution to that problem with an elevator that takes that sporty trophy of your midlife crisis underground. Its elevator can lift two 5000-pound vehicles at once, and the top of the elevator functions as the garage floor for that second vehicle.

Just don't push that button at an inopportune time. The video mentions the safety of the system, but to us it looks like an accident waiting to happen. Even so, it could be a secure way to secretly store an extraordinarily valuable vehicle. – Charlie White

PhantomPark Underground Parking Can Turn Your Garage Into The Batcave [Jalopnik]

Designer Garage Makes Walls Transparent or Opaque

Brian Lam — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:19:55 EDT

So you just spent a million bucks on a Ferrari Enzo. Do you park it In a regular garage made of regular concrete? Hello No.

Futurists are thinking about this very serious problem. Here's a garage concept, for a time where the rich are even more ridiculously rich, enough so to buy this transparent concrete model for $212,000. Created by architects Neutral, the "Designer Garage" features LCD sandwiched in between the concrete, that can be electronically darkened so the poor people can't bother you with their hunger-stare and "begging for food".– Brian Lam

Designer Garage [Gizmag]

Harding Steel Car Lift: Automobile Elevator For The Home

Brian Lam — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:18:27 EDT

Remember that Robotic Garage that went haywire? Well now you can have your own, ready to disobey your every command. Harding Steel's 110-volt residential garage lift needs only 9-feet of vertical clearance, hauls 12,000 pounds, and comes in different sizes for rides ranging from Civics to Cadillacs.– Brian Lam

Harding Steel Car Lift [via OhGizmo!]

New Jersey Robotic Garage Goes Insane, Refuses to Give Up Autos

Brian Lam — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:40:45 EDT

We report on a Jalopnik report of a Wired.com report of a batshit insane robot garage in the wilds of New Jersey. The garage stopped working after a software license expired, turning the garage, who friends described as friendly, into a stubborn machine that showed up to work, but didn't do a damn thing for 10 days. Hundreds of cars were trapped inside by the city owned lot, making it the world's first auto museum dedicated to beat up Civics with giant spoilers. – Brian Lam

Robot Garage Goes On Strike, Holds Cars Hostage [via Wired via Jalopnik]

Japanese Automated Parking Garage Video

Jason Chen — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:42:55 EDT

A bit lower tech than the VW automated parking garage, this Japanese parking garage stores and retrieves your car like a jukebox, spinning around until yours comes up.

Park your car on the rotating platform and it gets stored, awaiting your eventual return from Victoria's Secret, where you were buying negligees for your mistress. We hear larger apartment buildings around the world are getting systems like this. – Jason Chen

Japanese Parking Lot [Fresh Creation]