Waterloo Labs, the same group who figured out how to ghost ride the whip with an iPhone and play Super Mario Bros by moving their eyes, are back with another Mario-related project. This time, they’ve rigged a go-kart track to play real-life Mario Kart. They’ve even incorporated RFID tags so they can grab tagged items from the Mystery Blocks and scan them to get power ups or launch them at other karts, which also detect the item and react.
Users race around the track in real go-karts, except these ones are tricked out with ruggedized micro-processors, pressure systems (to shoot shells at people), and servo motors. The servo motors work just like any electric motor would, except they come with a potentiometer. This means that, coupled with the microprocessor, the go-kart knows when it runs over a banana peel or collects a star, and reacts accordingly (either swiveling off the road in the case of the former, or going a bit faster in the case of the latter). [TechCrunch]
Their plans are for non-commercial use only, and they’re even giving away the project details, system overview, and source code at their website. Here’s a look at what the various tagged items make the go-karts do:
You’ll note there is no blue shell. That is because the blue shell is a DIRTY SON OF A WHORE.
Check out the video below to see them testing out their real-life Mario Kart system at Austin’s Park in Pflugerville, Texas. They should totally get together with these guys.