Some people, when they have too much time on their hands, take up mundane hobbies like stamp collecting, clearing brush, or flaming well-meaning gear forums. Other people, like the members of letsmakerobots.com, make robots.

Homemade robots would normally be beyond the purview of GW, however, a letsmakerobots.com member who goes by the handle "fritsl" had this contribution that we simply couldn't help but bring to your attention: the Yellow Drum Machine:

As you could probably discern, YDM's entire purpose is to find things to bang on. The neat thing is that this little robot, unlike some drummers I know, will actually listen to the sounds it's producing with a critical ear. That smokestack looking protrusion (totally steam-punk) houses a speaker for loop playback. If YDM likes what it hears, it'll play along with itself, albeit with a counterpointed rhythmic variation -- again, more than some drummers I know are capable of doing. If it really likes what it hears, it'll bust out into it's signature head-fake dance moves. You go, bot!

No, it's not ready to replace your flaky drummer yet. YDM is more of a solo act right now, interested only in itself and its own rhythms. How is it ever going to learn how to feel? But as you may have gleaned from the video, fritsl is hoping to make the Yellow Drum Machine available for mass-production and world-wide distribution, meaning that someday, every house can experience that joy of an ADHD toddler!