Slashdot Mirror
MIT Wants You To Print Your Own Paper Robots
MrSeb writes "According to researchers at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, one day in the not too distant future you'll be able to design, print and build your own robot. 'Our vision is to develop an end-to-end process; specifically, a compiler for building physical machines that starts with a high level of specification of function, and delivers a programmable machine for that function using simple printing processes,' MIT Professor Daniela Rus says. The team points to the high expense currently to design and produce functioning robots. By simplifying the process, it would bring robotics to a much wider audience. With an automated process, more time could be spent on teaching the intricacies of robotics or getting to the task at hand rather than the laborious process of building the robot itself. Two paper prototypes have been built so far: an insect-like robot for exploring dangerous areas, and a gripper device for the handicapped."
MIT has been announcing some rather "dreamy" ideas recently
paper robots
self sculpting sand
See though 3D computers
No more Disabilities in 50 years (so yea everyone with a disability now will magicly vanish in 50 years, right?)
just to name a few, has anyone there actually tried this stuff? Almost all of it starts with "our vision", starting to sound like a junk patent mill to me
They're taking over!
At least on paper...
A sig is placed here
To display how futile
English Haiku is
Design, print and assemble the robot myself? Meh. Can't they get a machine to do that for me?
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.