Soda-Swiping Robot Fears No Vending Machine

I have no idea what this guy is saying. But I do know he built a robot to steal soda. And really, that’s all that matters.

YouTube user ioduremetallique uploaded a video of a robot he built to steal soda out of vending machines. In addition to being a truly hilarious string of hacks, including using a spare gamepad to control the floating arm, he also has a pretty effective soda thief:

OK, so it’s fussy, it takes a while, and it requires both control and precision. You expect anything less from an overly-complicated solution to a minor inconvenience?

Joking aside, the design here is actually pretty impressive. The folding robot arm and controls seem to be largely engineered from off-the-shelf parts you can get at hobby stores and electronics shacks, and programming a robot to pick something up with any degree of finesse is not a simple task. And you can even carry this around in a backpack, if for some reason you felt a compelling need to never pay for soda in any way, shape or form ever again.

That said, considering how many cans of soda he’s dropping on that thing, we really hope he’s either got a lot of spare parts or built it for durability. Now, when will this be hitting ThinkGeek?

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