Like me, and Amy Wong (of the Mars Wongs), you’re probably also a robosexual. And if you can’t wait for the day you can download Lucy Lui’s consciousness into a humanoid robot “blank”, than you can certainly find something scandalous to do with a hot water bottle that has inflatable arms.
The Glaucus is a soft-bodied rubber robot AND IT IS AWESOME. It was created by Super-Releaser Robotics by pouring silicone over the top of a 3D printed “skeleton” mold. Chambers inside the squishy little slug inflate and deform, moving it around without the use of any hard mechanical parts.
The project is open-source, so you can download instructions to build one yourself. Once you do that, you can call him Squishy, and he will be yours, and he will be your Squishy.
Super-Releaser posits that these silicone soft robots can be used in prosthetics to form a more comfortable support system around a joint. That’s a pretty respectable use for the technology. What most people with 3D printers are probably gonna do is make one of these to antagonize their dog, because essentially this is like a chew toy that crawls.
…I’m gonna wait for the Lucy Lui-bot. Or Keanu Reeves. Whichever one answers my creepy marriage proposals first.
(Just kidding, my marriage proposals are really thoughtful and romantic.)
via Laughing Squid