Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have managed to create a six-legged, hydraulic robot using a commercially-available 3D printer.
In fact, the new 3D printing method works with both solids and liquids, part of a printing process that takes merely 22 hours.
In a press release, CSAIL director Daniela Rus said the bots are a major step forward when it comes to “the rapid fabrication of functional machines.”
Rus added, “All you have to do is stick in a battery and motor, and you have a robot that can practically walk right out of the printer.”
Each hydraulic robot measures under six inches long and weighs in at approximately 1.5 pounds, featuring many sets of tiny bellows to power the legs.
Of course, there is no shortage of demand for cheap robots, and the potential applications of this 3D printed hydraulic robot are bountiful.
