If you ask me, 3D printing is the future – of everything. I think that within the next two decades, we’ll be using 3D printing technology (or variants thereof) to manufacture everything from parts for cars to replacement organs for humans. And robots are already used widely in food production, so why not a 3D printer that can create lunch? That’s exactly what the guy behind the BurritoB0t has in mind.
The Burritob0t is just what it sounds like – a robotic printer/extruder that can output burritos. Interactive designer/builder Marko Manriquez came up with the idea of a robot that can fabricate burritos after realizing the overlap between 3D printing (additive assembly and interchangeable ingredients) with burrito construction.
The BurritoB0t is designed to automatically create 3D printed burritos by layering and extruding components to produce a fully customizable, edible Tex-Mex treat. Marko already has a prototype of the machine (tech details here), but it isn’t ready for prime time (or meal time) just yet. From the looks of this video clip below, there’s a plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete the BurritoB0t to feed hungry New Yorkers – but it doesn’t look like the fundraiser has started yet from what I can tell.
Whether or not the BurritoB0t ever sees the light of day at your local Taco Bell isn’t really important though. This is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of robotic food construction. I can envision a day when 3D printing is fast enough that you’ll be able to dial up a recipe from your mobile device, and 3 minutes later, your fully-assembled meal will pop out of its tray. Now whether or not it tastes good… That’s a whole other question.
Researchers have successfully replicated the muscle motion of the human eye which is used to control camera systems thanks to the wonders of piezoelectric materials, and this new discovery will be used to improve the operation of robots. How so? How about hearing that this spanking new muscle-like action could eventually see robotic tools be a whole lot safer than before to use, not to mention paving the way for a more effective MRI-guided surgery as well as robotic rehabilitation.
According to a bunch of US experts, they have laid claim to what they deem as the most biologically-accurate robotic legs to date. They wrote about this particular achievement in the Journal of Neural Engineering, where they claimed that their work would be full well capable of assisting one in understanding just how babies are able to learn how to walk, as well as aid in future spinal-injury treatments. Basically, this bunch of scientists managed to come up with their own version of the message system which is capable of generating the rhythmic muscle signals which control walking.
The whole idea of using one’s brains to control a particular object is close to our hearts – after all, who does not want seemingly supernatural or superhuman powers? Well, it seems that scientists have managed to figure out how one is able to use one’s thought power alone to control a tiny humanoid robot. Not only that, we are not talking about a local connection here – no sir, the person controlling the robot was hooked up to a brain scanner in Israel, while the robot was located a continent away in France, moving around the laboratory.
Strange, I was just watching Terminator 2 yesterday evening, and it was interesting to see a young punk of John Connor teaching the T-800 different nuances of human emotions and responses, even asking him to smile. Robots do not feel as they are machines, making them efficient killing tools (or workers at the factory), but inventor Nobuhiro Takahashi has decided to inject a little bit of “humanity” into the world of robotics, doing so via his creation “SHIRI”, which is translated to “butt” from Japanese, which is a robot butt that can respond with different emotions to different human touches.