The hexapod robot CNC router is a great combination of computer numerical control device and a six-legged robot. Created as a DIY prototype by Matt Denton, it can crawl onto a suitable medium and begin cutting a three-dimensional object.
Originally designed with a pen attachment for drawing, Denton substituted a cutting tool able to mill 3D surfaces in polystyrene. Each foot is ball joint-mounted to ease terrain adaptation, which means that it could conceivably do more than bas-relief carvings.
Take a look at this hexapod robot cnc router video.
(Hexapod CNC robot router)
Frankly, this robot looks a little bit like Ray Bradbury's Mechanical Hound got tired of chasing rats in the firehouse, and started a new hobby.
A better reference might be the Biltong life forms from Philip K. Dick's Pay for the Printer. For more than a century, they had kept a war-ravaged humanity supplied with consumer goods. Show them an original object, even something as complex as a car, and they would print out a new one. But now, they were wearing out.
Fergesson slid in behind the wheel and harshly slammed the door. The door didn't close properly. The metal was sprung - or perhaps it was misshapen. His hackles rose. Here, too, was an imperfect print - a trifle, a microscopic element botched in the printing. Even his sleek, luxurious Buick was puddinged...
(Read more about Dick's Biltong life forms)
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.' - Basil Wells, 1941.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'