Whoa...OK that is cool.
I can't lie, this is really fucking cool! I never thought about printing out a robot.
BTW, how perverse can this become! Programmed to kill, or love you long time.
If you have access to a basic 3D printer, around $US800 in spare cash and like fooling around with Arduino, why not make a robot? We're not tilting at windmills here, because designs for the body parts are available thanks to an open source project from French sculptor Gael Langevin. His year-long project, which he calls …
This is actually the first project that I have seen that makes me want to have a 3d printer "now".....
Obviously the Electronics and the "Power Source " are the main setback here but this looks like a lot of fun.
Robots printing Robots - Scary stuff....
I hope that all of the electronics have Asimov's 3 laws hard coded into a non replaceable and indespensabel ROM.....
<<< This is what IT is all about .....
There are several other similar projects. Easton Lachappelle and I are developing a robot arm, that can be controlled wirelessly by a glove. There's also another pair creating 3D prosthetics, for those who've lost/not developed fingers. There are a few others, on thingiverse, and elsewhere.
Always wanted a robot? Well....
Get a cheap remote controlled car - you know, one of those £20 jobbies you see in "gadget" shops
Snip the wires for the steering and drive motors
Hook those motors up to an h-bridge (or multiple h-bridges)
Get a cheap ultrasonic sensor (literally a few quid on ebay)
Hook the whole thing up to a cheap Picaxe microcontroller
Total cost? Around £60-£70. If your motors are sufficiently low power, you might even be able to skip the h-bridges altogether.
See <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/2011/09/22/how-to-drifting-robot-car-video/">here</a> for an example (indeed the video that inspired this post).