If it did not come out of the celebrated MIT, we maybe would not have mentioned this little innocuous looking hexapod robot.  In fact it’s a guinea pig to demonstrate a 3D printing process that is capable of producing, in one pass, an object combining liquids and solids, without any form of post‑printing assembly. Wonderful indeed!

 These researchers at the CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) of MIT are offering this novel 3D technique printing solids and liquids together to create samples of hydraulic systems,  The eight precision printing nozzles allow printing of complex items pre-filled with liquid.  It’s good enough to make the twelve hydraulic pumps of this hexapod robot – just add a battery and a motor and it’s on its way!

 

The printing time of this experimental robot was actually 22 hours, considered reasonable for its degree of complexity, but the process will be able to be speeded up.

The video shows that the process can...