Black Mirror fans probably know about the robotic dog featured in the fifth episode, titled “Metalhead,” as they were inspired by Boston Dynamics’ robots such as BigDog. Well, a group of college students decided to build a miniaturized version for less than $900, and it’s called “Stanford Pupper”. All it took was a 3D printer, Sony PlayStation controller and other easy to obtain parts.
Though it may be small, this miniaturized robot boasts twelve degrees of freedom, which can send it backwards, forwards, side-to-side as well as a bonus ‘sneaky mode’ that copies how a real canine creeps on the floor. If you already have a Raspberry Pi computer or PS4 controller, the cost to build one could drop all the way down to a mere $600.
LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox 17101 Fun Robot Building Set and Educational Coding Kit for Kids, Award-Winning STEM Learning Toy (847 Pieces)
- Who doesn't love robots? Introduce kids to the creative world of coding with the best educational STEM toys to foster their curiosities. Building, learning, and programming robots has never been more fun!
- Includes 847 LEGO pieces that kids can build and rebuild into 5 cool multifunctional models. The best and most popular robotics toys for 7-12 year old boys and girls who love to tinker and learn about science. Use the latest tech like color, distance and tilt sensors.
- Construct and code Vernie the Robot to dance, rock out on the Guitar4000, foster Frankie the Cat, interact with the Autobuilder, or explore a new discovery with the M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4). The IQ-boosting activities are endless!
$319.99
Buy on Amazon
We’re a student robotics team at Stanford and we were inspired by other quadrupeds and other legged robots that we’re seeing out there like Boston Dynamics. But we really want to play and have one in our own hands, and we didn’t have a way to do that because they are very expensive,” said Nathan Kau, one of the builders.
