10 crazed animal exoskeletons, puppets, and robots

Mother Nature never seems to be good enough for us , as we human are constantly prove to improve upon her design with synthetic creatures . Here ’s some of the more fantastical false - fauna humans have built .

Last weekend I was find out Grizzly Man , Werner Herzog ’s 2005 docudrama about doomed ursine whisperer Timothy Treadwell , who lived unarmed among the bears of Alaska ’s Katmai National Park for 13 summers . That is , until a hungry coastal grizzly ate him and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard in 2003 .

As I take in Treadwell ’s tragic tale unfold ( and I mull on how I really wantedHerzog ’s Teutonic tenorto narrate my grocery list ) , my creative thinker turned to a man whose life destination were in diametric opposition to Treadwell ’s : Troy James Hurtubise , a bear attempt survivor who rose to renown thanks to his womb-to-tomb pursuance to construct a grizzly - proof case of armor . you could witness Hurtubise ’s brutal ( and slightly laughable ) become testshereandhere . And like Treadwell , Hurtubise had a documentary made about his life story — 1996 ’s Project Grizzly , whichyou can watch in full here . ( Hurtubise later graduated from bearsto building full - blown military exoskeletons . )

Treadwell and Hurtubise were on the polar side of the ursine spectrum — one was attempting to become a bear , whereas the other was hellbent to use human ingenuity to thwart the animals totally . But what about those in the middle of the spectrum , those engineers and roboticists who seek to emulate animals using gamey technology ( and basic puppetry ) ? Here ’s an overview of some of reality ’s wackier endeavour at biomimcry .

Brady Barr ’s Hippo Costume

Several years ago , Dr. Brady Barr donned a hippo costume for a National Geographic special to pull together hippopotamus sweat . The experience was nail - pungent , but nowhere as torturing as the mechanical rhino fromAce Ventura .

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The Clockwork Tiger of Bruges

Belgian creative person Dirk DeWulf built Shiva the Panthera tigris for the express determination of contribute joy to disconnected bystanders and pretending to be the mayor of Tigeropolois .

The Robotic Manta Ray

Bark Watch

German mechanisation firm Festo builds an substitute aquatic fauna , including aflying manta rayandjellyfish . They ’ve also dabble in aquatic models , such as this eery robotic ray .

Carnegie Mellon ’s Snakebots

We ’ve mentioned CMU ’s herpetological botsbefore , and they ’re just so superbly creepy , what with their ability to navigate snarl and crawl spaces . you may see more of themhere .

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https://gizmodo.com/watch-a-snake-robot-worm-its-way-through-an-obstacle-5712118

The Korean Roboshark

Korean animatronics firmWizard FXbuilt this squirm - inducing synthetic shark . The Mythbustersalso made one , but that one was more Jaws IV .

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY

Theo Jansen ’s Kinetic Sculptures

They do n’t resemble any creature on this major planet , but a strong breeze gives Jansen ’s elephantineStrandbeestsa life of their own .

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Jumbo the Mechanical Elephant

Back in ye olde daylight , the only matter more satisfying than a moth-eaten sarsaparilla and raffish perambulation was a drive on Jumbo the mechanically skillful elephant . How comical !

The Sultan ’s Elephant

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likewise , the Sultan ’s Elephant was a 40 - foot - tall mechanical elephant that tour through Europe to immortalize the hundredth anniversary of Jules Verne ’s death . Apparently this animal had the ability to travel through time to the boot . We would n’t be surprised .

Carnegie Mellon ’s Groundhog

Along with building snakebots , Carnegie Mellon has work up underground function bots that emulate the hugger-mugger journey capability of subterranean mammalian . you’re able to take more about ithere .

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The respite of the mechanical menagerie

For some other robotic wolf , find out out thishummingbird , DARPA’srobodragonfly and Pisces , andthe robotlike ghost knifefish . Also check outCybernetic Zoofor plenty of old timey mechanical animals .

http://io9.com/5764497/robotic-hummingbird-ornithopter-is-right-out-of-a-james-bond-film

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