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back to article Engineers 3D-print ROBOT SEAHORSE, then SMASH it with rubber mallets

A thing you may not have known: the tail of a seahorse is a square prism rather than the typical cylinder shape normally expected in tails. Researchers have now investigated what mechanical performance advantages this may provide, and reckon it has immense robotic applications. Clemson University boffins have found the ideal …

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  1. Anonymous Blowhard

    I thought seahorses, creatures where the male gives birth, were weird before I found out they'd evolved resistance to rubber mallets...

    7 0 Reply
  2. JeffyPoooh

    "3D printed ... parts"

    "3D printed seahorse parts".

    As opposed to "3D printed seahorses" as would be the more typical headline.

    Thank you.

    1 0 Reply
  3. Jagged

    Doc Ock

    Couldn't help but think of this:

    https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hdwallpapers.in%2Fwalls%2Fdoctor_octopus-HD.jpg&f=1

    Can't be good :(

    2 0 Reply
  4. Little Mouse

    "his next step is to build a robot using his tamed seahorse knowledge."

    A waterproof robot, presumably.

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Blowhard
      Reply Icon

      Re: "his next step is to build a robot using his tamed seahorse knowledge."

      This has really got me thinking whether I wouldn't be better off with robot-seahorses with lasers rather than sharks...

      4 0 Reply
      1. Anon
        Reply Icon
        Mushroom

        Why not both?

        Robo-seahorses with frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads attached to their heads?

        5 0 Reply
  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Are the military and/or their really presumed to be thickos?

    The way "defense" is listed as a separate application field to robotics and biomed. imagine the scene:

    Head of research excitedly announces: "We now understand how to build stronger, more agile robots!"

    (no reaction from the Chief of Staff, who keeps idly toying with his cigar cutter)

    HoR: "For super-soldiers!"

    CoS looks up like puppy promised a walk

    3 0 Reply
  6. Graham Marsden
    WTF?

    So: If you want to know how it works...

    ... hit it with a hammer...?

    2 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So: If you want to know how it works...

      If that doesn't work: bigger hammer.

      Still doesn't work: wd40

      3 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward/2.0
        Reply Icon

        Re: So: If you want to know how it works...

        "bigger hammer" a.k.a. "universal persuader"...

        0 0 Reply
  7. Unep Eurobats
    Pint

    Nom nom nom

    Battered seahorse tails. Post-pub nosh fame surely beckons.

    3 0 Reply

  8. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. James Hughes 1
      Reply Icon

      Re: Just like a Hooder then

      OOoh, good reference. Was thinking about them only this morning. The Technician..

      0 0 Reply

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unsure about the vailidity of the comparison

    The article just says that square X-section tail was compared with a 'control' circular X-section tail but doesn't say how the two X-sections were equivilent i.e. were they of equal X-sectional area or of equal X-sectional dimension?

    If they were of equal X-sectional area (and therefore contain similar volumes of material) then the circular X-section tail will have smaller X-sectional dimensions and, unsurpisingly, will be easier to deform, despite having the same volume of material.

    1 1 Reply
  10. Muscleguy
    Boffin

    I for one wish to welcome our square prism toothed sucker equipped armored robot overlords.

    What? That tail is just asking to become a robot tentacle and as we all know tentacles need suckers and once you have them then why not equip them with teeth/spikes/thorns like Vampiroteuthis infernalis.

    0 0 Reply

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