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Mad Scientist Dooms Us All With Self-Replicating Lego Menace, Or Something

grababrick

grababrick

This is just downright threatening. Software engineer Will Gorman has seen fit to play god and create a robot out of Lego that can build things out of Lego. Really.

The machine is essentially a robotic tank of Lego that is fed instructions from MLCad, a 3D modeling program. As of yet, it can only do up to 8×2 bricks (you know, the Lego brick), and can’t handle much more than simple structures. But imagine a Mk.2 that could work with NXT hardware? What about one that could 3D-print its own Lego bricks?

“There is a recursiveness to this whole thing,” says Gorman of his brainchild. “I love the idea of self-assembly and the Star Trek replicator and I love Legos. I wanted to bring those two worlds together.”

I appreciate your spirit, Gorman, but seriously, do you have any idea what you’ve done? We have, in essence, a self-replicating Lego-bot. You’d best quit while you’re ahead, Gorman, lest you unmake the world with an apocalyptic swarm of Legos devouring the universe at a molecular level and leaving behind a wake of… like, more Legos.

Maybe I’m just being an alarmist, but you can’t tell me that’s an impossible future.

Because I’m not listening.

What do you think?

Avatar of Ty Dunitz

Written by Ty Dunitz

Ty is an illustrator who stays up too late and must wear glasses. You can follow him on Twitter if you want to (@glitchritual), but he's just gonna throw your stupid PR crap in the garbage, so don't email him.

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