Freaky fractal fingers
2nd November 2005
Live Science once again uses Heinlein as a reference in this article about theoretical robotic design.
Heinlein also pursued similar ideas a bit earlier in his 1940 novella Waldo, his story about, well, waldoes - he originated the concept as well as the term. A waldo is a remote manipulator that mimics human motion at larger and smaller scales. For example, waldoes that looked like mechanical hands that were six feet across could bend steel girders, as well as “tiny pixy hands, an inch across” used for miniature work. In his later work Time Enough for Love, he wrote about “ultramicrominiature waldoes” that could be used for gene surgery.
Roboticist Hans Moravec conceived of a more “fractal” version of this idea; a “bush robot” (also called a “Fractal branching ultra-dexterous robot”) that literally had manipulators on its manipulators on its manipulators… you get the idea.