The machines are now making machines of their own, and there's no assembly required. Researchers in the US have developed 3D-printed robots containing solid and liquid parts which only need to be connected to a motor and power supply before they can scuttle off. By laying down all the components as it goes, the 3D printer can produce the robot's rigid support, flexible components and fluid filled channels as it builds up the layers. Researchers at MIT have developed a 3D printing technique for producing hydraulic components. The method makes it possible to print robots with hydraulic parts, simplifying the production process so even a novice can print their own robot. So far the team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has printed a range of components, as well as a fully-printed six-legged bug-bot which can scuttle away on its rubbery limbs, and a soft gripper for picking up objects.

The technique involves using an inkjet 3D printer that releases drops of material less than half the width of a human hair. For structural areas, photopolymer is placed on the deck and then hardened with a UV light, while the liquid portions are left alone. After lots of trial and error using different combinations of solids and liquids, the team was able to find a winning setup that can create a working robot in one print session. According to Robert MacCurdy, inkjet printing is "the best way to print multiple materials," and that the technology offers "very fine control of material placement." In order to test the principles, the team built a hexapod that moved thanks to 12 hydraulic pumps built into its body.

As robotics and 3-D printing technologies become more accessible to home tinkerers, men are (of course) building robots of beautiful women. Anyone who's turned on a TV in the past decade shouldn't be surprised to learn that one of the first--and creepiest--examples of this development involves movie star Scarlett Johansson. News broke on Friday about a Hong Kong designer who made a robot that looks just like the award-winning actress--although Ricky Ma, the robot's creator, wouldn't name the actress he modeled the bot on, choosing instead to call it Mark 1. It took Ma eighteen months and over 50,000 to complete the project, which he constructed on his patio with a 3-D printer and software that he taught himself how to use. The question, however, is one of precedent.

As robotics and 3-D printing technologies become more accessible to home tinkerers, men are (of course) building robots of beautiful women. Anyone who's turned on a TV in the past decade shouldn't be surprised to learn that one of the first--and creepiest--examples of this development involves movie star Scarlett Johansson. News broke on Friday about a Hong Kong designer who made a robot that looks just like the award-winning actress--although Ricky Ma, the robot's creator, wouldn't name the actress he modeled the bot on, choosing instead to it Mark 1. It took Ma eighteen months and over 50,000 to complete the project, which he constructed on his patio with a 3-D printer and software that he taught himself how to use. The question, however, is one of precedent.

I have 34 years as an engineer here at Intel. Almost all but about the last, I don't know, four or five has been mainly on the manufacturing side; all of our silicon manufacturing. Which, in many ways makes you a maker because you're producing a million chips a day. When I look at a 3D printer, I look at it as not only what can I build with it, but I understand exactly how that machine works. I could take it apart and put it back together.

Their intention is to create a community that is highly livable as well as eco-friendly and energy efficient. "The village will feature vertical vegetable gardens and a laboratory where a desktop printer will make furniture, biomedical products, jewelry and ceramics." It's a true test of not just the technology, but of the feasibility and durability of buildings composed of printed parts. Big Delta is the world's largest 3D printer. WASP built this 40-foot machine in order to build houses as quickly as possible.

Students at Lebanese American University (LAU) participate in a hardware design workshop that leverages the tools of the fourth Industrial Revolution. We are in the midst of the greatest industrial revolution in human history. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4ID) is an economic transformation a thousand-times wider and deeper than anything that has come before it. "The changes are so profound that, from the perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or potential peril," according to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The 4ID is characterized by the confluence of next generation technologies like: quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, autonomous transportation and robotics, the Internet of Things, additive manufacturing including 3D printing, biotechnology, and more generally; the merging of the digital and physical worlds.

Today on In Case You Missed It: Autodesk built a 3D printing assembly line that gives different jobs to several print heads, allowing them to work collaboratively and quickly spit out a finished project. Clemson University used a Korean robot to graft up to 3,000 plants an hour. And a Kickstarter project for an augmented reality shirt is designed to teach kids and interested adults all about the internal organs. The Milky Way is looking stunning in newly released photos from the APEX telescope. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

The United Nations Children's Fund, perhaps better known as UNICEF, has recently launched a new initiative through which they will begin to invest more money into technology start-ups that have the potential to better the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable children all over the world. The new initiative, called Innovation Fund, has put a special focus on certain technologies that have the potential to help children, which include 3D printing, blockchain, wearables and sensors, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy. UNICEF, the United Nations program that has as its mandate the promotion of children's rights all over the world, has through its Innovation initiative put its focus on progessive projects and ideas that have the potential to help their cause. As stated on their website, UNICEF Innovation is "tasked with identifying, prototyping, and scaling technologies and practices that strengthen UNICEF's work." UNICEF is currently accepting submissions from various start-ups until February 26, 2016 through their website, though there are some requirements for being considered for funding.

Last week was a holiday, and we're at CES this week, but nothing can stop the robot videos. Things should be back to normal around here next week (we hope). Let us know if you have videos or events to suggest, and enjoy today's Video Friday selection! Teaching robots how to avoid destruction and despise humanity at the same time is never a good idea. The world's most advanced bat robot now has membrane wings, just like real bats: A microprocessor-based onboard computer, a 6 DOF IMU sensor package, five DC motors with encoder feedback for flapping and wing articulation (asymmetric wing folding and leg/tail control), power/comm electronics, carbon-fiber frame, 3D printed parts, and silicone based membrane wings -- all at 92 grams.