Existing fluidic soft logic gates for the control of soft robots either rely on extensive manual fabrication processes or expensive printing techniques. In our work, we explore Fused Deposition Modeling for creating fully 3D printed fluidic logic gates. We print a soft bistable valve from thermoplastic polyurethane using a desktop FDM printer. We introduce a new printing nozzle for extruding tubing. Our fabrication strategy reduces the production time of soft bistable valves from 27 hours with replica molding to 3 hours with a FDM printer. Our rapid and cost-effective fabrication process for fluidic logic gates seeks to democratize fluidic circuitry for the control of soft robots.

The current fabrication and assembly of fluidic circuits for soft robots relies heavily on manual processes; as the complexity of fluidic circuits increases, manual assembly becomes increasingly arduous, error-prone, and timeconsuming. We introduce a software tool that generates printable fluidic networks automatically. We provide a library of fluidic logic elements that are easily 3D printed from thermoplastic polyurethanes using Fused Deposition Modeling only. Our software tool and component library allow the development of arbitrary soft digital circuits. We demonstrate a variable frequency ring oscillator and a full adder. The simplicity of our approach using FDM printers only, democratizes fluidic circuit implementation beyond specialized laboratories. Our software is available on GitHub (https://github.com/roboticmaterialsgroup/FluidLogic).

CyberGuy explains why you should never give someone your phone number on dating apps. Online dating can sometimes lead to love, and it can sometimes lead to talking to a lot of weirdos on the internet. However, a weirdo is definitely better than a scammer. We received an email from one of our CyberGuy Report Newsletter subscribers who said they were having a typical conversation on Tinder before they were asked to share their number and move the conversation to WhatsApp. CLICK TO GET KURT'S FREE CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH SECURITY ALERTS, QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS AND EASY HOW-TO'S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER "Kurt, Some dating red flags: Scammers will say their husband was killed in a car accident, now they are living with their Aunt. Yesterday on Tinder I asked, "what do you do for a living?". The scripted questions that followed included, "My Aunt and I own a jewelry shop!", "what are you looking for on here?", "How long have you been on this dating site?" [The scammer] then lured me so to WhatsApp we could talk more. This happened 15 mins into the chat. Gave me her phone number and asked for mine. Very clever - easy to get pulled in".

Since ChatGPT took the world by storm last fall, people have been in a frenzy debating the impact artificial intelligence and other new automated technology will have on America's job market. The "robots are taking our jobs" narrative was further boosted by viral videos showing new, "fully automated" McDonald's and Taco Bell restaurants. The knee-jerk reaction to these videos is to say that robots are coming for our jobs, but while AI and other kinds of automation have progressed, that doesn't mean they're necessarily eliminating jobs. Instead, the new tech is simply changing how we work and what kinds of jobs exist. Automation technology has ushered in a fleet of secret workers behind screens, machines, and smiling robot faces.

In November, the San Francisco Police Department proposed approving the use of remote-controlled robots with deadly force. This was after a law came into effect requiring California officials to define the authorized use of military-grade equipment. It would have allowed police to equip robots with explosives "to contact, incapacitate or disorient violent, armed or dangerous suspects." San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved this proposal, initially, despite opposition by civil rights groups. However, during the second of two required votes, the board voted to ban the use of lethal force by police robots. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, this is unusual as the board's second votes typically echo the first results.

In a sharp reversal, San Francisco officials voted Tuesday against a controversial policy that would have allowed police robots to use deadly force. The move comes after the city's board of supervisors voted 8-3 on Nov. 29 to allow high-ranking officers to authorize the use of remote-controlled robots to potentially kill suspects. "The people of San Francisco have spoken loud and clear: There is no place for killer police robots in our city," Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement. "We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people," Preston said. The "killer robots" were said to only be used in "extreme circumstances," Robert Rueca, a San Francisco Police Department spokesperson, said at the time of the approval.

In late November, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has approved a proposal that would allow the city's police force to use remote-controlled robots as a deadly force option when faced with violent or armed suspects. The supervisors voted 8-to-3 in favor of making it a new policy despite opposition by civil rights groups, but now they seem to have had a change of heart. During the second of two required votes before a policy can be sent to the mayor's office for final approval, the board voted 8-to-3 to explicitly ban the use of lethal force by police robots. As San Francisco Chronicle notes, this about-face is pretty unusual, as the board's second votes are typically just formalities that echo the first ones' results. The San Francisco Police Department made the proposal after a law came into effect requiring California officials to define the authorized uses of their military-grade equipment.

His personal style may lean toward the conventional, but the Rice University mechanical engineer is here to tell me about his creative new fashion design. His team has made a shiny black jacket that performs logic--without electronics. Specifically, the jacket can raise and lower its own hood at the push of a button, and it contains a simple 1-bit memory that stores the state of the hood. Or, as Preston says, it's "a non-electronic durable logic in a textile-based device." Here's where we need to emphasize the wildness of this design.

Why bother to design your own robots when you can just reuse what nature created? This was the thought process behind a research project from engineers at Rice University who successfully transformed dead spiders into robotic gripping claws. The scientists have dubbed their new area of research "necrobotics" and say it could create cheap, effective, and biodegradable alternatives to current robotic systems. Well, while humans move their limbs using pairs of antagonistic muscles, like biceps and triceps, spiders' legs contain only a single flexor muscle that draws the leg inward. This is opposed by a hydraulic system: a chamber in the center of the spider's body (known as a prosoma) pushes out fluid to open the leg, with separate valves allowing the animal to control each limb independently.

While we've seen scientists find novel ways to use insects after they're dead, it's hard to imagine any group of researchers topping the work of a team from Rice University that turned lifeless wolf spiders into "necrobotic" grippers. Yes, you read that right – and, no, you're not the only one with a sudden phantom itch. How did we get here? Well, I'm glad you asked. Let's start with an anatomy lesson.