I just saw this video of a little yellow robot designed to zoom around to different objects, tap out some beats on them, and then sample himself to make a song! It’s pretty cool - the robot sort of looks like WALL-E, and his eyes seem to function as maracas. So cool!

I have to say that on the whole, I’m sort of disappointed with our progression on the domestic robot front.

Rosie from the Jetsons is still a figment of Hanna-Barberic imagination, the drink-serving robots from the ’80s were no better than remote control cars with cupholders…in fact, I think the best mass-accessible robot we’ve got at this point is the Roomba. ( the automatic scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner comes in at a close second, but I don’t think it’s really considered a robot)

I’m not forgetting the bazillion dollar robots like Honda’s Asimo, I know there are constantly prototypes being developed. But it’s going to be awhile before they’re cleaning our floors, unfortunately.

So I guess it’s up to us. Let’s Make Robots - the site where the little yellow drum machine was found ( via a link on a synthesizer blog - haha) is a grassroots breeding ground for homegrown robots. So if you’re mechanically savvy, I think you’re pretty much obligated to try your hand at making a robot, in order to secure a chore-free future for us humanoids.

As of right now, the little yellow drum machine can’t do this:

but let’s see what happens after a few whiskey-filled evenings with Ringo.