{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "when robots got muscles", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/712984145644617729/", "html": "

canmom:

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canmom:

You can blame @centrally-unplanned for this post. She(?) wrote\u2026

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The \u2018chrome\u2019 designs pioneered by illustrators like Hajime Sorayama (Sexy Robot\n from 1984, for example) tended to be more in vogue at this time (or \njust\u2026a \u00a0hot girl, who is apparently a robot, trust me bro), you don\u2019t \nsee designs like this too commonly until later (ask resident \nrobo-fetishist/animator expert @canmom for details on that timeline).

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After a challenge like that how can I refuse? Although the question is \u2018when did robots get muscles\u2019, this turned into something of a historical survey of robot designs from the 80s on with a throughline of biomimesis.

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\"image\"

(Originally this was just going to be an excuse to talk about Ghost in the Shell\u2026 but I gotta be thorough.)

Keep reading

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Traditionally, robots have been made of hard, rigid shapes. Even very human-like androids, like the Terminator.

At some point, softer, more biological components started to slide in. Artificial muscles in particular. Nowadays, if you want to depict a fearsomely high-tech robot, it might look more like this\u2026

So I ended up wondering - how did this happen, what were the precursors, when did robots get ripped? And that led deeper. And deeper.

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