Some people have probably thought about having their own robotic assistant at home in the future, but not everyone dreams of building one themselves.
Hong Kong graphic designer Ricky Ma, however, just achieved his lifelong dream of building his own humanoid robot from scratch, as a hobby and in the image of a huge Hollywood celebrity to boot.
The 42-year-old Ma said that 70 percent of his creation used 3D printing technology. 3D printing was especially important in constructing what is literally the skeletal foundation of his humanoid robot and the silicone "skin" is what covers the mechanical parts and wiring situated within the skeleton.
Ma did not wish to name the Hollywood celebrity he modeled the robot after, but there really is no way the robot's face would be unrecognizable. So whether Ma admits it or not, we know this Hollywood star will be appearing in Jungle Book and Captain America: Civil War.
It took Ma a year and a half and at least $50,000 to get all the parts together and learn all he needed to learn - including electromechanics and programming.
"When you look at everything together, it was really difficult," Ma said.
He calls his creation "Mark 1" and has programmed it to move its body parts and respond to certain phrases both with words and facial expression. For instance, when Ma says "Mark 1, you are so beautiful," the robot will smile, wink and say "Hehe, Thank you."
Of course, in spite of Ma's success in building his humanoid robot, not everything went smoothly in the process. He encountered many burnt out motors and problems with balancing the full structure. Then there were also criticisms from actual people.
"[...] a lot of people would say things like, 'Are you stupid? This takes a lot of money. Do you even know how to do it?" Ma recounted.
However, Ma wanted to realize his dream so he kept at it until he succeeded.
"I figured I should just do it when the timing is right and realize my dream. If I realize my dream, I will have no regrets in life," Ma said. He does have a very good point about that.
For anyone wondering why Ma even thought of doing something so difficult and expensive in the first place, it is because of the things he watched in his childhood.
"When I was a child, I liked robots. Why? Because I liked watching animation. All children loved it. There were Transformers, cartoons about robots fighting each other and games about robots [...]," he said.
See Mark 1 in action below.
