Manipulatrix Pix

These photos courtesy of JON ALLOWAY, CHRISTIAN RISTOW, SUSANNAH BRESLIN & DANIEL BABCOCK

The Manipulatrix is a tracked machine featuring a large mouth of stainless steel plate teeth. Folded back along the sides of this oversized jaw are a pair of "mandibles" which are armed with large, spiked, rotating chains. When extended, these chains can grab target items and pull them into the waiting jaws. This is the first machine on which I used proportional hydraulic servo valve technology; what this means is that after a little practice, a machine operator can wield this beast in a much quicker, more precise fashion than any of the other robots.