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Building TARS from Interstellar in real life

1d ago 21:20

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What if someone actually built TARS from Interstellar—and discovered it really could work?

In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier sits down with Aditya Sripada, a robotics engineer at Nimble, who turned a late-night hobby into a serious research project: a real, working mini-version of TARS, the iconic robot from Interstellar.

Aditya walks through why TARS’s strange, flat form factor isn’t just cinematic flair—and how it enables both walking and rolling, one of the most energy-efficient ways for robots to move. We dive into leg-length modulation, passive dynamics, rimless wheel theory, and why science fiction quietly shapes real robotics more than most engineers admit.

Along the way, Aditya explains what he learned by challenging his own assumptions, how the project connects to modern humanoid and warehouse robots, and why reliability—not flash—is the hardest problem in robotics today. He also previews his next ambitious project: building a real-world version of Baymax, exploring soft robotics and safer human-robot interaction.

This is a deep, accessible conversation at the intersection of science fiction, physics, and real-world robotics—and a reminder that sometimes the ideas we dismiss as “impossible” just haven’t been built yet.

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Guest

Aditya Sripada

Robotics Engineer, Nimble

Researcher in legged locomotion, humanoids, and unconventional robot form factors

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Chapters:

00:00 – TARS in Real Life: Why Interstellar’s Robot Still Fascinates Us

01:00 – Why Building TARS Seemed Physically Impossible

02:00 – From Weekend Hobby to Serious Robotics Research

03:00 – How Science Fiction Quietly Shapes Real Robot Design

04:00 – Walking vs Rolling: Why TARS Uses Both

05:00 – Why Simple Robots Can Beat Complex Humanoids

06:00 – Turning Legs into a Wheel: The Rolling Mechanism Explained

07:00 – Leg-Length Modulation and Passive Dynamics

08:00 – Inside the Actuators: Degrees of Freedom and Compact Design

09:00 – Why TARS’s Arms Don’t Really Make Sense

10:30 – Lessons Learned: Never Dismiss “Impossible” Ideas

12:00 – Rimless Wheels, Gaits, and Robotics Theory

13:00 – What This Project Taught Him at Nimble

14:00 – What “Super-Humanoid” Robots Actually Mean

15:30 – Why Reliability Matters More Than Flashy Demos

16:30 – TARS as a Research Platform, Not a Product

17:30 – From TARS to Baymax: Exploring Soft Robotics

19:00 – Can We Build Safer, Friendlier Humanoid Robots?

20:30 – What’s Next: Recreating Baymax in Real Life

21:30 – Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

352 episodes

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