Gigglebit: A man and his trusty robot horse

2 Feb 2015

Su Daocheng with his trusty robot horse. Image via REX/XJZ/Quirky China News

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note.

While people fret over the potential Armageddon scenario of robots and artificial intelligence (AI) enslaving humanity, one Chinese farmer cares not a jot for the scare stories.

Ever the frugal economist, Chinese farmer Su Daocheng saw the reality that his horses can only last so long before they need to be replaced.

To get over this issue, he gathered all his engineering knowledge to build man’s new best friend, a robotic horse, joining his other creations which includes a home-made helicopter.

Speaking to Rex Features, Daocheng says he is obsessed with mechanics and inventions so his 1.5m-high horse was an obvious design to build.

And rather than spending money on feed for horses, the only food that his robot horse consumes is petrol which, he says, is much more economical than a horse.

But frankly, to compare Daocheng’s horse with a real horse is hardly a fair comparison given his robotic creation looks like it would struggle on a low gradient.

The fake horse head is a nice touch, though.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com