Build Your Own Black Mirror-Inspired Robot Dog for $750

If you ever felt like you needed or wanted a robot dog in your life, you don't need to buy one — you can build your very own now. You can thank students at Stanford University for sharing their robo-dog details online. 

The world is slowly filling up with robotic versions of real-life people or animals, and dogs are no exception. Robot dogs are being used for a number of different reasons, from personal entertainment to working on dangerous oil rigs, they're useful — and fun — in many ways.

SEE ALSO: THESE TWO ROBOT DOGS KEEP FIGHTING LIKE REAL DOGS

Stanford pupper

If you've got a little time on your hands, now's the time to build your own robot dog. Stanford University students reverse engineered the details of a popular mechanic dog and then made their DIY toolkit open-source. Thanks, Stanford students! 

It'll cost you anywhere between $600 - $900, and you'll be able to build up and put together your very own bionic puppy. 

The Stanford Pupper Quadriped Robot (please, find a new name for it when you build your own) does require a fair amount of technical experience, and will take you anywhere from four to ten hours to build up from scratch.

The reason the cost varies depends on whether you already own some of the key building elements. For instance, if you already have a Raspberry Pi 4 and a PS4 controller at hand, you'll have an easy breezy time. You'll also need other elements such as for the frame, which will require a carbon fibre plate and a number of 3D printed PLA parts. 

Then it's up to you what you "train" your pupper to do — carry refreshments over to you in the garden or from your kitchen to your sofa certainly sounds like a useful trick. Even just virtually showing it off to your friends and family moving around your home would be enough to entertain you for a while. 

Gone are the days of picking up after your dog in the park, even if you own this cool robotic pooper scooper.

You can find the Stanford open-source info here, and, to help you out, the Stanford students also share where you can buy some pre-fabricated parts.