A team of students from the University of California Davis’ College of Engineering has developed a robotic machine which can tie shoes on its own. The total cost of this robot is $600. Most kids learn to tie their shoelace when they reach an age of five or six. Two motors power the robot. It uses a series of strategically placed gears and rods which can tie the shoelace into the perfect bunny ears.
The machine was also programmed for efficient shoe tying skills. It can also tie an Ian Knot which is the world’s fastest shoelace knot. The machine is also significantly cheaper than other robot systems which are grabbing the public’s attention like the robots from Boston Dynamics. Despite having a huge price tag of $600, it is still cheaper than Nike’s self-lacing shoes. The Nike Mags self-lacing sneakers were rumored to sell for more than $200,000. Shoe magazine NiceKicks noted that Hyperadapt 1.0 would be sold for $720. With all these prices, it looks like it will be cheaper to have a robotic machine which will tie your shoelace for you than purchasing a new pair of shoes. Watch this video of the robot tying laces.
