Jaimie Mantzel is building a giant riding-robot. I really can’t do better than SI Rosenbaum’s (my friend from college!) excellent lede:

You’re living in the Vermont woods in a four-story dome you built yourself. Well, the third floor is really a trampoline. You’re not sure if that counts as a floor.

So you’re living in your dome, working on all your little robots — the one like a slug, and the one like a turtle, the one that swims and the one that climbs walls — and you decide it would be cool to have a giant robot, big enough to ride around in.

And because you’re Jaimie Mantzel, you know right away you can build it.

More info & videos of his giant robot progress on Mantzel’s webpage. His smaller robots, from slugs to spiders, are also awesome. And I admit to some dome envy - after all, his third floor is a trampoline.

If you still haven’t had enough robots, consider entering the Scifi Channel’s “Make A Cylon” contest. It will be judged by Number 6 and Boomer/Athena - played in real life by Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. Entries can be either classic toasters or “OMG! They look like us!” newer models.