This Surgery Robot Is the Most Terrifying Use for Technology That We Can Imagine

They aren’t exactly common yet, but surgery robots have existed for decades now. They don’t perform surgeries completely on their own, but rather augment and enhance a human surgeon’s abilities. By utilizing a surgery robot, a surgeon can perform much smaller and more precise movements. It’s also possible for a surgeon to operate a surgery robot remotely, so a single expert can perform surgeries around the world without having to travel. YouTuber Michael Reeves thought he could build his own surgery robot, and the results are absolutely terrifying.

Reeves is known for his silly — and often dangerous — projects, such as Tazer Tag and kamikaze drone swarms. This surgery robot, however, takes the cake. It should go without saying, but you absolutely should not try to build your own surgery robot, because it will probably kill you. The most popular surgery robot currently available is the da Vinci Surgical System, which has been used in hundreds of thousands of surgeries. Unfortunately, it also costs millions of dollars to purchase and maintain. Reeves figured he could build a surgery robot for far less money than that. That turned out to be true, though we have our doubts that a surgeon would be willing to actually use it.

Reeve's robot design is essentially an oversized 3D printer or CNC router. It’s a Cartesian robot actuated by ODrive-driven brushless servo motors. In place of an extruder and hot end or a spindle motor and end mill, a quite large butcher knife is mounted to the robot’s carriage.

Instead of controlling the robot with something like a joystick, Reeves used an interesting hand-tracking camera. All the user has to do is move their hand around and the robot will move accordingly. Considering the complete lack of safety equipment and protocols, it’s not surprising that this robot is downright scary to watch. The robot moves very quickly, which is very disconcerting with the butcher knife present. It may not replace da Vinci robots anytime soon, but it is certainly fun to watch.