Tesla Will Have Metal Gear Snake Autocoupler, Musk Confirms
Tesla's Metal Gear Snake Autocoupler, also known as the snake robot recharger, is really going to be instantiated, according to Elon Musk in a recent series of tweets.
Yeah, provided we do our metal gear snake autocoupler
Science fiction fans will of course check out the self-charging robots from the 1960 short story Callahan and the Wheelies by Stephen Barr, the first reference to this idea that I know about. Oh, and don't forget the steel robot tentacles from HG Wells' 1898 classic War of the Worlds.
Update 09-Mar-2026: It turns out there IS a good reference for this idea in Flying Dutchman (1951) by Ward Moore:
From the fuel storage an apparently endless hose snaked across the field, and reaching the bomber, became even more reptilian as it raised its head in response to electronic impulses, then crawling up the plane's towering side, blindly sought the intake leading to the empty gas tanks.
(Read more about the automatic fuel hose)
Thanks to SFFaudio for the lead on this story!
End update.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/9/2020)
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.' - Rog Philips, 1950.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'