What if someone actually built TARS from Interstellar … and discovered it really could work?
Dunno about you, but I love Interstellar. Might even be my favorite movie ever … and probably is my favorite science-fiction movie.
In that movie is TARS, a sarcastic, wise-cracking, non-subservient robot with an extremely odd form factor. Director Christopher Nolan didn’t think robots needed to be as complex as they are, and he imaged one that is remarkably simple and remarkably effective.
But is it realistic?
Turns out the answer is yes.
In this episode of TechFirst, I chat with Aditya Sripada, a robotics engineer at Nimble, who turned a late-night hobby into a serious research project: a real, working mini-version of TARS, the iconic robot from Interstellar.
Aditya walks through why TARS’s strange, flat form factor isn’t just cinematic flair and how it enables both walking and rolling, one of the most energy-efficient ways for robots to move. (Bonus: we learn how a square can roll.) We dive into leg-length modulation, passive dynamics, rimless wheel theory, and why science fiction quietly shapes real robotics much more than most engineers admit.
Hello, C-3PO … the hundreds of humanoid robotics startups now on the planet would like a word.
Along the way, Aditya explains what he learned by challenging his own assumptions, how the project connects to modern humanoid and warehouse robots, and why reliability, not flash, is the hardest problem in robotics today. He also previews his next ambitious project: building a real-world version of Baymax, exploring soft robotics and safer human-robot interaction.
This is a deep, accessible conversation at the intersection of science fiction, physics, and real-world robotics—and a reminder that sometimes the ideas we dismiss as “impossible” just haven’t been built yet.
Enjoy!
