[MagnusWootton]

If you could get metal to bend,   you could possibly get the robot body done in a single casting.

I think if you spread the angular change over space  (Its how springs work.) the metal wont permanently deform as much.  But actually maybe it still works even if does deform a bit,  like if you wanted to make out of lead,  which makes very poor springs, but if you be friendly enough to it,  maybe u can make a spring from lead as well.

Then comes the fact that springs arent mouldable easily,  but there is a kind of spring that is mouldable,  and its the leaf spring, and its just a finger of metal cut from a sheet, the problem is its not stretchy by a long shot,   but it will still spread the angular change over the length of the sheet.

So the idea is,  you get leaf springs to work by having angular occluders top and bottom to stop it rotating too much in one position.

If you had 20cm worth, and a deformation position every half a cm,  you could get 40degrees total, from just changing 1 degree every half a cm.   but then u can include back and forth, and youd get 80 degrees counting clockwise and anti clockwise.

Heres a pic ->  (the rod is supposedly 10cm long. and it can be any depth into the page, for more strength on its axi of change.)


And the robot body can be fully fleshed out in 1 casting.  (Given a few other important concepts to do with powering the actuators.)

Then its like the T-1000,  except its bendy metal instead of liquid metal!   

[MagnusWootton]

you know whats better than that?  I was just thinking some more.

and maybe just a zigzag pattern would make a knee joint, and the longer the zag is,  the less material flexibility you need to make the angle... maybe it works with glass.

and all u need is sand, to make your robot army!!!!!

[MagnusWootton]

so heres another view of the zig zag knee/elbow  -   needs little constrainers to stop it so you pull it too much. (unfortunately dangerously shatters) but the angle constrainment stops on the zig zag pattern alone, if you pull from the end thats compressing,  but u need constrainers to stop it from over opening from the top (and it just snaps) on the other side of the end thats coming toghether.