A spring-loaded clamp attaches to the rod and grips the figure in place at the waist for easy mid-air posing.

If his earliest poems were miniaturist, spring-loaded gizmos, then his hyper-allusive middle period is an A.I. that’s gained sentience, escaping its programmer’s control.

The researchers adapted that into Salto by using a motorized, spring-loaded leg mechanism that lets the robot get into the same type of crouched position.