An inventor in the Netherlands has merged the spirits of robotics with the only joy of New Jersey. No, I’m not talking about a cyborg Tony Soprano, though that would be cool. Nico Van Staveren developed the world’s first robotic arm that can pump gasoline while you stay in the comfort of your car. The TankPitStop debuted in Emmeloord, Netherlands last year and has been providing petrol to the Dutch people ever since. Check out the video below. While a robotic gas pump is nice, it points to a bigger issue: we’ve already reached a time when robots can take on almost any task.

2008 is actually a pretty late date to get robotic gasoline pumps. The necessary technology had been ready for seven to ten years. Staveren himself got the idea for TankPitStop while watching a friend’s automatic cow milking machine. We’ve mentioned how Willow Garage, MIT, and other robotics hubs are expanding horizons and how that could one day increase the availability of robots. But, truth be told, that day may already have arrived.

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