From Robots and Telechirs - M.W. Thring 1983 Thring has used the fact that the ideal foot movement is close to that of a link of a chain going around two sprockets to produce a very simple walking mechanism for a tractor. A small model is shown in above. There…
Source: How to Invent: M.W. Thring and E.R. Laithwaite, 1977. In the first stage of an attempt to make a powered artificial leg I analysed the essential mechanism of human walking and produced the device shown above which walks on two legs by bending the knee as the thigh begins…
Thring, at Queen Mary College built a fire-fighting robot in 1962. This robot navigated its way round a "track" using signals from a gyro compass and measuring distance by wheel-rotation. It left the track when it "saw" a fire and extinguished the fire when its "finger" sensed the flame. The…
"Working model of a table-clearing robot [Mk 2] designed to test the present-day feasibility of principles required for the house-working robot and other machines. The model has one 'sight' and two 'touch' sensors which enable the mechanical arm to pick up objects and place them on the rotating, clearing tray…
USEFUL ROBOTS US Patent number: 3522859 - see here for full patent details. Filing date: Jan 22, 1968 Issue date: Aug 4, 1970 First filed in Great Britain 26 Jan 1967 Model of Centipede. The 'centipede' In the first model (Fig. 6.15(a) above) of the centipede the sprung legs were…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Feb 1, 1967 ........ He [Professor Meredith Wooldridge Thring, 51, professor of mechanical engineering at London's Queen Mary College] suggested a trip to one of his laboratories. "Here you see our mechanical rat," he explained. He pointed to a gadget about the size of a boy's electric…
Stair-climbing wheels Wheels that shoot out spring-loaded "legs" enable an experimental British vehicle to climb stairs and other obstacles. The vehicle, powered by batteries, is the "miniclimber," developed by Prof. Meredith Thring and Brian Shayer at Queen Mary College, London University. The small machine travels at about three mph. On…
A prop for a Tomorrow's World segment in 1966 showing what Robots would be like in 1976. Although some parts appear to be electrically controlled (e.g. the popping eyes which are connected to the antenna 'ears'). the black slot is probably for the hidden operator to see what…
Biomechanical foundations of locomotion design (1978) by V S Gurfinkel, S V Fomin, Moscow Lomonosov State University published in 1st CISM-IFToMM Symposium, Vol 1 p. 133 see p 160 Robots and Telechirs - Thring In a study of the biomechanical principles of construction artificial walking systems, Gurfinkel and Fomin used…
The 1977 ERIC-II Remote Operated Vehicle. CABLE CONTROLLED DEEP SUBMERGENCE TELEOPERATOR SYSTEM Jean Vertut (CEA, Saclay, France) and Joel Charles (CERTSM, Toulon, France) ABSTRACT ERIC II, cable controlled deep submergence teleoperator system, is designed for remote observation, investigation and intervention from a surface ship, with a 6000 meters depth capability.…