a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
In the pulp magazine "Astounding Science Fiction" of August, 1950, J. J. Coupling (Pseudonym) wrote an article titled "How To Build A Thinking Machine". It used a trial and error approach, using a maze as an example. There is no evidence to date that suggests it was ever realized. The article is quite interesting in that Coupling …
Read More “1950 – Maze Solver – J. J. Coupling (John Pierce) – (American)”
Ivan Sutherland with M. Versatilis. Source: Carnegie Mellon University Archives Machina Versatilis , pictured above and below, was so named due to the versatile modular plug-in boards. M. Versatilis was the final of three models built, and at least two of this model were supposedly built. The first version, see blog post here, was originally built in …
Read More “1957 – Machina Versatilis – Ivan Sutherland (American)”
This toy was available for purshase in France in 1950 by the French Hatchette toy company. It was invented by Jacques Maurice Robert Leblic and the French patent 998,830 was granted on 26 September 1951. The bumper-bar at either end operates a reversing switch for the drive motor. When a lamp is shone on the photo-electric cell, …
This entry describes two references to transistorized versions of Grey Walter's tortoises. The second reference refers to people and organisations mentioned in another post on W. Grey Walter and Edmund C. Berkeley . 1957 Jan 25 [WGW response to letter.] The main difficulty is in the mechanical assembly, particularly the gearbox which has to be completely …