a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Here's a cut down version of the first page. The full article is found by the pdf link at the bottom of this article. A clever New York radio engineer, Mr. Paul Von Kunits, has created "Mr. Radio Robot," a remarkable device which is attracting unusual attention and proving a source of profit to …
Read More “1931 – Mr Radio Robot – Paul Von Kunits (American)”
It appears as if Yasutaro Mitsui's Steel Humanoid robot is the first known Japanese robot in humanoid form. With the post author not being able to read nor write in Japanese, it makes it difficult to research. The image also appears in Haruki Inoue's 1993 book Nihon Robotto Soseiki 1920-1938. I suspect the electrical devices and valves …
Read More “1930c – Steel Humanoid Robot – Yasutaro Mitsui (Japanese)”
The picture below clearly shows the foot positioning for bicycle pedals. Photographs are shown also of Mr. Sam Barton, the British vaudeville artist, astride his mechanical horse. From San Antonio Light 4 December 1932 Everybody knows the advantages of the automobile over the horse, but why should Sam Barton fancy Unit there is "any …
Read More “1932 – Mechanical Horse ( Bicycle ) – Sam Barton (U.K.)”
In 1951 Marvin Minsky teamed with Dean Edmonds build the first artificial neural network that simulated a rat finding its way through a maze. They designed the first (40 neuron) neurocomputer, SNARC (Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Computer), with synapses that adjusted their weights (measures of synaptic permeabilities) according to the success of performing a specified …
Read More “1951 – SNARC Maze Solver – Minsky / Edmonds (American)”
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)”