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November, 1915 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER by Hugo Gernsback. Front cover -"THE RADIUM DESTROYER" from a painting by Thomas H. Wrenn. (typo- actually Thomas N. Wrenn) Warfare of the Future The Radium Destroyer THE European War has clearly demonstrated what a tremendous part modern science plays in the offense as well…
Updates to the cyberneticzoo.com website. See also the Cybernetic Zoo facebook page for more commentary on updates. 29 Jan 2016 Added 1910 The Electric Vampire by F. H. Power. 29 Jan 2016 Added 1870 Artificial Man by Orin Vasta. See earlier 2015 updates here. See earlier pre-2015 updates here.
The Electric Vampire By F. H. Power Illustrated by Philip Baynes (This short story appeared in The London Magazine of October 1910 with the accompanying Editor's note: 'The following short story, though of course but a figment of the imagination, is yet founded on fact. Over seventy years ago (in…
Source: The Daily Telegraph Harrisburg, PA.29 Dec 1870 A NEW ADAM IN SWEDEN. Curious Story from a Swedish Paper— How a Man was Made—What a New Being Thought and Felt—How He Acquired Ideas, etc., etc., etc. The New York World says: A Swedish paper makes the seemingly preposterous assertion that…
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1960 - "Beauregard" the Robot by Tom Graham. There are 17 buttons on the control panel, which Tom uses to make the mechanical man do his bidding. Aided by his machinist dad, the lad labored for 15 months to perfect the robot. Operating a 17-button control panel, Tom Graham is…
1959 - "DUHAB" (Detector of Undesirable HABitués) by Lawrence Lipton / Bill Riola. Photograph caption dated December 5, 1960 reads, "Electronic Cat Detects Subversives for Beatniks. Duhab accompanies poet-author Lawrence Lipton to weed out undesirables." Image source: The Los Angeles Public Library. Lawrence Lipton was talking to the Valley College…
1965 - "Mr. Obos" the Robot by Lou Nasti (upper right). New York Times, March 20, 1965 - By PHILIP H. DOUGHERTY - Print Headline: "So What Else Is New? A Robot Makes Debut on Flatbush Ave." So What Else Is New? A Robot Makes Debut on Flatbush Ave. ROBOT…
1954 - "Sylvania Sam" Promotional Robot. The "Sylvania Sam" Promotional Robot was a 9-foot tall talking "electronic" robot that tells you all about pink "Softlight" bulbs. See other early Humanoid Robots here.
1957 - "Mr. Fantastic" Ushering Robot by Andy Frain Jr.. A tape recorder replays the ushering commentary via a speaker in 'his' chest. 'His' right toe has a sensor that counts the passing crowd. An interesting anecdote about Andy Frain, Jr. Source: The San Bernardino County, May 21 1954. Runs…
Source: Xenia Daily Gazette Mon, May 24, 1971 Computerized mouse maze first of 3 long-term projects for Xenian. by Ward Pimley - Gazette staff writer To a research psychologist, running a mouse through a maze to investigate behavior patterns is a common occurrence. But to an electronic engineering drawing specialist…
UNITED KINGDOM - 1980: Peter Holland's 'Mr Robotham the Great' is a 6 foot tall walking, talking robot who can also shake hands, bend knees to sit, and all functions are operated by radio control in 1980 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
From the "Captain Video" TV serial, the "I, Tobor" episodes starting the week of November 2, 1953. Tobor (played by 7' 6" Dave Ballard) was a prototype robot designed to be a tireless worker and indestructible soldier. It bore the inscription "I-TOBOR" (a reversed image of ROBOT-I) on its chest…
CLARK'S experimental cycloidal machine. Two non-drive rear wheels counter torque. Source: Mechanix Illustrated, April 1963. CYCLOIDAL PROPULSION A revolution in land vehicles may come from this new invention which can provide perfect maneuverability. PUT a pencil at the top of a sheet of paper and start making loops—as if you…
1983 - "Kludge" Omnidirectional Mobile Robot by John M. Holland. Kludge with legs contracted. Kludge at a 1984 exhibition. John M. Holland. The focus in this post is on the unique mobility base, and not on its navigation and sensor qualities. Patent Information: Publication number US4573548 A Publication date 4…
12 Feb 1956 --- Original caption: A little oil helps Gismo's "muscles" function more smoothly. Sherwood won a prize for ingenuity in the Industrial Arts Competition sponsored by the Ford Motor Company for his construction of the robot. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
12 Feb 1956 --- Original caption: Sherwood H. Fuehrer, 15 year old Cranston, R.I., high school student, works the control panel to give a final test to the robot he's built, an automation that walks, talks, and is generally helpful. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
FETAL I had its major public appearance at the International Personal Robots Congress (IPRC) held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1984. Fetal I, constructed by Bill La, is a three-wheeled vehicle capable of moving in any direction, A later prototype, Fetal II [no picture available], was presented a Golden Droid…
1983 - "MARVIN" the Robot by David Gossman et al. (Image source: Robot Tech Talk, 1985 by Ed Radlauer.) MARVIN MARK I - "Mobile Anthropomorphic Robot VINtage high tech robot" Marvin Mark I moves around the room, talks with a synthesized voice using his 500-word vocabulary, moves his head, has…
1978 - "Kermit" the Robot by Ron Milner and Larry Nicolson of Cyan Engineering for Atari Inc. Owen Rubin Shows "Kermit" Ataris Prototype Robot Pet from Jeri Ellsworth on Vimeo. Images from Owen Rubin's website here. Kermit's fabricated security pass. The Story Of Kermit The Robot by Owen Rubin. I…
1979 - "NUTRO" the Robot by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. The Index-Journal, Greenwood, S.C. Sat., April 21, 1979-p7 Robot raves about nutrition Caption: Traveling companions - Nutritionist Dave Canty serves as voice and remote-control operator for Nutro, a 400-pound robot who tours the country speaking to children on nutrition. NUTLEY, N.J…
"Rodney", the Self-Programming Robot is based on the book How to Build Your Own Self-Programming Robot by David L. Heiserman [TAB, 1979]. ByRamiro Molinaon September 18, 2013 This book is geared towards those that have good knowledge of electronics and are willing to jump into a project that involves CPU based…
The RB5X is a personal robot manufactured by RB Robot Corporation of Golden, Colorado. A cylinder-shaped robot with an optional arm, and a transparent, dome-shaped top, RB5X has an RS-232 communications interface and is programmable in TinyBASIC or Savvy. It was first released in 1982. Its inputs include eight bumper…
Humanoid robot - Source: here. (English via Google translate - some words not translated) Alexander Mészáros - a retired college professor, expert In past times, it lost in the attempt, when a man tried to prepare themselves for similar creature. Õsember've probably wanted to take part in the creation of…
1982 - "A2W2" the Andy Warhol Robot. "I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine-like is what I want to do. I think everybody should be a machine." Andy Warhol, Nov 1963. Source: Times Daily, Oct 30, 1982. Alvaro Villa with some…
1903 - La Motogirl - Doris Chertney [Chertsey?] / Frederic Melville. Image and text source: here. Belle Epoque Violin Playing Robot, circa 1905 In the French newspaper Le Gaulois, #9558, there is a notice of the appearance, on December 15th, 1903?, at 8:30 PM at the Olympia Theater in Paris,…
1953 – "Archie" & "Buster" Deep Water Robots – William E. Denny 'BILLION DOLLAR MERMAID' TO SEEK SUNKEN TREASURE—It's not a real mermaid—it's a 3,300-pound metal robot and its name is Archie. But the billion dollars is real, all right, says Archie's inventor and builder, William E. Denny. Kansas City,…
Inventor Shunichi Mizuno, now president of Cybot Corporation in Japan, at work on his robot. Image source: Robots, machines in man's image, Isaac Asimov, Karen A. Frenkel - 1985. Photo by Mark Wexler. Caption: Instead of diamonds, up to 20,000 electronic components are this girl's best friends. Low-[pressure] pneumatic valves…
Telepathic Robot - The Scientific Miracle photographed by Humphrey Spender - September 1937. The Scientific Miracle Robot Copyright Bolton Council Image ref. 1993.83.24.35 Print ref. 1993.2.135 Description: The Mass Observers recorded overheard conversations about how this miraculous talking robot worked, and whether it was all a scam. Source: here.…
Two girls inspecting the robot today. c1935. Mr. ENRICO GARCIA showing the "works" of the new ROBOT, which answers questions without codes. A ROBOT WITH BRAINS OF ITS OWN. 14 Years to perfect new invention. The "mental telepathy" ROBOT, on which Mr. ENRICO GARCIA has spent pounds700 and 14 years…
1962 - Szegedi Robot Man [reproduction] by Dr. Muszka Dániel. Fotó: Bodajki Ákos Article source: here. (Google translation from Hungarian.) Human-sized robot arrived at the Paks Nuclear Energy Museum. The heroic age of cybernetics - or life was the latest piece of the temporary exhibition called PC before the tin…
Caption: This electronic Robot might have prevented the horse-racing ban, but it would cause technological unemployment among the jockey fraternity. Source: Radio-Craft for March, 1945. RADIO JOCKEY - Electronically-Controlled Robot Rider By ERIC LESLIE HORSE-RACING—the game of kings—has one great weakness. The suspicion of "fixed" races, of "pulled" horses and…
Prosopographus Selected extract from the full post by Patrick Feaster here. Between 1820 and 1835, a machine was exhibited around Great Britain that was advertised as taking people’s portraits by strictly automatic means. Someone had only to pay a shilling and sit perfectly still next to it for the space…
1982 – RCV-150 Remote Controlled Vehicle System by Arthur B. Billet, principal engineer, Hydro Products, Inc., a Tetra Tech Co., wholly owned by Honeywell. Image Source: here. Technician checks out the RCV-150, Hydro Product's largest deep-diving robot vehicle, one of the increasing number of such remote-controlled devices that are rapidly…
1985 – Direct Link Prehensor (DLP) by John W. Jameson. The project stalled in 1986. Originally designed for astronaut hard suits, it was later licensed to Nuytco for its atmospheric diving systems, or ADS, particularly the then new Exosuit. The Prehensor is a manipulator that matches the dexterity of a…
The EXOSUIT mock-up by R. T. "Phil" Nuytten from 1999. Sylvia Earle with the Exosuit mock-up in 1999. The Exosuit is Phil Nuytten's next generation Atmospheric Diving System following from his successful Newtsuit. Sport Diver Nov-Dec 2005 Dr. Phil and the Amazing Exosuit by Daryl Carson. EXOSUIT If you haven't…
1981 – "Deep Rover" Submersible. See 7:10 into the Video. Top: Dr. Sylvia Earle. Bottom: Graham Hawkes. Extract from Popular Science, Dec 1984. An acrylic-bubble undersea habitat called Deep Rover will take oceanographers and oil-rig technicians to depths of 3,200 feet, where they'll work at sea-level pressure—in near-living-room comfort. The…
The one-atmosphere DeepWorker 2000 submersible allows a pilot to go deeper and spend more time below the surface than traditional diving methods. The sub comes with external manipulators to tackle serious underwater jobs. HydroNewt Manipulators having a standard reach of 5 feet. Submersible Publication number USD461445 S1 Publication type Grant…
1979 - OMAS SPIDER Atmospheric Diving Suit. Underwater World - 1978, Volumes 1-2 - Page 43 A new atmospheric diving suit called OMAS has recently been developed by Vickers Slingsby, and two of these are already in use by the Aberdeen-based diving and underwater engineering company, Wharton-Williams. Nicknamed 'Spider'…
WASP - A mid-water unit using thrusters and a tubular lower body section rather than articulated legs. Wasp, built by OSEL, Offshore Submersibles Ltd., U.K. The Wasp may be regarded as the next development step in that it maneuvers by the use of four hull-mounted thrusters. Essentially it is a…
1978 – "Mantis" Submersible. Sylvia Earle and Graham Hawkes. Mantis, built by OSEL, U.K., designed by Graham Hawkes is the latest [c1978] development in the tethered submarine field. It is fitted with eight or ten electric thrusters and has two seawater hydraulically operated manipulators. The Mantis was built in 1978…
1989 – Shinkai 6500 Submersible. In Japanese, shinkai means deep sea. Aptly named, the Shinkai 6500 (ã—ã‚“ã‹ã„) is a manned research submersible that can dive up to a depth of 6,500 m. It was completed in 1989 and until 2012 it had the greatest depth range of any manned research…
Model of the Shinkai 2000 showing a single manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom. "SHINKAI 2000" is the first manned deep submergence research vehicle in Japan, with a maximum operating depth of 2000 m and a weight of 23t. The Vehicle was designed and constructed in Kobe Shipyard and Engine Works,…
MOB 1002 (Manipulation & Observation Bell 1002), built by Comex Industries, France, is a specially designed bell for underwater work. It has one manipulator with 6 degrees and one with 2 degrees of movement. It is also fitted with a lifting winch capable of lifting loads with a weight in…
The Japanese Hakuyo Submersible was launched in 1971 and has one manipulator arm with five degrees of freedom. Image source: Manned Submersibles, Frank Bushby, 1976. See other early Underwater Robots here.
Manipulator is shown 6:50 into video clip. Archimède bathyscaphe. Some pics by Alain Houot. Text souce: Wiki The bathyscaphe Archimède is a deep diving research submersible of the French Navy. It used 42,000 US gallons (160,000 l) of hexane as the gasoline buoyancy of its float. It was designed by…
TV eye for underwater work A new device for underwater inspection work is Anthro, a remotely controlled submersible with a 20-inch-diameter plastic bubble for a hull. A television display and propulsion controls-on board ship or on dry land-are connected to the vehicle by an umbilical. Anthro's TV camera is electronically…
Project initiated in 1965 headed by Willis "Will" R. Forman (seen lying down in the above image). Launched in September 1971. A single mechanical arm with only three degrees of freedom and claw gripper. See Deep-View - 23:40 into the clip. "That's a 44 1/2 -inch-diameter glass hemisphere streamlining the…
Search PA pr.1832 "Search 2" [ПоиÑковый ПРпр.1832"ПоиÑк-2"] Manipulator arms are folded underneath hull. 1 - pen horizontal steering; 2 cowl steering column the sustainer engine; 3 - drive steering column; 5 - aft main ballast tanks; 6 - the hatch; 7 - pilot house; 8 - ring cargo unit;…
Folded manipulator arm. Submersibles North- 2 project in 1825 Translated from Russian with errors. Posted to "defend Russia" about the first domestic deep self -propelled unit for the study of the World Ocean Project 1825 , is designed to carry out scientific research in the field of Marine Biology ,…
Reef Submersible. [ПР"Риф".] Submersibles "Reef" and "Walrus". In the early 1980s, in the Experimental Design Bureau of special technical means was drafted submersible submarines for underwater works, maintenance of building and control of subsea pipelines, cable lines, waterworks, their maintenance. For this project were built two devices "Reef" and…
Translated from Russian here as at 2011. pr.16810 "Rus" [пр.16810 "РуÑÑŒ"] pr.16811 "Consul" [пр.16811 "КонÑул"] Manned deep-propelled underwater vehicle / ship 3 rank - a standalone deep-sea vehicle. The project unit developed SPMDB "Malachite" (St. Petersburg). Design submersibles on the instructions of the Soviet Navy and is designed to dive…
MIR (SUBMERSIBLE) Mir is a self-propelled Deep Submergence Vehicle. The project was initially developed by the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Russian Academy of Sciences) along with Design Bureau Lazurith. Later two vehicles were ordered from Finland. The Mir 1 and Mir 2, delivered in 1987, were designed and…
"Kashalot" - UNIFORM class Soviet Submarine Nr.1901. A model showing the landing skids and manipulator arms. Name: Kashalot / UNIFORM Nr.1910 Builders: Soviet Union Operators: Soviet Navy, Russian Navy Built: 1977-1991 In service: 1986- Planned: 3 Completed: 2 Cancelled: 1 Deep-diving…
"Argus" [«Ðргуѻ] submersible built in 1974. Research PA "Argus" is designed in Experimental Design Bureau of oceanographic equipment for the Institute of Oceanology of the Southern Branch of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, to carry out oceanographic and hydrological studies, as well as research on…
1987c – MTK 200 Submersible. [мтк = MTC in English]. MTK-200. Weight-3,5 tons. Meant for works on depth up to 500 metres. Operates with helping of control panel from carrier-vessel through cable-rope. Apparatus have autonomous telemetry, lighting technology, track chassis for bottom moving 6 (six) electronic motors for moving in…
Launched: 1972 Manipulators: Two; one is 15 ft. long and capable of 2,500 lb lift; the second is a smaller one attached to the longer arm which is used to perform delicate operations. Installed on starboard side near centre of buoyancy. Gripping force of the large claw is 6 tons.…
The Maritime Safety Agency operates the underwater research vehicle (URV) HU06 Shinkai, with the support vessel Otome Maru. Built by Kawasaki Heavy industries. The Skinkai was commissioned in 1968. Press Photo: The Yen400 million survey submarine is expected to be completed by the Science and Technology Agency by December 1968.…
PISCES Production DSV Completed Depth (ft) Crew PISCES I 1965 1,200 2 PISCES II 1968 2,600 3 PISCES III 1969 3,600 3 PISCES IV 1971 6,500…
1906 - Apparatus for Submarine Recovering Operations Patent by Becchi and Tarantini. Publication number US872888 A Publication type Grant Publication date Dec 3, 1907 Filing date Nov 15, 1906 Inventors Angelo Becchi, Giovanni Battista Tarantini Original Assignee Angelo Becchi, Giovanni Battista Tarantini APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE RECOVERING OPERATIONS. This invention has…
1898 - Diving Apparatus Patent by James E Holland. Publication number US638335 A Publication type Grant Publication date Dec 5, 1899 Filing date Dec 20, 1898 Priority date Dec 20, 1898 Inventors James E Holland Original Assignee Anton Lutz, James E Holland My invention relates to diving apparatus, and…
1964 onwards - Marine Mammals and Ordnance Recovery Ahab, a 5,500 pound killer whale, recovers a piece of inert ordnance using an acoustic pinger to guide him during the Deep Ops project. The whale is also equipped with a grabber device and a hydrazine system to allow the object to…
1907 - LE TRESOR DANS L'ABIME "LE TRESOR DANS L'ABIME" par Jean de LA HIRE - Edition ORIGINALE datée de 1907 1907 - "Le Fulgur" « Le Fulgur » - « Le Fulgur » Publication en épisode dans la revue « Le Globe Trotter » du Jeudi 21 Mars 1907,…
An early Artist's conception from the late 1970's. Source: Robots: Fact, Fiction, and Prediction by Jasia Reichardt, 1978. Source: Field Test of Aquatic Walking Robot for Underwater Inspection Junichi Akizono, Senior Research Engineer Mineo Iwasaki, Chief of Robotics Laboratory Takashi Nemoto, Member of Robotics Laboratory Osamu Asakura, Member of Robotics…
The ART Project’s Nuclear Inspection Centaur Robot After the earthquake last year and the resulting damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant, observers criticized Japan’s lack of preparedness. In particular, many felt that the Japanese robotics sector’s focus on expensive humanoids had squandered time and resources better spent on more specialized…
Marvin Minsky with his Arm. Photo by Dan McCoy in OMNI Magazine, June 1980. Also called the "Tentacle" Arm. Marvin Minsky - Activating a dead crayfish claw Selected transcript "And that’s the anatomy of the mechanical arm I built that you see in the MIT Museum today" One of the…
FIGURE 95.—The Scripps tensor arm. Stress on the nylon filaments actuates the arm. (Courtesy of V. C. Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.) The "tensor arm," conceived by Victor Anderson, at the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, has 16 degrees of freedom (fig. 95). The entire…
Figure 16. In the Benthic Lab concept: an internally mounted manipulator can modify experimental setups and carry out maintenance and repair operations. (Courtesy V. C. Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.) Source: Teleoperators and Human Augmentation p28 Source: MPL participation in SEALAB II Author: Marine Physical Laboratory Publication Date: 02-01-1966 Abstract:…
Artist's conception. 1980 - SMIT SUB-1000 ROV Interview excerpts of Chris Nicholson - Deep Sea Systems International Founder ••I was always trying to expand my skills and progress further in the industry. It got to the point where I found myself not having time for school. I ended up going…
SCORPIO (Submersible Craft for Ocean Repair, Positioning,Inspection and Observation), built by Ametek, Straza, USA, has a depth capability of 1000 m and is fitted with a 5 function manipulator. Launched in 1978, it has been in drilling support work in the North Sea since mid 1979. The prototype SCORPIO has…
ORCA 1 (Oceaneering Remote-Controlled Arms) DEPTH: 2,300' DIMENSIONS (LxWxH): 11.5' x 6.6' x 6.6' WEIGHT: 6,000 lbs SPEED: (Max Surface) NA (Max Current) NA STRUCTURE: Rectangular, open metal framework encloses and supports all components. Syntactic foam blocks mounted on top of frame. PROPULSION: Seven 6KW hydraulic thrusters provide maneuvering in…
SNURRE I, built by Myrens Verksted A/S and the Continental Shelf Institute (IKU), Norway, has four electro-hydraulically powered thrusters and is fitted with one manipulator. It has hydraulic reserves for one more manipulator or other tools. SNURRE I had been in operation since 1974 and has been used for a…
1967 - DSSV Deep Submergence Search Vehicle Concept by Westinghouse Electric Co. PRESS RELEASE 7/25/67 WASHINGTON: Artist's drawing of the U. S. Navy's deep submergence search vehicle (DSSV). When completed in the early 1970's, the unique vehicle will be the first of a maneuverable class of vehicles capable…
1966 - CRAB Remote-controlled Underwater Craft by Dr. Vyacheslav Yastrebov "Aquator" [Дкватор] - a moving robot for underwater research - came out of the walls of the Bauman Institute. Designers believe that this device will become active assistant hydrologists, ocean scientists, biologists - all those who study the depths of…
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.…
1975 - RUWS Remote Unmanned Work System In order to do useful work in the deep ocean, NUC has been active in advancing manipulator technology. A recently developed system is the Remote Unmanned Work System (RUWS) manipulator. It is a master slave system based on end-point or terminus control, rather…
CUTLET DEPTH: 1,148' DIMENSIONS (LxWxH): 180" x 67" x 83" WEIGHT: 2,536 lbs SPEED: (Max Surface) NA (Max Current) NA STRUCTURE: Open metal framework with ring-stiffened tanks for buoyancy. PROPULSION: Three 10 hp, reversible, electric thrusters (2 long, 1 vert). Maneuvering accomplished by independent control of thrusters. INSTRUMENTATION: Two CCTV…
1968 - Legged Underwater Vehicle Patent by Hugh A. Ballinger. Underwater vehicle Publication number US3550386 A Publication date 29 Dec 1970 Filing date 28 Mar 1968 Priority date 31 Mar 1967 Inventors Ballinger Hugh Anthony Original Assignee Atomic Energy Authority UK An underwater vehicle comprising a free flooding streamlined body…
1965 - CURV Cable-controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle by Jack L. Sayer Jr. NOTS-Pasadena Scientists Develop Recovery Vehicle from Rocketeer, July 9, 1965. CURV Pays Its Way Recovering Valuable Deep Ocean Ordnance NOTS Pasadena Laboratory has disclosed a new and unique method of reclaiming small ordnance items from the ocean floor.…
The Telenaute Remote Operated Vehicle. Manipulator arm of the Telenaute. Movietone Newsreel Clip - here - Telenaute preparing for an underwater cave exploration. A commercial French company, the Compagnie Generale pour le Developpement Operationel des Recherches Sousmarines, own a similar craft [to CURV] known as the Telenaute. This is…
Publication number US3381485 Publication date 7 May 1968 Filing date 23 Oct 1965 Inventors RALPH KENT CROOKS, JAMES M. HARDENBROOK, RICHARD D. LEIS, JAMES C. SWAIN and DAVID L. THOMAS Original Assignee Battelle Development Corp General purpose underwater manipulating system ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cable-suspended, remote-controlled manipulating device for operation underwater. The apparatus includes…
Source: The Advanced Handbook of Robotics, Safford. Source: Popular Mechanics, Aug, 1963. Source: Teleoperator Operations. The MOBOT (MObile roBOT) was developed by Hughes Aircraft Company and is used by Shell Oil Company of California as an underwater wellhead manipulator. MOBOT, which is shown in Figure 16, consists of an…
Source: Meccano Magazine, Feb, 1963. ..... I am introducing you to a machine known as Mobot, pictured above. Developed by the Shell Oil Company in the U.S.A., Mobot can work on oil wells 1,000 feet down on the ocean bed. It can swim, see, hear, and has a "nose" that…
SOLARIS - Submerged Object Locating And Retrieving/Identification System is a vehicle built by Vitro Laboratories for the U. S. Navy. It can be used down to 650 foot depths and is controlled by a surface vessel through a cable. A toggle action claw is attached to the underside of the…
RUM - Remote Underwater Manipulator Press Release: U.S. Navy reveals new remote control vehicle for exploring ocean bottom.: A unique remote control undersea vehicle for exploring and conducting scientific studies of the ocean bottom for prolonged periods at great depths has been developed for the Office of Naval Research. The…
Publication number US2987893 Publication date Jun 13, 1961 Filing date Oct 29, 1956 Inventor: Jack D. Robinson Jr. Original Assignee: American Machine & Foundry UNDERWATER CRAFT. Jack. D. Robinson, Jr., Norwalk, Conn., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 29, 1956. This invention…
1969 – NR-1 Submersible by General Dynamics. Early design sketch of the NR-1 sub. Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat Laid down: 10 June 1967 Launched: 25 January 1969 Source: Wikipedia NR-1 is able to land on the seafloor on a pair of retractable wheels and can lift heavy objects with…
1923 - EPRON-1 Humidistat - E. G. Danilenko. ГидроÑтат Даниленко Е.Г. «ÐПРОÐ-1» Source: here. Original text by Alexey Rasshivalov, translated to English by Google translate. The first domestic ( and second in the world) DHD humidistat , better known as " EPRON -1 ." Built in 1923, the project EG…
Updates to the cyberneticzoo.com website. See also the Cybernetic Zoo facebook page for more commentary on updates. 28 Dec 2015 Added 1960 by "Beauregard" the Robot by Tom Graham. 25 Dec 2015 Added 1959 by "DUHAB" by Lawrence Lipton and Bill Riola. 21 Dec 2015 Added 1965 - "Mr. Obos" the…
1978 - ARMS 1 (Atmospheric Roving Manipulator System) As early as 1971, Dr. Norman H. Wood, program engineer for General Electric's Cybernetic Automation & Mechanization Systems Section, described a new underwater manipulator system devised for use on a multi-well submerged platform. GE's activities in manipulators date back to the company's nuclear…
Underwater Army Bases and Depot (See Figure 51: Under Sea Mobility) Recent marine biology and ocean engineering work have resulted in some startling underwater activity concepts and systems designs that promise to pave the way to a profitable exploitation of untapped water resources. It is not difficult to argue that…
1971 - Trieste II Submersible with Manipulator Arm. DSV-1 Trieste II When the submarine Thresher was lost on 10 April 1963, a committee established under Admiral Stephan [the Oceanographer of the Navy] to assess the implications of the accident concluded that the Navy did not have the operational assets to conduct missions…
1968 – Beaver Mark IV Submersible by North American Rockwell. Renamed "Roughneck" in 1969. Each of the two manipulators has a 9-ft reach, eight degrees-of-freedom, and a 50-lb lifting capacity. The two manipulators can be equipped with nine different tools to perform various tasks. These tools are: impact wrench, hook…
1961 - Trieste Submersible with Manipulator Arm by Harold Froehlich - General Mills. Image source: Manned Submersibles, Frank Bushby, 1976. The Trieste was purchased by the U.S. Navy in 1958. Development of the manipulator arm, instigated by Don Walsh, was done by Harold "Bud" Froehlich of General Mills. Based on the Model…
UNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 01: Submarine Beaver Mark Iv In 1970. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
1967 – STAR III Submersible by General Dynamics had a bow manipulator with interchangeable "hands" and two television cameras, and operated at depths of 2,000 feet. STAR III Manipulator Control Panel. Above and below: Advertisements highlighting the manipulator arms developed at General Dynamics. Press Photo c1967. Star II and Star…
Photo source: Manned Submersibles, Bushby. 1964 – Asherah Submersible by General Dynamics. Manipulator Arm: One electro-hydraulic. Made by General Dynamics. Asherah, the first commercially built American research submersible, was a two-man submarine built by General Dynamics, Groton, Connecticut, USA, and could dive to a depth of 600 feet (180 m).…
1967 – STAR II Submersible by General Dynamics. Manipulator Arm: One Electro-hydraulic with 4 degrees-of-freedom. Full reach - 4 ft 1 inch. Payload at full reach - 150 lb. Mechanically jettisonable. Made by General Dynamics. Source: Manned Submersibles, Bushby. Source: Manned Submersibles, Bushby. Above: Advertisement highlighting the manipulator arms developed at…
UNITED STATES - MAY 05: The pilot of the Star II, peers from its porthole at coral, Off Oahu, Hawaii (Photo by David Doubilet/National Geographic/Getty Images)
UNITED STATES - MAY 05: The submersible Star II uses a cutting blade to slice coral, Pacific Ocean, off Hawaii (Photo by David Doubilet/National Geographic/Getty Images)
1968-69 - Deepstar 2000 Diving Saucer by Westinghouse. The manipulator arm is simple as per all Cousteau/Westinghouse submersibles of this period with only two degrees of freedom. The arm is electro-hydraulic and the claw is of the clam-shell type, also referred to as an "orange peel" claw. Arm is also…
1968 - AUTEC I and II Submersibles by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. Designated TURTLE and SEA CLIFF by the U.S. Navy. Press Release - 1968 - Escape Capsule GROTON, CONN.: This artist's concept of an AUTEC Research Submarine shows the use of tools selected from an external…
Underwater power source Publication number US3418818 A Publication type Grant Publication date 31 Dec 1968 Filing date 22 Apr 1966 Priority date 22 Apr 1966 Inventors Renic P Vincent, Lawrence B Wilder Original Assignee Pan American Petroleum Corp ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for supplying power to…
Underwater manipulator system Publication number US3414136 A Publication type Grant Publication date 3 Dec 1968 Filing date 18 Jan 1966 Priority date 18 Jan 1966 Inventors John R Moore, James S Sweeney Original Assignee North American Rockwell ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE System for positioning an underwater manipulator arm to correspond…
1931-3 - "Explorer" Submersible by Simon Lake. The "Explorer" is located at Milford Landing Marina, 37 Helwig St. Milford Connecticut 06460. The "Explorer" was the last boat built by the pioneering submarine designer and builder, Simon Lake. The Explorer was intended strictly for research and salvage and was linked to…
 DEEP OCEAN WORK BOAT (DOWB), a two man submersible built by General Motors in the United States by General Motors AC Electronics Division, was initially launched on October l2, 1967. Windowless, it has top and bottom "fish eye" lenses, plus television cameras, for full 360 degree vision. A TV…
1964 - Alvin Submersible by Harold Froehlich - General Mills/Litton Systems. Image source: Manned Submersibles, Frank Bushby, Pub. 1976. In-depth innovation. The first submarine to explore the deep-sea wreckage of the Titanic was designed and built by General Mills. The “Alvin” submarine – named for famous oceanographer Allyn Vine – became the…
UNSPECIFIED - 1982: The Alvin, a research submarine, cruising beneath the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Henry Groskinsky/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
AN AQUACOPTER, a two-man undersea personnel carrier fitted with claw-handed arms and capable of operating on the ocean floor, is one of the futuristic vehicles featured in the undersea set of the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair. In an aquacopter geologists, according to GM…
1964 - Yomiuri Submersible by Yomiuri Shimbu Newspaper and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Image source: Manned Submersibles, Frank Bushby, 1976. The manipulator has six degrees of freedom. See other early Underwater Robots here.
1964 - Aluminaut Submersible. Image source: Manned Submersibles, Frank Bushby, 1976. The Aluminaut is equipped with external dual manipulators which were designed jointly by Reynolds and the General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York and built by General Electric. Each manipulator handles up to 200 pounds at its full nine foot…
Image source: Popular Mechanics, August 1963. 1962 - Deepstar 4000 Diving Saucer - Jacques-Yves Cousteau / Westinghouse launched in 1965. 26 Jun 1962-NEW YORK: William E. Knox, president of Westinghouse International, demonstrates the flexibility of a remote control arm, part of a unique deep-sea vehicle at a 6/26(/62) press conference.…
 1961 - Submaray Submersible by Doug Privitt started being built in 1961 and was launched in 1962. Privitt inside Submaray operating the simple rod manipulator arm. It appears to slide inside a ball-and-socket joint, as can be seen in the video clip. Although a simple setup, this arm is…
 The SP-350 Denise, famous as the "Diving saucer" (Soucoupe plongeante), is a small submarine designed to hold two people, and is capable of exploring depths of up to 400 metres (1,300 ft). It was invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and engineer Jean Mollard at the French Centre for Undersea Research.…
UNSPECIFIED - APRIL 04: A cutaway illustration depicts divers operating a diving saucer, Artwork (Photo by Davis Meltzer/National Geographic/Getty Images)
1947 - Mechanical Lobster model by Harry Rieseberg and Charles Warren. Source: Mechanix Illustrated, Nov 1947. Mechanical “Lobster” Deep undersea the claws of this tank will rip to the heart of rotting treasure ships. THERE’S gold down on the ocean floor. Vast fortunes lie hidden in sunken caches, waiting the…
1940 - Diving Bell Arm With Grippers by Friedrich Gall Working arm with grippers for diving chambers Publication number DE738760 C Publication date Aug 31, 1943 Filing date Feb 6, 1940 Inventor Friedrich Gall Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (3), Classifications (3) External Links: DPMA, Espacenet See other related Friedrich…
1913 - Manipulator Arm For Diving Bell by Charles Petit. Moving means for the Arbeitsgeraet of diving equipment Publication number DE321916 C Publication date Jun 15, 1920 Filing date Mar 5, 1913 Applicant Charles Petit See German patent here. See other early Underwater Robots here.
1933 - Submarine Salvage Apparatus by Eugene J. Romano. For a demonstration of the robot to be used on this expedition, Lieutenant Harry E. rieseberg tackles the device in true diver's fashion. There is no dignity in entering or leaving the robot. Harry E. Rieseberg Extract from HE WALKS WITH …
1931 - Mobile Submarine Diving Bell by Carl H. Wiley, Elbert H. Wiley 3D Video by Charles Daigneault. Three million dollars in nuggets of gold! This is the lure that set a small band of adventurers sailing from Seattle, Wash., a few weeks ago. It lies under the hold…
An Armored Sea-Monster This machine is not really a sea-monster, but the newest thing in diving 'bells', although in this case the operation and construction resembles a miniature submarine. It was invented by Emil Kulik, 52-year-old former sea captain and naval officer, Brooklyn, N.Y. It is plentifully supplied with windows,…
1920 - Submarine Salvage Vessel by John C. Setlow   Submarine salvage vessel Publication number US1450232 A Publication type Grant Publication date Apr 3, 1923 Filing date Mar 6, 1920 Priority date Mar 6, 1920 Inventors Setlow John C Original Assignee Setlow John C Description In the usual type…
1919 - Deep-sea Salvage Apparatus by Alfred E. Lemon. Deep-sea salvage apparatus Publication number US1415661 A Publication type Grant Publication date May 9, 1922 Filing date Dec 30, 1919 Priority date Dec 30, 1919 Inventors Lemon Alfred E Original Assignee Lemon Alfred E The object of the invention is to…
1916 - Diving and Excavating Apparatus by Dewey T. Deemer DIVING AND EXCAVATING APPARATUS. Publication number US1228300 A Publication type Grant Publication date May 29, 1917 Filing date Jul 10, 1916 Priority date Jul 10, 1916 Inventors Dewey T Deemer Original Assignee Dewey T Deemer Be it known that…
1916 - Machine for Submarine Salvage Operations by Alexander J. Bergeron MACHINE FOR SUBMARINE SALVAGE OPERATIONS Publication number US1304012 A Publication type Grant Publication date May 20, 1919 Filing date May 11, 1916 Inventors Alexander J. Bergeron Description The object of my invention is to provide a machine for sub-marine…
1930 - Submarine Salvage Robot by Harry L. Bowdoin Artists depiction of Salvage tank. Really a cross between Bowdoin's Armoured Suit and the Diving Bell. Source: The Ogden Standard Examiner, Feb 21, 1932. Another artists depiction of the diving apparatus. Source: Modern Mechanics and Invention, Sept 1931. Large Robot…
The inventor Emil Kulik and his deep-sea rescue apparatus. Patent exhibition at the Grand Palace / New York. About 1930. Photograph. (Photo by Austrian Archives/Imagno/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1931: Submarine for ship recovery, America, Photograph, August 29th 1931 (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images) [U-Boot f?r Schiffsbergungen, Amerika, Photographie, 29,8,1931]
A small submersible with robot arms, 1932. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - 1953: The creator Harvey Chapman sits at the control unit while his robot 'Garco' operates an electric solder iron in 1953 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
1909 - Apparatus for Submarine Operations - Pierre Eugene Galoffre Apparatus for submarine operations. Publication number US935485 A Publication type Grant Publication date 28 Sep 1909 Filing date 8 Jan 1909 Priority date 8 Jan 1909 Inventors Pierre Eugene Galoffre Original Assignee Pierre Eugene Galoffre Be it known that I,…
1879 – Diving Bell Mechanical Arm - Chas Pike ARM AND ATTACHMENT FOR DlVlNG-BELLS Publication number US228556 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jun 8, 1880 Filing date May 27, 1879 Inventor Charles F. Pike CHAS. F. PIKE Be it known that I, CHARLES F. PIKE, of Philadelphia, in…
1849 – Diving Bell - Avery Richards and John Walcott Deep-sea-diving bell Publication number US6250 A Publication type Grant Publication date Apr 3, 1849 Inventors J. Avery Richards and John W. Walcott Description To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, J. AVERY RICHARDS and JOHN…
The NEWTSUIT by R. T. "Phil" Nuytten. Phil Nuytten poses with his NEWTSUIT. Jacques Cousteau with a Newtsuit. Phil Nuytten has been instrumental in the development and current acceptance of Atmospheric Diving System technology. In 1977, he began work on a revolutionary new one-atmosphere diving suit that…
Interesting deep-sea armour dating from 1912. Little is known about this apparatus. From Mechanix Illustrated, August 1938. Similar to Connelly's suit from 1934. Unknown suit in museum. Believed to be an unused suit from Tallinn in Estonia. Unknown illustration of an ADS with remote arms. See other early Underwater Robots…
Patent name: Wall structures such as for use in deep diving apparatus Publication number US4164042 A Publication type Grant Application number US 05/851,416 Publication date Aug 14, 1979 Filing date Nov 14, 1977 Priority date Nov 18, 1976 Also published as CA1060500A1, CA1098651A1, DE2751344A1, DE2751345A1, US4167792 Inventors Alistair L.…
Roberto Galeazzi Sr. with his suit. In the early 1920s, the Frenchman Alain Terme acquired a Neufeldt and Kuhnke suit for undertaking attempts to locate several shipwrecks with valuable cargoes. One of them was the Egypt. In 1924 the famous Italian company SO.RI.MA. (Società Ricuperi Marittima) was founded, more or…
Various Diving Armour by Neufeldt and Kuhnke. Introductory note: I've [i.e. cyberneticzoo] had a lot of difficulty in arranging found images into the three generations of suit as mentioned in other sites featuring Neufeldt and Kuhnke armoured suits. Some of this is due to the difficulty in dating some of…
Fig. 1. Panzertaucher. (NEUFELD u. KUHNKE, Kiel.) Greifwerkzeuge statt Handgebrauch
ca. 1924-1929 --- Diving Suit with Accessories --- Image by © CORBIS
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Testing of a P-7 Neufeldt and Kuhnk metal diving suit, in France (1926). (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)
Testing of a P-7 Neufeldt and Kuhnk metal diving suit, in France (1926). (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)
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1906 - Diving Armour by- Friedrich Gall Invention name: Aus einem Panzer bestehende Taucherrüstung, deren Glieder durch wasserdicht abschliessende Kugelgelenke miteinander verbunden sind. [Google translation- From an existing tank armor diver whose members are connected by waterproof final ball joints.] Publication number DE193397 C Publication date Dec 19, 1907…
1969 - JIM Atmospheric Diving Suit by Mike Humphrey, Mike Borrow, Richard Tuson and Joseph Salim Peress. The original Peress Tritonia suit is in the middle, surrounded by type 2's with type 3 arms, then standard type 2 JIM suits on the outer. Image from www.DiveScrap.com. The Canadian Diving Symposium 31…
1954 - Pressure Suit by James Hart and Theodore Hart Patent Name: Pressurized suit Publication number US2939148 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jun 7, 1960 Filing date Dec 15, 1954 Priority date Dec 15, 1954 Inventors James F Hart, Theodore H Hart Original Assignee James F Hart, Theodore H…
UNSPECIFIED - APRIL 04: An informal portrait of the Jim suit, a scuba diving contraption, Gulf of Alaska (Photo by Ira Block/National Geographic/Getty Images)
Amanda Grabin, 15-months-old, looks up at the JIM Suit, the one-atmosphere submersible diving suit at New YorkÃs American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, Jan. 27, 1983. The museum exhibition is based on the book, ìExploring the Deep Frontier: The Adventure of Man in the Sea,î co-authored by Sylvia Earle,…
Figure 17: Conceptual drawing of the Litton atmospheric diving suit. In the late 1960's Litton Industries Space Science Laboratories announced the development of a new design of an atmospheric diving suit (Figure 17) capable of operating to depths of 600 feet (Fonda-Bonardi, 1967). The UX-1, for underwater experimental, suit was…
1965 - Diving Suit - Henry Martinez and Charles Opalek Publication number US3329967 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jul 11, 1967 Filing date Mar 31, 1965 Priority date Mar 31, 1965 Inventors Martinez Henry J, Opalek Charles S Original Assignee Martinez Henry J, Opalek Charles S The invention…
TREASURE HUNTING ROBOT-A 1,500 pound diving robot is checked over by diver Al Mikalow (right) and Paul Ilsley, a diving instructor at Mikalow's diving school in Oakland, Calif. Mikalow intents to dive in the robot later this summer in a search for treasure which legend says lies waiting in the…
JUL 30 1961 Treasure Hunters Check 1,500-Pound Diving Robot Paul Ilsley, left, and Al Mikalow plan dive in bay. Credit: AP Newsfeatures Photo
1934 - Deep Sea Diving Suit by Thomas Connelly. Note incorrect depiction of air lines, of which there should be none, as the suit employed a rebreather system. Source: History of Diving Museum A pair of powerful lamps attached to the writs of "Iron Mike". Source: Middletown Times Herald,…
1927 - Flexible Diving Armour by Karl Hipssich. Publication number US1722375 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jul 30, 1929 Filing date Mar 16, 1927 Priority date Mar 16, 1927 Inventors Karl Hipssich Original Assignee Karl Hipssich 1. A diving apparel in the form of a diving suit and…
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Joseph Salim Peress with his "Tritonia" Diving Armour. Extract from Wiki: Joseph Salim Peress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Salim Peress Born 1896, Died June 4, 1978 In 1918 Peress began working for WG Tarrant at Byfleet, United Kingdom, where he was given the space and tools to develop…
UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 28: Mr. J.S. Peress, the inventor of the new armoured diving suit, getting his device ready for tests in the tank today at Weybridge. United Kingdom. May 28, 1930. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)
1921-5 - Diving Armor by Joseph Salim Peress. Peress explaining his new armored diving suit at the Shipping Exhibition, at Olympia, London, England. It was manufactured in stainless steel by Staybrite Silver in England. Source: Getty Images Joseph Salim Peress with his new armoured diving suit. Source: Getty Images In…
 1918 - Diving Armor by Rudi De Graff. Publication number US1368786 A Publication type Grant Publication date Feb 15, 1921 Filing date Jan 12, 1918 Priority date Jan 12, 1918 Inventors Rudi De Graff The invention relates to diving suits designed for service at great depths, one hundred feet…
 1917 - Diving Armor by James F. Long. Diving Armor Publication number US1305656 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jun 3, 1919 Filing date Jan 12, 1917 Inventors James F. Long This invention relates to diving armor, and has for one of its objects to provide a device of this…
1880 - Armored Diving Suit by Stephen P. M. Tasker. An interesting pose for a patent drawing. Anyone wanting a Mechanical Man costume would be inspired by this.  Diving Apparatus Publication number US236858 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jan 18, 1881 Filing date Jun 21, 1880 Inventors Stephen…
30th November 1925: Inventor J. S. Peress explains the workings of his new rustless diving suit, made of Staybrite Silver Steel, at the Olympia Shipping Exhibition in London. The suit weighs 550 pounds and can work at a depth of 650 feet. (Photo by E. Bacon/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
November 1925: Mr Peress explaining the workings of his new steel diving suit, made of Staybrite Silver Steel, at the Shipping Exhibition held at Olympia. (Photo by E. Bacon/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Caption: Walters suspended from ship's derrick and about to be lowered into the deep with the aid of a helper. "Marine Scarecrow" Wins Fortune From Sea Floor VANCOUVER, B. C., Aug. 18.-Frank Walters, "Marine Scarecrow," makes his living on the bottom of the sea. And it's a good living,…
1919 - Diver's Armored Suit by Victor Campos. Rendering by Jason Clark. Diver's suit Publication number US1414174 A Publication type Grant Publication date Apr 25, 1922 Filing date Jul 17, 1919 Priority date Jul 17, 1919 Inventors Victor Campos Original Assignee Victor Campos 1. A diver's suit of a non-flexible…
The 1917 version of the Leavitt deep-sea suit. Publication number US1327679 A Publication type Grant Publication date Jan 13, 1920 Filing date Jan 15, 1917 Priority date Jan 15, 1917 Inventors Leavitt Benjamin F Original Assignee Leavitt Diving Armor Company The invention relates to improvements in diving apparatus and its…
Submarine Armor invented by Charles H. Jackson achieved a depth of 360 feet in December 1919 with Frank Turner as the diver. Deep Sea Suits and Diving Records Source: Scientific American (January 1920) There appears to be no little rivalry of late in the matter of diving suits and deep…
Publication number US1370590 A Publication type Grant Publication date Mar 8, 1921 Filing date Dec 2, 1918 Priority date Dec 2, 1918 Inventors Josef Kamieniecki Original Assignee Josef Kamieniecki This invention relates to submarine or diving armor, and more particularly to a metal sectional armor of this type which by…
Essentially an armored glove, converting the operator's hand into a pair of pliers. Publication number US1198611 A Publication type Grant Publication date Sep 19, 1916 Filing date Feb 11, 1916 Priority date Feb 11, 1916 Inventors William S Boyd Original Assignee William S Boyd This invention relates to submarine armor…
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MAR 9 1952 Lighting Up - Robert holds out a match for Diana, who sets on a window ledge reflectÂing how nice it is to have a man around the house-when he's a creature of gears and steel, unable to answer back. Credit: International News Photo
MAR 9 1952 Cold, Cold Heart - Hamilton adjusts Robert's inner workings. Credit: International News Photo
MAR 9 1952 A Faithful Servant - Robert mounts a ladder to wash windows for Diana Dors and her husband, Denis Hamilton, who sit in comfort near the control panel that directs the robot. Credit: International News Photo
MAR 9 1952 Iron Triangle? - Nope, says Diana Dors who shows her appreciation for Robert. She's not a bit afraid that husband Denis will be jealous of the second "man" in the houseÂhold. Robert is the envy of other housewives in Great Britain. Credit: International News Photo
MAR 9 1952 Robert The Robot - When it comes to bringing in the wood to keep the fires going all winter, Robert's a big help. He never gets tired and can easily push a heavy wheelbarrow. Credit: International News Photo
A robot, known as Mr Robot, takes coffee with a human at a demonstration in Berlin, 31st August 1930. (Photo by Henry Miller News Picture Service/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
UNITED KINGDOM - 1952: Captain William Richards has designed and built a robot named Robert and able to perform the same tasks as a human being in 1952 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
1902-7 - "Iron Man" Diving Apparatus by Capt. Enos B. Petrie and Joseph E. Martin. It is diver O. E. Gaudy (Gandy?) inside the suit who set the new diving record at the time. Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Aug 23, 1907. Petrie's diving armor is similar to Macduffee's Armor…
The 1931 version of Harry L. Bowdoin's Submarine Armor. When inside his suit Mr. Bowdoin through the manipulation of gears and levers, can move his arms, legs and body freely to almost any angle and with clawed hands, so constructed as to record sensitivity, he can pick up even very…
US-american inventor H.L. Bowdoin with its deep-sea diving suit. On the shoulders are two 1000 watt automobil lamps. 15th August 1931. Photograph. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images) Der US-amerikanische Erfinder H. L. Bowdoin mit seinem Tiefsee-Tauschanzug. Auf den Schultern befinden sich zwei 1000 Watt-Automobillampen. 15. August 1931. Photographie. *** Local Caption…
1910 - Submarine Armor by Chester E. Macduffee. In Popular Mechanics Magazine, November 1914 it was reported that the new armored diving suit went down to a depth of 212 ft. in Long Island Sound, establishing a new American record for deep-sea diving. Above images: Scientific American, 22 August, 1914.…
1905 - Diving Dress - M. de Pluvy. L'EXPRESS DU MIDI 14 April 1905, a French newspaper, mentions M. De Pluvy's diving dress, hence giving it an earlier date of 1905 rather than Scientific American's 1906 date. The Helmet was subject to a French patent, No. 361910 filed in 1905.…
In 1906 the Swedish weekly Hvar 8 Dag published this photograph of an interesting diving apparatus, designed by the Italian inventor Giuseppe Restucci. This is how the weekly described the apparatus: "The arms are artificial, and are operated from the inside by the diver. There is an electric lantern on the…
1897 - Diving Apparatus - John and George Day. Little is known about the Day brothers. It is not currently known if the suit was built. Images from the British patent GB189707105A. Publication number US609418 A Publication date Aug 23, 1898 Filing date Dec 22, 1897 Inventors Day And George…
1890 - Crustacean Diving Dress by Col. William Carey. Source: English Mechanic and World of Science - Volume 53, 1891 - Page 351 Col. William Carey, C. B., late R.A., the “crustacean diving dress,” which he has protected by [Great Britain] patents 3083, 4467, and 6494 [6431?] of 1890, in…
1878 - Diving Suit by the Carmagnolle Bros. The suit was the first truly anthropomorphic suit design to be constructed. A distinctive feature of the Carmagnolle suit was the helmet. It had 25 individual two-inch diameter glass viewing ports spaced at the average distance of the human eyes. An additional…
French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau (1910 - 1997) stands beside an old metal deep sea diving suit inside a French maritime museum, December 11, 1973. (Photo by Archive France/RDA/Getty Images)
The Phillips patent is the first known "Armored Diving Suit". There is no evidence yet found that suggests that Phillips actually built his suit, although he did build an earlier submarine. Many features of the design will be seen in similar more successful suits over a half century later. Note…
This page is a timeline of early Mechanical Deep-sea Diver Suits, Submersibles with Mechanical Arm attachments and Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles. If IMAGE IS CLICKABLE, then a post exists for it. Check out cyberneticzoo facebook or the updates page for recent posts. Early Deep-sea Diver Armoured Suits with Grippers 1856 – Phillips…
1912 - Dreadnought Wheel and "Big Lizzie" - Frank Bottrill A dreadnaught wheel is a wheel with articulated rails attached at the rim to provide a firm footing for the wheel to roll over, they have also been known as endless railway wheels when fitted to road locomotives, and were…
1899 - Walking Wheel patent by James C. Anderson Publication number US647245 A Publication type Grant Publication date Apr 10, 1900 Filing date Aug 16, 1899 Priority date Aug 16, 1899 Inventors James C Anderson Original Assignee James C Anderson My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in…
1846 - Walking Wheel by James Boydell A dreadnaught wheel is a wheel with articulated rails attached at the rim to provide a firm footing for the wheel to roll over, they have also been known as endless railway wheels when fitted to road locomotives, and were commonly fitted to…
After recently posting the entry on Vladimir Ischein's Walking Wheel (1983), I recalled having seen something similar. It turned out to be the toy "Space Crawler" of Major Matt Mason from 1967. This toy led to several other toymakers making similar devices. 1967 - Mattel's Major Matt Mason's Space Crawler…
1983 - Soviet Walking Wheel by Vladimir Ischein. Google translation of original article here. I have not attempted to correct it. During its 50-year history of our magazine § repeatedly told about the vehicles with conventional propulsion. In recent years, interest in beskolesiym machines has increased significantly. This is due…
1973 - Wheel Walker - Ralph Mosher Wheels Used as Legs It is understood that many ideas have been presented that involve a combination of wheel actions such as rotation and orbiting. The idea shown in Figure 49 is different in that an immobilized wheel experiencing slipping and bulldozing will…
FRANCE - circa 1950: Women with robot created by French inventor Albert Ducrocq, known for his electronic fox, circa 1950 an France. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
22Nd Edition Of The 24 Hours Of Le Mans 1954. France Juin 1954, la course automobile des 24 heures du Mans. Les pilotes Maurice TRINTIGNANT (France) et José FROILAN GONZALES (Argentine) de l'équipe Scuderia Ferrari, remportèrent la victoire avec la voiture Ferrari 375 Plus numéro 4.zSA zSA GABOR riant pose…
1985 - Nuclear Inspection Robot "AMOOTY" climbing stairs in a mock-up of a nuclear power plant. Before AMOOTY there was MOOTY. No manipulator arm here, just vision and star-wheel propulsion. Text Source: Inside The Robot Kingdom, Frederik L. Schodt, 1988 If cleverly designed, a robot on modified wheels or tank…
1973 - "Robbie" the Pulpit Robot by the Rev. Ron Mackenzie ROBOT IN THE PULPIT Sunday school with a difference: Helping the Reverend Ron Mackenzie is Robbie, the robot he designed and built himself 8 years ago. Robbie was built to help attract children to church and he has proved…
London, England, 29th August 1973, Two little boys study a five foot robot built by their father Peter Stanley in the garden of their London home (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
1940 - "Roll-Oh" the Domestic Robot "Roll-Oh" can grasp objects, has a retractable knife in its hand, as well as a plant watering system, a can opener, and a gas-flame lighter. Its foot is also a vacuum-cleaner. Leave It to Roll-Oh (1940) Tongue-in-cheek film showing a domestic robot freeing housewives…
1958-62 - "Beetle" Mobile Manipulator. Background Information: Popular Mechanic's (Sep 1956) drawing made by Frank Tinsley from designs by Lee A. Ohlinger of Northrop Aviation, Inc. of a robot mechanic for the proposed atomic-powered airplane, a star-crossed project that stumbled through 10 years and $500,000 without ever getting off the…
1960c - Lee Mobile Manipulator. [I presently have no other information on this mobile manipulator.] The Lee Model 6A Manipulator was used on the mobile platform. 1974 Centaure Mobile Manipulator (French). The CEE-VEE Remote Mobile Vehicle with crane-like manipulator See other early Space Teleoperators here.
1985 - ACEC Mobile Inspection Vehicle The manipulators are master-slave force feed-back and electrically driven. The ACEC Vehicle for remote inspection and intervention has a minimal footprint when the treads are folded up and the manipulator arms are also folded. Publication number EP0197020 A1 Publication date Oct 8, 1986 Filing…
1970-1 - CURV Mobile Linkage Manipulator. Originally developed for the Cable-controlled Undersea Remove Vehicle (CURV), it was adapted for potential use as a mobile nuclear manipulator as seen here. Later it was used in Bezjcy's lab at the Jet Propulstion Laboratories (JPL), along with the JPL/Ames Arm. The NEVADA/CURV…
1960 - KOELSCH Mobile Manipulator The JPL KOELSCH Robot system (Fig. 2) contains two identical arms mounted on a common shoulder link supported by a vertical post. The post is fitted to a small tread platform. The common shoulder link can be rotated about and raised along the…
The ART Project’s Nuclear Inspection Centaur Robot After the earthquake last year and the resulting damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant, observers criticized Japan’s lack of preparedness. In particular, many felt that the Japanese robotics sector’s focus on expensive humanoids had squandered time and resources better spent on more specialized…
FRANCE - 1935: Woman and a robot. France, about 1935. (Photo by Gaston Paris/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
FRANCE - 1930: Robot. France, about 1935. (Photo by Gaston Paris/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
FRANCE - 1930: Robot. France, about 1935. (Photo by Gaston Paris/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
FRANCE - 1930: Woman and a robot. France, about 1935. (Photo by Gaston Paris/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - circa 1950: This robot, as the protagonist of the first mechanic film, makes his first appearance for an essay, circa 1950 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - circa 1950: This robot, as the protagonist of the first mechanic film, makes his first appearance before the cinematographic camera for an essay, circa 1950 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
FRANCE - CIRCA 1934: Fun fair. France, about 1935. (Photo by Gaston Paris/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
1955 - Mobile Remote Manipulator at Argonne National Labs. Sphere-mounted tongs, similar to those on Mobile Remote Manipulator. Popular Mechanics Feb 1955 Lead Shield on Wheels Guards Atomic Worker Electric motors propel a heavy, three-sided lead shield used in handling radioactive materials at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. The barrier,…
Published December 2, 1930. Buddy Deering: "For a Iong time I had been thinking of a Flying Robot - Radio-controlled with Attractor-beam propulsion. I had it built.....with this control box I can make it do anything and talk through it." Sundays / Buck Rogers S03 - Mysterious Saturnian (1930-09-14 to…
On Wednesday, July 24, 1929, a Buck Rogers cartoon strip was published depicting 'Iron Men', robots that are operated by radio control. It said that "each Robot's receiver and transmitter is permanently tuned to its own control box, and it can be controlled through no other." The robot's eyes included…
UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 01: Science Fiction Movie Scene At The Hyde Park In London On July 1979 (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC - NOVEMBER 24: A charming little robot called ' Miki' steals the show at hobby national exhibtion in electronic sector on November 24, 1965 in Brno, Czech Republic. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - circa 1920: 'Robot', the mechanical man invented and directed by Alban J Roberts, started at the Maskelyn's Theatre along the rest of the company, circa 1920 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Walking the Thing Roboteer, who was manufactured by a firm in San Ramon, California, is accompanied by employee Judy Bently as the mechanized marvel uses its own street crossing on its way to an unannounced destination. Officials say the robot is designed to perform functions which are considered hazardous to…
MF3 Blocher-Motor GmbH & Co. KG, Metzingen, West Germany CMS Technologies, Inc., Ft. Lee, N.J., U.S. Distributor This device is a remotely controlled, tethered 4-tracked vehicle which is used in the nuclear industry and other hazardous environments. It was initially conceived and developed at the KFA Julich Research Laboratory in…
The PaR-1 mobile manipulator. The vehicle and manipulator are powered and controlled by cable. The manipulator arm and the two TV cameras are mounted on articulated booms. The height of the central support tube is 68 inches. PaR was a subsiduary of GCA when this model came out. PaR-1 with…
The Los Alamos Minotaur—presumably so called because of its bull-like strength and man-like arms—is an exception to the statement that electrical unilateral manipulator arms are used singly (fig. 108 below). A pair of manipulator arms plus a second pair of adjustable arms holding lights and TV cameras protrude from a…
1970-2 - "Virgule" Remote-Controlled Manipulator. Virgule being demonstrated at an exhibition. See 1:14 and 4:16 into video clip. The MA22 arm (slave unit shown) was very innovative at the time. The motors counterbalance the rest of the arm. It was replaced in 1975 by the MA23 which is still highly…
Looking like a military gravedigger or an agricultural battle tank, the KHG Remote-Controlled Manipulator Vehicle was an early West German response to the problems of maintenance and repair in nuclear installations. The Robot That'll Do Anything A new remote controlled robot has been developed in Germany able to do most…
1963 - "MRMU" Mobile Remote Manipulating1 Unit - FMC Corp. MOBILE REMOTE MANIPULATOR1 UNIT It is recommended that the Mobile Remote Manipulator Unit (MRMU) be selected for study in Phase I as the basic recovery system. This unit, as developed by the FMC Corporation for the Research and Technology Division,…
"The Little Ranger," a mobile remote handler, extends man's reach and dexterity into radioactive, explosive or other danger zones "off limits" to humans. Monitored by TV or viewed through a shielding window, "The Little Ranger" can manipulate 50 lb. loads, reach up to 8 feet, tow an 850-pound weight, and turn…
Atomic energy exhibit in the US pavilion, visitor operating romote control hands for handling of radioactive material, at the Brussels world's fair. (Photo by Michael Rougier/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
1953 - G.E. "O-Man" Manipulator Source: Popular Science, March 1964. G.E,'s Handyman is seen here mounted under an O-Man. Source: Meccano Magazine, February 1963. Perhaps the world's most powerful mechanical arm was developed several years ago in America. Named "O-Man" (for Overhead-MANipulator), this 15-ton remote-controlled giant makes possible the assembly…
Gernsback, Hugo "The Teledoctor", Television, Feb. 1955 pp. 22-24. Hugo Gernsback's 1954 solution to the doctor shortage was the ultimate in bringing the patient to the overworked physician: an updated version of the 1924 Radio Doctor called the "Teledoctor." Delivered to your front door on a rental plan, this…
Mobile Remote Servo-manipulator. Caption: Robot Demonstrations Of The Atomic Age: Many onlookers - including schoolboys were thrilled by the robot "hands" - dealings with a variety of tasks on one of the stands at the Geneva Atomic Exhibition. The "almost human hands" are used in dealing with radio-active materials behind…
1954 – ElectroMechanical Manipulator by Ray Goertz (pictured) An early experimental model - this one also showing the head-mount camera controller Brussels Exhibition - US Pavillion demo. Model E4a Slave unit. Diagram by Goertz showing the various control modes of Master-Slave arms. Patent information: Publication number US2846084 A Publication date …
Atomic energy exhibit in the US pavilion, people watching remote control hands, at the Brussels world's fair. (Photo by Michael Rougier/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
"The Psychophonic Nurse", by David H. Keller. Published in Amazing Stories, 1928 Illustration by Frank R. Paul. The Psychophonic Nurse A child-care robot - a nanny bot. "I had her made by the Eastinghouse Electric Company. You see, she's just a machine nurse, but as she doesn't eat anything, is…
A remote control manipulator being demonstrated at the Atomic Exhibit. (Photo by Mark Kauffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
A remote control manipulator being demonstrated at the atomic exhibit. (Photo by Mark Kauffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
A remote control manipulator being demonstrated at the Atomic Exhibit. (Photo by Mark Kauffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
Source: Popular Mechanics, Aug 1965. Ralph Mosher bending over the Pedipulator. Possibly Ed Ziegler in the background. G.E. Lifting Boom Publication number US3333716 A Publication date Aug 1, 1967 Filing date Dec 28, 1965 Inventor: Edwin E Ziegler Original Assignee Gen Electric ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A material handling device…
American manned lunar rover. Study 1989. MOSAP (MObile Surface APplication traverse vehicle) was the pressurized lunar rover that was the key to NASA's 90-Day-Study moon base concept of 1989. It would greatly extend the range of manned lunar expeditions. MOSAP had a maximum range of 3000 km with a nominal…
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 12: British comedian Harry Secombe arrives to open the Boys and Girls Exhibtion at Olympia on a life- sized mechanical elephant on August 12, 1958 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 17: 'Billy Bunter', role played by British actor Gerald Campion, and the 'Famous Five' take a ride on a mechanical elephant at Kilburn on December 17, 1958 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Most of the unmanned Lunar and Martian rover concepts were designed to use manipulator arms for sampling rocks and surface material. John Schoenherr's (1935-2010) fabulous Moon Crawler painting pictured above, which he painted in 1961 for the cover of Analog magazine that year. Source: Project SWORD Â Â Project S.W.O.R.D.…
4-Legged robot space explorer. Robot Rescuing an Astronaut on the Lunar Surface. Robot reminiscent of Odex-1. Legged robot turning a valve. Model Lunar walker from the French children's book "Permieres Vacances Sur La Lune" ["First Vacation on the Moon"], Marc Heimer - 1967. Above: Prediction of life on the…
1974 Japanese Sci-Fi image of a Space Tug by Shigeru Komatsuzaki. Whilst it looks aggressive and attacking, it appears to be a rescue vehicle. Space Tugs by Sokolov and Leonov c1965. A depiction of an Unmanned Orbital Free-Flyer, similar to the 1982-4 Telepresence Servicer Unit (TSU) concept. Image source: projectrho.com…
circa 1965: Illustration of an astronaut in a space pod performing work on the exterior of a space station. Another man in a pod travels behind him. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
WARSAW, POLAND - MARCH: A member of the team constructors from techincal university demonstrates how bioprosthesis operates in March 1968 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
1983 M.I.T. Beam Assembly Teleoperator (BAT) The SSL was founded in 1976 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its early studies in space construction techniques eventually led to the EASE (Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA) flight experiment which flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-61B in late 1985. EASE was…
Lunar Construction Vehicle with manipulator arms. Above image from "The Next 50 Years on the Moon", 1974. NASA Study Summary: "Project Horizon, Vol 2, Technical Considerations and Plans" Here's a big study from 1959, done by the US Army, right about the time NASA was just becoming a going concern.…
An OMV leaves the payload bay of a Shuttle to deliver or retrieve satellites in orbits beyond the reach of the Shuttle itself. The basic OMV configuration. Any manipulator arm attachments are via appropriate kits, such as Integrated Operations Servicing System (IOSS) and Tumbling Satellite Recovery (TSR) both shown below.…
The 1982-4 - Telepresence Servicer Unit (TSU) Concept. Free-Flying Teleoperator 1. Thrusters 2. Vision sensors 3. Anchor arm 4. Manipulator arm 5. Vision sensor 6. Gripper 7. Thermal insulation 8. Light 9. Light 10. End effector rack 11. Spare part rack 12. Anchor arm 13. Communications and navigation antennas. As…
Illustrations from the book "Travel To Distant Worlds" written by Karl Gilzen. The illustrations are dated 1955 and are by Nikolay Kolchitsky (Ðиколай Кольчицкий) . The Space Tugs are manned and have what appears to be simple mechanical arms. The covers to both the Soviet version and the English version of…
UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 18: A mechanical dog, almost real in that it can run and bark, has just been exhibited in Denmark. It is controlled by wireless. (Photo by Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty Images)
1985 - Manned Autonomous Work Station (MAWS) by Brand Griffin. For more detail see Griffin's pdf here. Image and text sourced from drell-7. "With restrictions put on by current EVA technology, there's no such thing as being able to put on your spacesuit, go out the airlock and deal with…
1978 - Manned Remote Work Station (MRWS) by Grumman. MRWS multi-role concepts in support of large space systems. More advanced repair platforms for the RMS have been studied by NASA and Grumman Aerospace Corp. The remote work station (RWS) would resemble the manipulator foot restraint and have controls for the…
1962 - Manned Auxillary Fitter Craft with Mandible. Not the name the vehicle was called in the original Sperry Gyroscope Company advertisement when it appeared in the February, 1962 issue of Scientific American Magazine. The shape is somewhat reminiscient of Wernher von Braun's "Bottle Suit", with manourvering engines top and…
Manned Orbital Transfer Vehicle (MOTV) proposal by Grumman. Rationale for MOTV use: . Servicing satellites remotely using teleoperators operated from earch is more complex, less versatile, and less reliable than having man "on site" to perform this function. . Servicing and checkout is more thorough with man on-site, and contingencies…
"Bottle Suit" Wernher von Braun holding model of the Bottle Suit. Bottle Suit The Bottle Suit shows that when you plan to make your dreams come true, you have to create a number of intermediate solutions to problems you didn't anticipate. Problems like how to assemble a Space Station in…
TELEOPERATION - OBJECTIVES The objectives of this FPE are to develop and evaluate an experimental teleoperator (T/O) system. Such a system would be a precursor to an operational system and would provide a means for evaluating teleoperator performance, safety, and suitability for performing various tasks in space. Upon completion of…
The flight telerobotic servicer, or FTS, was conceived as a means of incorporating U.S. robotics technology on Space Station Freedom. The U.S. Congress was interested in advancing both robotics and automation technology for the benefit of the Station, as well as directing spin-offs to the U.S. economy. In addition to…
The flight telerobotic servicer, or FTS, was conceived as a means of incorporating U.S. robotics technology on Space Station Freedom. The U.S. Congress was interested in advancing both robotics and automation technology for the benefit of the Station, as well as directing spin-offs to the U.S. economy. In addition to…
Space Tug - 1949 The above image from a 2010 calendar with Bürgle's illustrations. I don't know if the Space Station illustration was previously published and if so, where? The caption suggests it was unpublished at the time. The Space Tugs are being used to hold and manoeuvre large panels…
Manned/Unmanned Lunar Explorer (MULE) Another Dual-Mode (Manned/Unmanned) LRV for Post-Apollo missions. This one with manipluator arms. Courtesy of one of NASAs system engineering courses. Source: here. See other early Space Teleoperators here. See other early Lunar Robots here.
Prime Vehicle "STEM" System The "STEM" system would be similar to the serpentuator, except that the translation/stabilization subsystem would be replaced by a STEM (Storable Tubular Extendible Member, Spar Aerospace Prod). The basic STEM concept is depicted in Figure 5-12. FIGURE 5-12 STEM PRINCIPLE The STEM is a continuous strip…
1.0 INTRODUCTION Teleoperator technology is presently being studied within NASA for on-orbit applications, including assembling of large structures, servicing and retrieval of satellites. The orbital teleoperator program is being conducted by MSFC and is designed to produce a suitable system for a series of Earth Orbital Teleoperator. The orbital teleoperator…
Trip around the moon 1955
American space tug. Study 1971. The original Boeing Space Tug design of the early 1970's was sized to be flown either in a single shuttle mission or as a Saturn V payload. Optimum mass was found to be 20.6 metric tons regardless. The Tug could be outfitted with a variety…
Re-useable Space Tug Concept Report dated 1970 Manipulator Kit only for manned space tug. The initial operational capability (IOC) date for the unmanned earth-orbit tug was Jan 1980, the manned earth-orbit tug for December 1980 (includes Manipulator Kit), and the manned lunar tug for April 1983. The Space Tug is…
The Rancho Anthropomorphic Manipulator (RAM) was built to test manipulator arms for use aboard the Space Shuttle. Orthotic manipulator arms. A man in space is relatively helpless in many respects; to perform useful work, he has to have special tools and some kind of assisting control mechanisms. The Atomic Energy…
The Flexible Robot Arm P.O.W.E.R. Introduction The Personal Occupied Woven Envelope Robot (P.O.W.E.R.) project is a joint effort of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Wyle Laboratories. This work is being performed under the Innovative Research Program for NASA. POWER is a flexible robot arm. It will be…
Spacemen Get Long Reach with Remote-Control Aids By WERNHER von BRAUN PS Consulting editor, Space Sophisticated puppets called "teleoperators" can relieve our astronauts of many difficult or dangerous tasks performed in orbit When one of our coming Space Shuttles repairs a satellite in orbit, or retrieves it for return to…
For Douglas Aircraft, in 1962, their earlier space manipulator designs, i.e., the Project Mercury converted capsule and the "Humpty Dumpty" unit, can be considered as first-generation, feasible, nonanthropomorphic devices. A much more speculative concept, but in every sense within our technological reach, is shown in figure 3 above. This is…
EVA Pod - The EVA Pod is a fictional spacecraft used for extra-vehicular activity seen in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Jupiter spacecraft Discovery One carries three of these small, one-man maintenance vehicles. [EVA - Extra-Vehicular Activity i.e. activity outside of the prime space vehicle.] Film stage. Detail…
Apollo-Soyuz Shuttle Manipulator Demo (1971-1972) - By David S. F. Portree , 05.14.2012 During the 1983 STS-7 mission, the crew of Shuttle Challenger used the Remote Manipulator System arm to deploy and retrieve the SPAS satellite, which captured this iconic image. The arm, bent to form the numeral “7,”…
Android Space Manipulator Robots May Tend Ailing Satellites -One of the frustrations of scientists is "burned out" satellites, those which, because of a malfunction or a worn-out part, inertly orbit the earth, doing no worldly good. "Such a satellite becomes a million dollar bit of space debris for lack of…
An autonomous Warden building, servicing and maintaining Daedalus. Above image source: Robots, by Peter Marsh, 1985 Autonomy and the Interstellar Probe - Sourced from here. by Paul Gilster on March 19, 2013 daedalus_final_report .....The span between the creation of the Daedalus design in the 1970s and today covers the development…
jvkvkvkvhjkhj A rather unusual electrical unilateral teleoperator is the Serpentuator (Serpentine Actuator) under development at Marshall Space Flight Center (fig. 109 above). The Serpentuator consists of links several feet long separated by joints driven by electric motors, or, in one version, electrohydraulic actuators. With maximum deflections of about 20° per…
Some robots will be made up of computerized "brawn" working in combination with human "brains" to form an efficient whole. These one-man capsules would enable workers to survive in space while performing complex tasks using robotic remote manipulators. (The Boeing Co.) Compare with Boeing's earlier 1965 concept here. See other…
NORTHROP CORPORATION NORAIR DIVISION HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA INTRODUCTION Participation in various system studies concerned with space and extraterrestrial environments has developed within Northrop Corporation, Norair Division, an acute awareness of the requirements for extra-vehicular protection of personnel in these unfriendly environments. This awareness has led to classification of work environments, anticipated…
LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION LOCKHEED-GEORGIA COMPANY MARIETTA, GEORGIA INTRODUCTION The first manipulative tasks required of man in a space operation will be those associated with establishing a station in orbit or with operating a manned vehicle or station in orbit. Practical environmental control systems required for human survival will probably result…
Donald F. Melton MECHANICAL DIVISION GENERAL MILLS. INC MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA INTRODUCTION Remote-handling systems can be defined as combinations of equipment the primary purpose of which is to move items relative to each other in a controlled environment. The system is includes not only the actuators and structures required for the…
SPACE WORK PLATFORM A self-propelled space work platform for astronauts based aboard a "mother spaceship" has been designed by the Bendix Corporation's Missile Systems division in Mishawaka, Ind. A full-scale mock-up of the space vehicle, prepared under a $40.000 contract from the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, which…
Space Schmoo . . . If you're a collector of acronyms (initials that make words) here's a beaut: Schmoo (for Space Cargo Handler and Manipulator for Orbital Operations). It's a vehicle that was designed by Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. Caption: This is the age of monsters in space also.…
SANTA MONICA DIVISION DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY, INC. SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA NONANTHROPOMORPHIC SPACE SUIT The "Humpty-Dumpty, " a nonanthropomorphic space suit (capsule), consists of an egg-shaped cylinder capable of supporting at least one man who is engaged in assembly, maintenance, or similar-type tasks in outer space (see figure 1). The capsule…
PROJECT MERCURY CONVERTED CAPSULE A second concept for a nonantropomorphic-type space suit would essentially be constructed from off-the-shelf items. It would be possible to utilize the Project Mercury Space Capsule and re-entry body as a space suit for assembly, maintenance, or similar-type functions. To do this, the major additions to…
GE Orbital Space Tug MISSILE AND SPACE VEHICLE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA INTRODUCTION The General Electric Company has been active in the manipulator and remote-handling equipment fields for several years. primarily in connection with its nuclear laboratories and test facilities. The application of remote-handling equipment to operations in…
Above: The 2-man Space Tug Extra Images sourced from here. Cancelled Projects: SLOMAR By Jos Heyman (with some help from the correspondents of the Secretprojects forum) In 1959 the US Air Force started the Space Logistics, Operations, Maintenance and Rescue (SLOMAR) study to generate preliminary designs of crewed space…
Astrotug in Operation - Artist's Conception The Astrotug Tugboat for Space: Spaceborne scientific laboratories and platforms for further exploration into space are an accepted concept based on established engineering techniques. Components would be fired as individual units into space, on precalculated orbits, and there assembled. To solve the major problems…
Concept O-9: Rendezvous by Manned Utility Tug From a report compiled between 1959-61 and presented in 1961 are various concepts {Suffixed by 'O' for Orbital Rendezvous). This extract only selects those concepts that have a manipulator component. WADD TECHNICAL REPORT 60-857 LAUNCHING AND ALIGHTMENT SYSTEMS FOR AERO-SPACE VEHICLES Nelson T.…
Found in the old Boeing Historical archive some years back was a piece of artwork dated 20 Dec 1965 illustrating a “work pod” for orbital use. Space Pod sourced from here. Compare with later 1976 Boeing Space Tug concept here. See other early Space Teleoperators here. See other early Lunar and…
Preliminary Design Concepts • Bell Aerosystems Remora Capsule The REMORA configuration (Figure 5-15) is a small, buoy-shaped capsule 6-feet high, 3-feet in diameter, and weighing 540 pounds (leaded). This concept, proposed shout 1960, permits one astronaut to function in space while protected from the space environment. The capsule is tethered…
LTV Space Taxi concept. Mock-up using models. Full-scale mock-up Images sourced from here as original pdf currently unavailable. • Ling-Temco-Vought Maneuvering Work Platform and Space Taxi In 1966, Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), completed a thorough investigation of manned maneuvering manipulator spacecrafts for the NASA Marshall…
Space Horse - Bearing a strong resemblance to a mechanical horse in this mockup of a Maneuvering Work Platform, an open space- going tool shop. Design work on tha platform was done under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Spoce Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala., by LTV…
Hughes Space Mobot concept. John W. Clark, Ph.D. NUCLEAR ELECTRONICS LABORATORY HUGHES AIRCRAFT COMPANY CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA ROLE OF REMOTE HANDLING IN SPACE [c1962] Orbiting Vehicles In connection with orbiting vehicles, remote-handling techniques can advantageously be employed in connection with maintenance and repair, assembly in orbit, and personnel transfer. Maintenance…
MACHINE TO EXPLORE MOON FIRST EXPLORER of the moon may be a machine. Roaming the crust, it would collect samples of rocks and dust with mechanical fingers, under remote control of spacemen remaining safely within a landed rocket ship. Hughes Aircraft company designers say it could be patterned closely after…
The vehicle in the book is described as being bee-like; when not flying, then walking. During the 1920s and 1930s, the lunar rovers of science fiction were sometimes more humorous than scientific. Homer Eon Flint, in 1923, proposed in his novel "Out of the Moon" what might be termed an…
Some of these early concepts for lunar exploration had elements of practicality; others were pure whimsy. One of the first, by Polish science-fiction writer Jerzy Zulawski (1874-1915), fell into the first category. His rover design appeared as an illustration in his 1901 tale "Szrebyym Globie" ["On the Silver Globe"] and…
In 1960, the indefatigable Gernsback came out with another lunar rover design. He called it the "Homobile." It had a pressurized cabin mounted on tracks and powered by electricity from fuel cells, with a leg-powered generator as an alternate source of energy. The cabin also had a pair of manipulator…
University of Wisconsin-Madison Mechanical Engineering Professor Ali Seireg achieved worldwide recognition for his work in mechanical and biomedical engineering design. Among his advances, he was first to develop a mathematical model of the entire human musculoskeletal system that could predict the muscle and joint forces and interactions, given a motion…
Revolutionizing Techniques of Orthosis and Prosthesis Professor Pierre Rabischong of the Montpellier Propara Centre watches as a female patient and her physical therapist use a machine developed by Professor Rabischong. This machine allows the patient in rehabilitation to maintain her balance while inciting her muscles to move. The system functions…
↵ 1948 GE Master-Slave Manipulator - John Payne Patent number: 2476249 (see here) Filing date: Nov 24, 1948 Issue date: Jul 1949 MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED, JUNE 1948 Mechanical Hands with Remote Control The village blacksmith of Longfellow may have had "muscles like iron bands," but scientist John Payne of General Electric…
Several feet away, the operator controls the arm from this chair. It can measure out liquid by the drop. "Adelbert"—Science's "Right Arm"—Can Even Write Its Name ALTHOUGH it looks more like a dentist's oversized drill, a gentle-acting mechanical arm called "Adelbert" is actually built like the human arm. It has…
The Iron Hand (Sourced from here and authored by Kerry Kirsch) The Iron Hand was a robot that was developed by someone at Erie Engineering Company, 840 West Baltimore, Detroit, Michigan in the shadows of the old General Motors Building. Erie Engineering was owned by my grandfather, Frank Karl Kirsch,…
"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…
Published in Radio-Electronics, April 1961. The Lazy Man's Delight ... An Automated Lawnmower By GORDON CARLSON - Development engineer, DeVry Technical Institute. Chicago, Ill. MUCH has been done with remote control, but a remotely controlled device that must maneuver in tight spaces (such as a grass cutter near the wife's…
1952 - Stewart Automatic Lawn Mower by Sterling Stewart SCIENCE IS SERVED Seattle: Sterling Stewart of Sioux City, IA., a graduate science student at the University of Washington, isn't lazy in the true sense of the word. He's able to relax with a cold drink while his lawn is mowed…
Remote Controlled Lawn Mower (Patent) - Barton G. Siebring Patent Abstract: This invention relates to power operated lawn mowers and more particularly to a power operated lawn mower equipped for remote control, so that the operator does not have to follow and guide the lawn mower, but can control the…
Fritz Kahn (1888–1968) was a German-Jewish gynaecologist and science author who developed a sophisticated graphic analogy between anatomy and machinery. His work was widely distributed in Germany until it was banned under the Nazi regime. He continued to publish, relocating to Palestine and Paris before escaping to the USA with…
The FloorBot is a robotic floor cleaner for the home. It's designed to automatically clean the floor while you relax, get a little exercise, or just head off for work. Press the start button and the FloorBot cleans in logical laps while sensing and navigating any obstacles in the area.…
I'm having difficulty in obtaining a copy of this magazine, so I have used the original article and illustrations from Matt Novak's wonderful Paleofuture/Smithsonian article here. Hugo Gernsback’s device was called the "radio teledactyl” and would allow doctors to not only see their patients through a viewscreen, but also touch them…
ROBOT GARDENING Selected Originals - ROYALTY SEE FLOWER SHOW 1583.19 | Selected Originals - ROYALTY SEE FLOWER SHOW (1:41:04:00 - 1:45:47:00) 28/05/1959 Robot lawn mower Selected originals (offcuts, selected scenes, out-takes, rushes) for story "Royalty See Flower Show" 59/43. Various shots Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) and…
The monkey with the robot engineer. There appears to be a photo-electric cell mounted on the front. Maybe this is the 'robot' safeguard required for safe operation. Jiro Aizawa was the inventor of the robotized "Monkey Train" at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo. Its been siad that he also patented the train, but…
During 1933, engineer's were determining how the Golden Gate Bridge[1] was to be built. Source: Modern Mechanix and Inventions, Dec 1933. One engineer's suggestion for the solution of the problem of sinking caissons[2] is depicted here in this picture of a "walking bridge." Definite placement of caissons has always been an…
I first saw this mentioned in David M. Earle's interesting book titled "Re-Covering Modernism: Pulps, Paperbacks, and the Prejudice of Form", but John Ptak's recent post reminded me of it. I have used his image of the prototype walking machine. The model of King Grey, the Electric Titan. Although called…
Aizawa's Remote Controlled Train (Popular Mechanics, Nov, 1936) article was popularised in blog.modernmechanix.com . Sadly, Jiro Aizawa was not named as the inventor in the article. Robot Engine Built in Japan Is Driven by Remote Control Automatic train control is understood to be a feature of a mysterious robot locomotive model built in…
Ft. Lauderdale - TOMATON and his creator Lenny Schectman. July 1979. Tomaton, short for Automaton, is 6-foot tall. Lenny Schectman became involved in robotics mainly because of his interest in technology allowing the brain to be tapped to signal function in limbs of paraplegics and quadraplegics. He wanted to enter the…
Source: (I've lost and been unable to relocate the source to this image. Please contact me if you do know the source.) This early Robot may have been in the Boston area in 1935. It looks capable of standing and sitting, raising and lowering either arm, and appears to have microphones…
Grinter & Woolich with robot - University of Florida ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) 1957 © 2004 - 2013 University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries. State Fair, Florida (same robot as above) © 2004 - 2013 University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.. WOW! It's A Real Robot 8…
ROBOT DRIVER: In Frankfurt, Germany—A motorcycle with a robot driver was one of features of a spring fair. Exhibited by the N.S.U. Motor Company of Neckarsulm, Germany, the robot showed the crowds how to drive the manufacturer's motorcycle. By a system of switches and electromagnets, the robot starts the engine,…
Jayson the robot, named after the Jaycee organisation he was built for, it is said to be built from aluminium sheeting, with flashing lights and built-in sound effects, it is operated by an electronic control panel worn by its attending master. Whilst appearing to be a man in a suit,…
An early example of multiple robotic creatures operating together. Other than light and touch sensors, there's no other apparent interaction with them. Possibly an early but simple example of swarm robotics and collaborative robots. English translation of article text: To emphasize wont in machine control, a British firm [Mullard] of electronic…
A Radio Robot By EVERARD EDMONDS Constructional Details of an Amusing Robot that Talks and Sings are Given in this Article. Source: December 4th, 1937 PRACTICAL AND AMATEUR WIRELESS p337 MAN has created figures in his own image from the very earliest times. One recalls the Colossi of the Ancient World ;…
"Tillie the Technocrat" robot, most likely inspired by Westinghouse's Katrina Van Televox of 1930. Although not a humanoid robot, like Katrina, the "robot" is anthropomorphised by a 2-dimensional cut-out figure. Caption: Junior High School Pupils Construct Robot 3 Feb 1933 During their spare time, pupils of May Cooke Junior High…
A 7 foot robot nicknamed The Iron Man, used to promote coming attractions. The Ben Ali Theatre was located at 121 East Main, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 12/7/1932, Image Source: Lafayette Studios collection #1444a. "The Iron Man", a static robot, would name all the forthcoming movies when asked. It currently unknown if this was done…
Macaz - Cuba's first robot that, it's claimed, could "walk" (roll), turn, talk, smoke, shake hands, and can get slowly upright. Made of aluminum, iron, brass, lead, copper and weighing 350 lbs. It's possibly the first mobile "robot" made since the coinage of the word, although there were other mobile mechanical men that appeared…
Image Source: Corbis. Electricity may do your yard work. One day, by simply speaking into a microphone, you may be able to command an electric "gardener" to mow the grass, cultivate the flower beds, trim the hedge and do other yard work. And all the while you'll be relaxing in…
Arthur Radebaugh was a futurist illustrator, airbrush artist, and industrial designer. He produced a significant body of work for automotive industry advertisements. He was noted for his artistic experimentation with fluorescent paint under black light, an interest that stemmed from his design work for the U.S. Army. From 1958 to…
Source: Life Magazine, 26 Jun 1950 WITH A REO SALESMAN AT THE REMOTE CONTROLS, THE MOWER DOES FIGURE EIGHTS AND LOOPS ON THE TURF AT MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE'S STADIUM LAZY MAN'S MOWER It can cut a lawn or a figure 8, all by one-watt remote control Partly to sound out…
Want to lie in your hammock and mow the lawn in repose? The Homko Robot mower can be maneuvered by a remote control panel, one lever for forward, stop and reverse, and another for right and left. Since the cord that attaches this brain to the mower is 40 feet…
William "Bill" M. Brobeck joined the UC Berkeley lab in 1937 and moved several years later to Orinda with his late wife, Jane Knox. Their home became a local landmark in the mid-1950s, after Mr. Brobeck used his engineering talents to build an automatic lawn mower. Neighborhood kids would gather outside…
The gasoline-powered Fairbanks-Morse Grass Finder has no cord. Run it around the outside of your lawn once to give it the feel of things and from then on it runs itself, feeling for the high uncut grass with its left hand, as it were, and following along the edge of…
Source: Popular Science, Mar 1950 Mows Lawn by Radio—Pretty Soft! WHILE his robot lawn mower chugs around the lawn, Jim Walker, of Portland, Ore., takes it easy in his glider, sipping a cool drink and operating the radio controls. Walker, a radio ham, long-time builder of radio-controlled model…
Source: Mechanix Illustrated, Oct, 1938 (from blog.modernmechanix.com ) Builds Remote Control Lawn Mower Device Attaching two electric – motors, an old paint can, a wooden mixing bowl from a kitchen, sundry gears, wires and drive belts to a regulation lawn mower, Alvin Lodge, an unemployed mechanical engineer of Millersville, Pa., constructed…
Product Description (of Version 2.0) Imagine pushing a button, walking away, and having clean floors an hour later. That futuristic scenario is now here with the Trilobite, the hands-free, "intelligent" robotic vacuum first introduced in Europe by Electrolux. While it isn't the first robotic home vacuum, the Trilobite is a…
Noo-Noo (operated by Mark Dean) is the Teletubbies' sky blue pet. He is in Teletubbyland as a type of vacuum cleaner. He rarely leaves the House. He doesn't speak like Teletubbies can; he makes sucking and slurping noises. At times, Noo-Noo gets annoyed with the Teletubbies' antics or get too…
1983 Household robot concept by a Japanese magazine. As well as the floor scrubber and mop, there are other cooking and serving functions as well. (Source : ?) See other early remote-controlled and robotic vacuum cleaners and floor scrubbers here.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., produces its first patent for a "Self-Running Cleaning Apparatus" in 1990. Publication number US5109566 A . Also published as US5284522 Publication date May 5, 1992 Filing date Jun 28, 1990 Inventors Osamu Eguchi, Yasumichi Kobayashi, Shinji Kondoh, Haruo Terai, Hidetaka Yabuuchi Original Assignee Matsushita Electric Industrial…
Early Automatic and Robotic Floor Cleaners 1899 - L'AN 2000 Floor Sweeper Prediction 1928 - Televox capable of switching appliances on and off 1940 – “Roll-Oh” the Domestic Robot 1949 - Tony Sale - George the Robot attempting Vacuuming 1955 - Sonic Broom 1957 - RCA/Whirlpool HECK and Automatic Floor Cleaner…
The maid remote-controlling the electric floor scrubber. France in the Year 2000 (XXI century) – a series of futuristic pictures by Jean-Marc Côté in France in 1899. Originally in the form of paper cards enclosed in cigarette/cigar boxes, the images depicted the world as it was imagined to be like…
In 1955 the U.S. Science-fiction serial Science Fiction Theatre there was an episode called "Time is just a place" where a young couple discovers that their neighbours, who possess a 'sonic broom' and many other technologically advanced household items, are fugitives from the future who have fled to the past to…
The console of HECK with the floor cleaner being activated. Mechanix Illustrated, Nov, 1959 HOW RCA IS PLANNING…. YOUR WORLD OF TOMORROW By James C. G. Conniff [edited version - see full text here.] An automated house with electronic devices that awaken you in the morning, make your bed, prepare…
The Jetsons live in the year 2062 in a futuristic utopia (100 years in the future at the time of the show's debut) of elaborate robotic contraptions, aliens, holograms, and whimsical inventions. Robotic vacuum cleaner. This console activates the washing, ironing, and vacuuming. Antennas imply radio-control. Image source Paleofuture Rosie…
In the film 'The Glass Bottom Boat', the inventor Bruce Templeton (Rod Taylor) tries to impress Jennifer (Doris Day) with his "Automatic floor-cleaning" robot after dropping banana peel on the kitchen floor. It only manages to pop out of its door to arc towards the dropped banana peel and through…
The "Little Dragon Carpet Sweeper" from the 1968 movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". The movie is set in 1910. The original contrivance is on show at Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. Rowland Emett's 1968 sketch of the Little Dragon Carpet Sweeper. The "Little Dragon Carpet Cleaner" from 1968 This…
Computopia, a contraction of the words computer and Utopia, is a Japanese concept from the late 60s. This snippet of a robotic floor cleaner is from a set of great illustrations from the Japanese magazine Shonen Sunday who illustrated an article on the topic. Source and full set of illustrations…
US Patent Information: Publication number US4306329 A Publication date Dec 22, 1981 Filing date Oct 5, 1979 Inventors Gunpei Yokoi Original Assignee Nintendo Co., Ltd. Self-propelled cleaning device with wireless remote-control Abstract A self-propelled cleaning device with wireless remote control includes a body, a driving device on the body for…
Comro I with Vacuum Cleaner accessory. Above: ComRo I with the robot pet, Wires. (Text: Circa 1981) A bit more utilitarian than robots serving drinks or selling products is Jerome Hamlin's ComRo I. This robot made its debut in the latest Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog. It operates two ways, by hand-held…
Dustbot ® 5409; SO-G ® was the first purpose-built robot to feature a built-in vacuum cleaner. Dustbot's large eyes flash red and his arms move creating a sweeping action for the broom, while his vacuum functions. He really vacuumes, he picks up small pieces of paper, dust, crumbs, etc. He…
Extract from article by Tom Carroll, Servo Magazine, Nov 2006. The above picture shows a robot vacuum cleaner that was a work of art, though a bit tall to clean under most furniture. Frank Jenkins of the Robotics Society of California demonstrated his home vac for our group 15 years…
Robo-Vac: Televac, a robot vacuum cleaner that runs on a timer, rotates in six-degree increments as its flat-lying hose extends 18 feet under furniture. Obstacles are detected by a sensor on the nozzle. Televac is shown below with and without its cover. US Patent information: Automatic vacuum cleaner Publication number…
Christopher Noessel from scifiinterfaces.wordpress.com has already done such a great job in describing the robot vacuum cleaner from the 1997 movie "The Fifth Element" that I have re-blogged his post here: Floor sweeping robots - 22 Apr 2013 by Christopher Noessel To illustrate his capitalist ideology, (a high-tech…
MASCOT - (MAnipulatore Servo COntrollato Transistorizzato) ELECTRONIC EXHIBITION IN ROME - 1962 See MASCOT 0:59 secs into above clip at the Palace of Congresses in Rome for the IX Congress of Electronics Exhibition. Later models of MASCOT were made by Elsag Bailey in the early 1990's. The Mascot first produced…
To Stanley....From Mille Merragan & Shrozo 4/5/1920. Thanks to Valeria and her Retro Geek Girl website for the larger image to one I referenced in my Enigmarelle post here. Any further information on "Shrozo" most welcomed. There was a spate of living automatons appearing over a similar period of time having…
Image Source: circusmuseum.nl Any further information on "Moto-Baby" most welcomed. See the full list of Fake and Pseudo Automatons and Robots here.
"Rose-Marie" the Robot with Will Mackford. The notes on the photographs are bilingual Flemish/French. [Thanks Serge De Man for the language origin.] Photo source here: Although William Mackford is an English name, the annotated images suggest the act to be Belgian-based. [Thanks Serge De Man for the language origin.] Any…
Above image Source: circusmuseum.nl Popular Electricity and the World's Advance - Volume 4 - Page 226 by Henry Walter Young - 1911 . This entrancing point was recently reached at Hamburg, where a vaudeville theater billed as its special attraction : "Moto Phoso-Man or Automaton ?" When the curtain rose for this…
Moto-Phéno die lebende Puppe: Vornehmste, interessanteste Schau der Gegenwart. Auch für Familien. Willi Schoenen gen: Moto-Phéno. Friedrich Hirsch, Impresario. Moto-Phéno, der einzige Mensch, der durch unbeugsame Willenskraft sich selbst hypnotisiert und in der Hypnose eine Puppe imitiert. Google English translation: Moto-PHENO the living doll: noblest, most interesting sight of the…
Anthropomorphicals I and II. 1964. Plexiglass and Aluminum. 65in. x 20in. x 24in. Richard Feigen Gallery, New York. 1965. Source: Beyond Modern Sculpture - Jack Burnham 1968 It would be misleading to classify [Hans] Haacke as an artist primarily devoted to applying cybernetic principles to mechanical artifacts; rather his interests…
Autonomous Mobile Robot (MAR-1) [Мобильный автономный робот (ÐœÐÐ -1)] was created by the Division of agricultural robotics at the Moscow Institute of Agricultural Engineers in the early 1980s in the Soviet Union. English text and some images sourced from Vadym Shvachko's Robotic blog here. The first model of MAR-1. Image source - Юный техник…
English text translated from the original German: (for pictures and diagrams, see pdf below) The Cybernetic Model "Tortoise" Cybernetics - In recent years, a new science was born. It enables machines to replace with highly skilled human labor, eg by electronic calculators. These machines are very complicated in structure, and…
The "Space Models" designed by Peter Holland, which appeared in the early Model Maker of the 'fifties onwards, were interesting applications of mechanical principles and some are still available today in the Model Maker Plans Service as constructional drawings. This, his latest, "Space Model" makes use of readily available gear…
Cyclic Action Bipedal Electric Railway by W. P. Holland Model Maker January 1956 The problem in view this month is that of penetrating dense scrub country - solved by taking big steps: indeed, when this machine throws its track nonchalantly over its left shoulder it fairly stamps its way through…
Professor Katsyu [ПрофеÑÑор Г. КатыÑ] with his walker. Source: «Ð¢ÐµÑ…ника-молодежи» 1972 г â„–2, Ñ.16-17, 19 Build the model! Full source: Юный-техник 1972-01 Sample walking actions. Professor GP Katysu proposed a model of two-link wheeled walking mechanism, the principle of operation is reduced as an obstacle to one link and deferred to his…
Robots on display at the Regional exhibition of Technical Creativity Pioneers (Kirov, 1962). Source: Tornado 84
Kybernetisches Demonstrationsmodell Schildkröte 1966 Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg Als Ergebnis einer fast 2jährigen Arbeit der AG "Regeltechnik" im Haus der Pioniere kann ein kybernetisches Demonstrationsmodell vorgestellt. werden - die Schildkröte. Das Modell wurde bereits mehrfach ausgezeichnet. Hier Dipl.-Ing. Walther und Christine Poethke (Wilhelm-Weitling-Schule) bei der Überpfüfung der Lenkanlage der Schilkröte. (UA) …
Tinius the Cybernetic Turtle c1950 - An engineering student takes a robot through its paces, 1950. [RH-2013- Although looking like a turtle (tortoise) which suggests being a Grey Walter-inspired machines, With it two "eyes" appearing as though it is fixed to the steering, suggests more that it is just phototropic i.e. it is…
TRANSFER ROBOT 200 - NEW BOND STREET 2607.10 | TRANSFER ROBOT 200 - NEW BOND STREET (1:13:11:00 - 1:14:31:00) 1961 London. LS. Mr Miduch, the mechanic, switches on three robots. CU. Mechanic looking on. CU. Robots working. CU. Switch panel. CU. One robot working. MS. Three robots working together,…
Programmed Article Transfer by George C. Devol Jr. See full patent details here. Patent number: 2988237 Filing date: Dec 10, 1954 Issue date: Jun 13, 1961 Joseph Engelberger on the left, George Devol Jr on the right - c1960 [Image credit: The Estate of George C. Devol] In the patent, Devol wrote,…
Five-ton robot on wheels sticks out it arm to turn a "hot" valve in Hanford plutonium plant. One-Armed Robot Tackles Hot Jobs A ONE-ARMED robot is turning the valves in the giant plant at Hanford, Wash., that makes A-bomb plutonium out of uranium. The new robot looks like a railroad…
CRANE by SEWARD S. BABBITT. See full patent details here. Patent number: 484870 Filing date: Jun 13, 1892 Issue date: Oct 25, 1892 Seward Babbitt's crane first mentioned around 1980 in terms of robotics history and timelines in textbooks, but in terms of enabling technology only, rather than being identified as a…
Pollard Jr SPRAY PAINTING MACHINE by Willard Lacey George Pollard Jr. See full patent here. Patent number: 2213108 Filing date: Oct 29, 1934 Issue date: Aug 27, 1940 Pollard Sr POSITION-CONTROLLING APPARATUS by W. L. V. POLLARD Sr. See full patent here. Patent number: 2286571 Filing date: Apr 22, 1938 Issue…
Images and text source from here. The original name of ABB’s robot factory at Bryne was Trallfa, a company that pioneered development of a robot for spray painting in 1965 - 67. It has its origin in a company manufacturing wheelbarrows, sack trolleys and transport equipment, which was founded in…
Another early patent that looks surprisingly modern was granted for a robot called 'Improvements in or relating to Positioning or Manipulating Apparatus' invented by Cyril W. Kenward. The British patent was filed March 29, 1954 and was published August 21, 1957, and preceded George Devol's first robot patent by several…
In 1958, the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) Thermatool Corporation (later known as AMF Corporation, later acquired by Prab Company of Michigan) initiated an R&D project for a Versatile Transfer Machine, or VERSATRAN, a programmable cylindrical coordinate frame robotic arm designed by Harry Johnson and Veljko Milenkovic. AMF introduced Model 102, a…
Mary Locke getting what robots like to give. Patent Information: MECHANISM FOR REMOTE MANIPULATION OF INDUSTRIAL OBJECTS Anthony J. Kaye et al See full patent details here. Patent number: 3173555 Filing date: Sep 7, 1962 Issue date: Mar 16, 1965 This invention relates generally to mechanism for positioning or otherwise…
Source: Popular Mechanics, Dec 1957. Although I've seen dates suggesting the Planobot was around since 1955, The first dates I've seen in publications start in 1956. The patent itself was filed 13 Mar 1957. "Planobot is for automationeers. It's a transfer device (Planet Corp., 1820 Sunset St., Lansing, Mich.)…
Above Photo by Chris Shute A Meccano machine to read your palm. Built in 5 months from mostly modern Meccano parts and 13 salvaged motors. All 24 electrical switches and the 32 - step Sequencer are made from Meccano. Mystic Mec will choose an almost 'random' letter to hint at…
The Robot Garguantua. gar·gan·tu·a -n. A person of great size or stature and of voracious physical or intellectual appetites. [After the giant hero of Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais.] Like most, including myself, the true significance is lost in the title ("An Automatic Block-Setting Crane") and opening description of the…
Akira Kanayama’s painting machine from 1957 was a four-wheeled device that Kanayama could remote-control to create paintings approximately 180 by 280 cm. The canvas lay on the floor and the machine dripped and poured paint on the picture pane. The painting machine is an early example of the machine/robot in…
Cosme, le chevalier de lumière... est le dernier né et le géant des automates. Nous voilà bien loin des premières poupées articulées. Cosme n'est pas seulement colossal (5 m. de haut, 1.350 kg), il a de l'ambition et veut synthétiser en lui l'humanité présente et future dans le contexte technique…
Source: Panorama, 17 September 1929 DE OPENING VAN DE 4e INTERNATIONALE RADIO-TENTOONSTELLING TE AMSTERDAM vond Dinsdag j.l. plaats. De heer P. Geervliet exposeert er zijn mechanischen mensch, die op alle vragen antwoord geeft. THE OPENING OF THE 4th INTERNATIONAL RADIO EXHIBITION AMSTERDAM found Tuesday jl place. Mr P. Geervliet exhibits there…
13 Nov 1933, New York, New York, USA --- The law says "there ain't goin' to be no bar maids" the ubiquitous feminine cocktail shaker persists in appearing on the scene and here, essaying the role, is Miss Ruth Young, where she is demonstrating a helpful device for the cocktail…
Source: Popular Science, October 1935 LIFELIKE ROBOT SPEAKS, SMOKES. AND DRINKS The robot and a companion go fishing. So realistic in appearance is this mechanical man that it is hard to pick out at a casual glance. After closer inspection, you may distinguish him as the figure sitting on the…
Meccano model of GE's Walking Truck designed by Hugh Henry. All legs are completely rotatable in the same direction. For a complete set of images see the NZ Meccano web site here. Thanks Antonio Gual for encouraging Tony Brown (the author of the Modelplan) who found some pictures of Hugh…
Source: Meccano Magazine, March 1965 ...Since then, we have featured examples of his skill at fairly regular intervals in the M.M., one model which I personally remember very well being a Walking Horse and Chariot which was described in a 1965 issue. In fact, Mr. Konkoly himself said of this…
Mechanical Men and Robot Models from various Meccano Instruction Manuals. 1931 Mechanical Man AMONG the many mechanical marvels that scientists tell us will be common sights in the year 2031 A.D., none can be of greater interest than the " robots " or mechanical men which, we are assured, wilt…
The Walking Gyro was conceived and built by John Jameson in 1981. Article Source: Robotics Age, January 1985. THE WALKING GYRO John W Jameson 275 E. O'Keefe #7 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Walking machines generally fall into one of two categories: statically balanced or dynamically balanced. A statically balanced machine…
A gyroscopic toy, that imparts a walking motion via a reciprocating crank, driven via a worm off the flywheel shaft. The bottom part is interchangeable so that the pedaling unicycle can be replaced by walking stilts, or a leg arrangement for tight-rope walking. Patent number: 2588040 - see full patent…
The Gyro-Cycle - A pseudo-pedalling machine. Source: "Mechanical Toys" by Athelstan & Kathleen Spilhaus, 1990 First Meccano Magazine advertisement was in April 1938. A very ingenious scientific toy. Toy was invented by a famous airplane designer in England. Action depends on the well known gyroscopic principle. The front wheel is…
Wendell the Unicyclist premiered in 1988, and is the world’s only unicycle riding animatronic figure. He performs without any visible means of support. Source: The Illusion of Life: Lifelike Robotics, Gene W. Poor, 1991 "... But the most impressive component Garner brings to the animation marketplace is an extraordinarily creative…
There are various websites that contain the full pdf of Meccano Instruction manuals and Meccano Magazines. You can download them from nzmeccano.com . An early model from 1975. See also Wes Dalefield's excellent site on the Meccano Giant Walking Dragline here. See real Walking Draglines and illustrations on the walking mechanism here.
1925 Nilsson Walking Tractor It is not always possible to use vehicles with wheels, especially when the ground is heavy and the surface uneven. The problem of overcoming the difficulty has long occupied the attention of inventors, and a new type of transmission was evolved when caterpillar action was used…
Erector: Metal construction modelling sets invented in 1911 and patented in 1913 by A. C. Gilbert. Very similar to the earlier Meccano by Frank Hornby. Before the word "Robot" was coined and popularised from 1920 onwards, walking machines resembling people were called "Mechanical Men" or "Automatons". Erector called one of…
Andreas Konkoly, a renowned Meccanoman, built many walking machines and robots in his lifetime. This reproduction, by S. Tokarski shows the Magic Motor (clockwork spring) power drive. For weight distribution and size, the drive is mounted in the rickshaw, and a driveshaft extends forward to the walking mechanism in the "Coolie". The…
LONDON - ALL SET FOR SANTA aka CHRISTMAS TOY FAIR Meccano promotional robot at the1965 Christmas Toy Fair, London. The robot's head turns, ears spin, eye lights flash, mouth opens and closes, chest lights flash, each arm can move up and down and the head's antenna rotates. It appears that one…
Thanks to Antonio Gual of Barcelona, Spain who notified me of his father's old robot. The text is also by Antonio. 1953 El robot del meu pare / Dad's robot Als anys 50, el meu pare, l' Antoni Gual Segura i els seus companys de Radio Vilafranca del Penedès van…
During some earlier research on Walking Machines, discovered an article in The Salt Lake Tribune. (Salt Lake City, Utah), March 09, 1913 headlined "The Giant Mechanical Mosquitoes Of Dr. Gustav Luchy." Now that it's come time to write it up, I see that Lyle Zapato's in his blog ZPi has already done…
Metal feet on Swedish carriage enables it to "walk" up or down stairs. The rocking rhythm on flat surface puts baby to sleep. Source: Mechanics Illustrated May 1957.
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…
Patent number: 880526 - see full patent details here. Filing date: Jun 27, 1907 Issue date: Mar 3, 1908 A very ingenious walking wheel mechanism was invented by the British inventor H. S. Hele-Shaw. He was inspired by another British invention, Diplock's Pedrail and heavily promoted the Pedrail before inventing…
See full patent details here. Patent number: 658004 Filing date: Feb 7, 1900 Issue date: Sep 18, 1900 Further patent improvements include US747387, US787500, and US979447. Source: Popular Science September 1933 Some images located here. The Pedrail wheel Text from Wikipedia. A pedrail wheel climbing stairs, February 7, 1904 The New York…
WHEEL FOR ROAD-ENGINES by RESCUE B. PAGE Patent number: 442780 Filing date: May 29, 1890 Issue date: Dec 16, 1890 See full patent here. Fresno Morning Republican 18 Oct 1889 p3 R. B. Page's Legs They Will Carry the Heaviest Load With Ease STEAM WILL URGE THEM ON A Fresno Man's Invention…
The Incredible No-Torque "Walking" Machine It can turn on its axis, "walk" sideways, and tackle the roughest terrain and unbelievable gradients by DAVID SCOTT /PS European Editor The zaniest ride I've ever had was at the wheel of this weird walking-wheel vehicle on a grassy hillside in a Prague suburb.…
The 6 models one can construct with this set. Source: Profi Instruction pdf here. Box cover. Source: Fischertechnik Online Museum here. The gait pattern for each of the models. (Google translation from German) The new computing box 'Bionic Robots' builds on the 1994 PROFI ' I'm walking' set . New…
Meccano put out a robot models kit called "Meccanoids" in 1979, with instructions and parts for any of 10 models. See Instruction booklet pdf here. Venusian Desert Bug Sirus Stroller Saturn Dinosaur Martian Mantis Space Skate Lunar Lurcher Mercurian Creeper Uranian Rhino Cosmic Spider Cyborg Robot Comments from some Meccano Men…
In this image, from top left, we have the Lunar Inchworm, Giant Inchworm, Crater Crab, Giant Snake, Martian Frog, and Star Squid. Above Images Source: Robots: Fact, Fiction & Prediction, Jasa Reichardt, 1978. Space Mechanimals advertisement in New Scientist , 23 Oct 1980 showing the available models and their model…
U&lc. Illustrated by Murray Tinkelman, December 1979 I love machinery. I love drawings, photographs and diagrams of machinery, particularly diagrams. They look important, they demand respect, and they inspire confidence. How dare anyone doubt that those dotted lines, those beautiful arrows, and the mystically placed little uppercase letters indicate something…
"Gyro Gearloose" walking inventions featured here appeared in comics from 1967 owards, I believe. From Wiki: Gyro Gearloose is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic chicken created by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. He is part of the Scrooge McDuck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of…
A motorized Shoe-wheeled Vehicle most likely from the Honda Idea Contest or Toyota's Idea Olympics (Expo) which showcased ideas from their employees. See other Walking Wheels at the bottom of the Walking Machines page.
Modern Mechanix, Sept 1931. Cast-off Shoes Make Tires for "Rough Rider" Bicycle IF YOU don't know what to do with your old shoes, here's a suggestion—make bike wheels out of them. No less a unique stunt has been performed by Marie Glory, a well-known Parisian bicycling enthusiast, as the photo…
No, not a bumpy ride. Most likely a cam similar to the "Square Wheel" rides on the swingarm and driven by the main pedal crank. This vehicle was submitted by an employee to the All-Honda Idea Contest in Japan in 1974. Source: Popular Science, Aug 1974. See other Walking Wheels at…
Source: MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED August, 1949 Truck Walks on Wheels ADMIRAL Richard E. Byrd's transport troubles in the Antarctic ten years ago started John F. Kopczynski, a student engineer, thinking: "Why can't wheels walk?" Conventional wheels merely spun and bogged down helplessly in the deep snow. Walking wheels could pull like…
Source: Popular Mechanics, April 1970. 1- SQUARE WHEELS WORK BETTER than round ones in this system for use on rough terrain- The sharp-cornered treads dig in on snow, mud, sand or steep grades, providing increased traction for trucks, tanks and other military vehicles. At the same time, ingenious self-leveling geometry…
The vehicle ПрОП-Ф (PrOP-F), designed by the Russian Mobile Vehicle Engineering Institute, was sent in a space mission to Phobos in 1989 (Kemurdjian et al., 1995). This 45 kg robot was able to move using hops, perform scientific experiments and transmit the collected data and the experiments results to the…
Taking 400-foot 15-second hops, lunar "pogo sticks" could most forward at about 20 miles an hour—much faster than the four to five miles an hour of vehicles now being considered for moon exploration. The moon leaper was devised by Dr. Howard S. Seifert, scientist at the United Technology Center at…
Patent number: 2371368 Filing date: Oct 16, 1942 Issue date: Mar 13, 1945 See full patent details here. Blurb from patent describiting capabilities and uses. This invention relates to a vehicle, and more particularly to a tank which is propelled by means of an operating leg. One Of the objects…
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…
A Tractor that Walks? Originally posted here on August 11, 2011 by heidrickaghistorycenter The Fageol 9-12 “Walking” Tractor, 3500lbs, 1919. Heidrick Ag History Center.Our collection here at the Heidrick Ag History Center includes this little tractor. Nestled in a line of other comparably sized tractors, you might first notice its because…
In 1824, Gompertz became a founding member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) which later became the RSPCA. He acted for many years as the president of the society prior to resigning for reasons that may have been connected to his radical views or to…
March 15,1966 "The Torun Robot" - Torun, Poland, is famous for the Gingerbread Man and now a robot. Marian Jasnoch, a young electrical engineer has been working on this robot since 1962. The robot can answer a phone, convey a few simple sentences, record messages, nurse a baby, clean a…
TUMBLING EXPLORER, or TEX, was an early design conceived by Space General. It resembles an oyster shell and is extremely manoeuverable. It could be dropped from an unmanned spacecraft ready for action. A TV camera is contained in each panel and operates on radio command. The three illustrations above illustrate…
Copied from N55 WALKING HOUSE homesite, see here. manual for WALKING HOUSE WALKING HOUSE, Copenhagen 2008 Introduction: WALKING HOUSE is a modular dwelling system that enables persons to live a peaceful nomadic life, moving slowly through the landscape or cityscape with minimal impact on the environment. It collects energy from its…
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…
Source: Popular Mechanics, March 1922 Patent number: 1287643 - see full patent details here. Filing date: Dec 12, 1917 Issue date: Dec 17, 1918
Source: Popular Science, September 1922
Caption: Two Small Models Which were Built to Demonstrate the Operation of the Walking Legs That Took the Place of Driving Wheels Source: Popular Science Monthly, Aug 1921 "WALKING" MOTOR CAR TRAVELS SLIPPERY ROADS A true nonskidding motor car has been evolved by a Czecho-Slovakian inventor in which the driving…
Original article copied from Core77 here. Burning Man: Walking Pod, Mechanical Beest Vehicle Posted by Jessica Charlesworth | 13 Sep 2012 | Comments (2) Meet Scott, a commercial welder who by day runs his own sheet metal fabricating business in Sacramento with 3 other colleagues, and by night, he constructs…
Text from Video Clip: Octipes Vehiculum is an 8-legged walking machine which I built for my studies in mechanical engieneering in 2012 at my university (Fachhochschule Stralsund, Germany). It is muscle-powered, driven by a pedal movement. I was inspired by the strandbeesten of Theo Jansen (www.strandbeest.com). Unfortunately the vehicle isn`t…
Hombre FORCYLOR at a 1960 Trade Exhibition in Barcelona. "Hombre FORCYLOR" appeared as a promotional robot for a manufacturer of sheets, branded "Forcylor-Trinxet". Source: ABC (Madrid) 21 Nov 1956 p22 interrogue Vd. al ROBOT...!? todos los días, a partir de mañana, en ALMACENES SIMEON, Pza. Santa Ana, 14 El "Hombre FORCYLOR",…
LeTourneau Tree Stomper Model 6-110 of 1964 was a walking vehicle of the same principle of walking draglines. It was used for land clearing job in Dare Country, North Carolina. 120 t, 475 hp Detroit Diesel. Upper picture from the book 'R.G. LeTourneau Heavy Equipment' by Eric Orleman, Iconografix,…
Scale model of Mávag-Fiat "Mocher Wagen", 1923 with feet propulsion replacing conventional rear wheels. Picture from the review 'Wheels and Tracks' N° 61 about 1998. [ Source: Unusual Off-Road Vehicle Locomotion ] MÁVAG, or Magyar Allami Vas-, Acel-, es Gepgyarak (Hungarian State Iron, Steel and Machine Works), was based in Budapest…
Text: Science Journal, October 1968 Special Issue: Machines Like Men Machines with arms p59 H. A. Ballinger Representing a further class of machines for the radioactive environment is the result of my [Ballinger] own work at Harwell. Some four years ago a study of reports on' criticality' incidents in the…
The Japanese owner of a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles has installed a robot waiter because he thinks they are more efficient than his human waitresses. The robot carried trays of food and other orders on March 11 to the waiting customers and was well received by the patrons. One…
HXP-022351-2/23/66-CHICAGO:One of features at Auto Show here is the robot at the Ford display. Appropriately named "Freddie Ford," mechanical man answers questions fed to it by curious visitors Robot was formed from Ford car parts & stands 12-feet tall. Model Mary Ann Laurel poses with"Freddie." UPI TELEPHOTO The earliest version…
Above image sourced from Richard Steele . Doug Trumbull, who directed the 1972 sci-fi cult film "Silent Running" and was behind the design of the drones later designed and patented a remote-controlled character called “PAL” which was first used in the Showscan film LET’S GO for the Toshiba Pavilion at Expo ’85 in Tsukuba, Japan.…
Set in the near-future, this story is about an "artificial intelligence" that wants to break the confines of its "box". Dr. Alex Harris, a computer scientist and his about to be estranged wife Susan, a child psychologist live in a house that's fully computer automated with Alfred, the Enviromod Security…
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Douglas Trumbull with Drone #02, "Huey", in his personal collection at the time. [Starlog] Doug Trumbull talking to the actors inside the Drone suits. Poor quality picture of Doug Turnbull with "Huey" in his office. [Source: The Victoria Advocate, 4 Aug 1977] Early Concept Drawings Drone Concept drawings. The credited…
Penn State Research Team Develops OctArm Soft Robot Manipulator Recent interest in expanding the capabilities of robot manipulators has led to significant research in continuum manipulators. The idea behind these robots is to replace the serial chain of rigid links in conventional manipulators with smooth, continuous, and flexible links. Unlike…
Here is the Otherlab’s 15 foot inflatable walking robot, the Ant-Roach. We thought this conceptual elephant looked more like a cross between an anteater and a cockroach. The goal of building the Ant-Roach was to demonstrate the carrying capacity and high strength-to-weight ratios possible with inflatable structures. Comments November 21,…
Otherlab's prototype articulated inflatable robot arm, is apparently able to lift a person with 50-60 psi even though it weighs only 2 pounds. All pictures and captions sourced from Otherlabs webpage unless noted otherwise. See Otherlabs webpage and other videos here. See other Pneumatic, Fluidic, and Inflatable robots here.
Siddharth Sanand: is doing his PhD at the Robotics Institute at CMU. He is interested in making robots soft and safe to enable physical human robot interaction. On the other side, he has been sewing together various ideas on inflatable robots and actuators. Recently interned at Otherlab. All pictures and…
Pneubot stands for "pneumatic robot", or a robot that is actuated by pneumatic technology. A pneumatic technology involves the use of compressed air to drive mechanical motion. The compressed air can be moved through soft, balloon-like tubes, which allows for both rigidity (when filled) and flexibility (when decompressed or empty).…
Painting by FRED FREEMAN, originally appearing in the July 11, 1960 issue of LIFE Magazine. The creature unreeling an electric cable as he explores a distant planet is a man prepared for space as some scientists propose. Electrodes and other attachments would control many of the physical functions normally initiated…
CYB Head and Arm - 1969 Plexiglass, aluminium, and wires. cybernetic man — birth of a new type of man, adapted to new duties and interplanetary missions. we known already at this moment that it will be soon possible to adapt man to new environments by adding or replacing parts…
Interview with John Gaughan who restored "Tap Dancer". AN INTERVIEW WITH STEPHAN VON HUENE ON HIS AUDIO-KINETIC SCULPTURES Dorothy Newmark* * Computer artist living at 820 Hermosa Drive, N.E., Albuquerque, N.M. 87110, U.S.A. (Received 22 November 1969.) Interviewer's note—Stephan Von Huene was born in Los Angeles, California in September…
Where are the Cyborgs in Cybernetics? - Kline
Cyborg article
Stephan von Huene - Sound Sculpture
Pages 51 - 52 [images above] February 1970. A "drawing" and later "painting" machine which made the graph-like drawings in which we see both the simple program and the simple resultant "drawing." Later developments added variable voltage and therewith a "how much" on or off possibility. These and other developments…
DAVID JACOBS Born 1932 in Niagara Falls, New York. Studied in California, obtaining his M.A. at Los Angeles State College. Presently Acting Chairman, Fine Arts Department, Hofstra University, New York. Notebook These photographs [in attached pdf] and pages from my sketchbooks arc presented more or less in chronological order and deal…
The Kaufmann Trumpeter had leather bellows for lungs and reeds which imitated the sound of a brass instrument. The Kaufmann family from Dresden. Friedrich id on the right. Text incorrectly dates the 'Robot' from 1910, it should be 1810. [Source: Popular Mechanics Aug 1950] Trompeter This is an example of…
1849 - Flute-Playing Automaton by Innocenzo Manzetti. A comparison photo above showing the Flautist's size with a real person. In 1849 Innocenzo Manzetti constructed a flute-playing automaton, in the shape of a man, life-size, seated on a chair. Hidden inside the chair were levers, connecting rods and compressed air tubes,…
From Kenji Yanobe, one of Japan’s most creative contemporary artists, comes the whimsical sculptural work "Soul of Bubble King" . Inspired by the Japanese subculture of Anime and Manga, Yanobe’s works are intellectually inquisitive and convey a stoic persistence in facing adversity in everyday life. Created in 1992, "Soul of Bubble…
[Sourced from: Mechanical Toys: How Old Toys Work, by Athelstan and Kathleen Spilhaus (New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1989)] The principle of the Bourdon tube, a flattened, flexible tube that straightens out under pressure, was used in pneumatic toys such as the rubber monkey that plays a drum when a…
Sound Sculpture - David Jacobs 1975
Peter Holland's Air-powered "Bubble Pulser"
Plot Summary for Rikky and Pete (1988) Follow the lives of Rikky, a talanted geologist, and her brother Pete, an off-the-wall mechanical genius. To find peace of mind they travel to the outbacks of Australia and meet up with a desert mining town full of zany individualists. In the movie, Pete…
Danger in the Everglades. Author: Frederick W Keith Publisher: New York, Abelard-Schuman [1957] [Thanks to Michael Rekoff who informed me about this book.] Authors: Frederick W Keith OCLC Number: 1420226 Description: 1 v. illus. 22 cm. Responsibility: Illustrated by Kurt Werth. A diagram of Packy's interior from page 17.…
The Womaniser, now owned by the Tate Gallery, which was inspired by 'wondering what it would be like to be a hermaphrodite and make love to myself. It had six breasts and rubber gloves that inflated every 30 seconds'. A life-sized figure, assembled out of inflatables and prosthetics, has been…
MEART: THE SEMI-LIVING ARTIST '2001-4' SymbioticA Research Group in collaboration with The Potter Group SymbioticA Research Group were established in 2000 as one of the core research groups in SymbloticA, the Art & Science Collaborative Research Laboratory, School of Anatomy & Human Biology, University of Western Australia. The Potter Group…
Friday, February 10, 2006 Inflatable Body sculptures premiere in Australia ARW will workshop and premiere 16 new Inflatable Body sculptures in Adelaide Australia, March 3 - April 8, 2006, in a series presented by the Experimental Art Foundation. These new Bird sculptures represent a continuation of Amorphic Robot Works' research…
Shadow Biped Walker by David Buckley - 1988 Information sourced from my friend David Buckley's own website here http://davidbuckley.net/DB/ShadBiped.htm. Shadow Walker - Retired in 2002 A two legged human sized pneumatic powered walking robot. Design and building started 1988. Size - 5ft 6inches high, weight about 80lb Operational area:- safety supporting frame…
Slim Slime Robot The Slim Slime robot is a robot made up of linearly connecting multiple modules that pneumatically bend and elongate. Inside a module (below), three metal bellows are arranged in parallel at regular intervals with an identical circumference. Both ends of each bellows are fixed with two disks,…
Kinetic Sciences Inc. (1995) developed a tentacular robot, powered by a hybrid system of pneumatic bellows and electric motors. It can extend, contract and bend in 6 dof by using tendons threaded through cable guides. Tentacle-like manipulators with adjustable tension lines by Guy Immega Patent number: 5317952 Filing date: Dec…
A world’s-first robot that he built had inflatable arm linkages for deployment in hostile and confined spaces. The inflatable robot is a low-volume and low-weight alternative to rigid arms. The inflatable robot arms can achieve the required load-bearing capacity and rigidity through the appropriate selection of size and pressure. The…
A Six Degrees-of-Freedom parallel inflatable robot. Patricia Dombiak (Ben-Horin), Moshe Shoham and Gershon Grossman. Little is known about this robot. It was built as part of her Masters Thesis. P. Ben-Horin, M.Sc., "A Six Degrees-of-Freedom Parallel Robot with Three Planarly Actuated Links", 1994. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Dept.…
Life-size Humanoid Walking Robots One of the hardest things to do in robotics is build a 2-legged robot. These robots, made from balsa wood and paper, use the lifting power provided by helium balloons or propellors to leverage themselved upright and activated via remote control. They seem to wander about with…
Two Flying Humanoids successfully tested over downtown Austin, June 5, '99. Sponsored by the Austin Museum of Art's Robots Live! program. These were quite large - see the drawing of a person for comparison. Source: http://www.main.org/polycosmos/android/flyer/mrpeanut.htm The Humanoid Airship A "flying peanut" winged humanoid robot is under development for the…
Bipedal Ornithopter in flight. Parts. Source: http://web.archive.org/web/19961114042310/http://robotgroup.org/projects/Roboblimp.html Bipedal Onithopter UAV By David Santos It runs on two legs, flaps wings to take flight, and flys nimbly about the nooks and crannies of urban landscapes. Featured on the Discovery Channel's, Invention Series, ABC's Good Morning America, and Newsweek magazine. The blimp is a…
1980-1 - Mark Fisher - Teacher - "The Wall" The Architects' journal: Volume 196, Issues 14-21 - 1992 The work of mechanical engineer Jonathan Park and architect Mark Fisher, who together form the rock set specialists Fisher Park. This pair met as teachers at the Architectural Association in 1976, a…
Source: Mark Fisher: staged architecture by Eric Holding - 2000 Dynamat Whilst studying for his Diploma at the AA (1969-71) under Peter Cook, Fisher continued to investigate the potential of inflatable technology, and took a particular interest in the way it could create environments able to respond quickly…
Source: Mark Fisher: staged architecture by Eric Holding - 2000 Inflatables and Structures Fisher had seen his first anthropomorphic inflatable Mother of the Arts in 1966. It was an inflatable woman designed by fellow Architectural Association students for the annual Lord Mayor's procession. It was based on Jean Tinguely's She,…
Jonah's House [La Casa Jonás in Spanish] Developed as a project named "Movil" [Cell or Cellular in English]. A pneumatic cellular structure whereby the wallsegments could be elongated or reduced according to the air-pressure in bellows attached to each side of the cell or segment. Source: http://arqueologiadelfuturo.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/la-casa-que-aprende-ii-197x-la-casa.html LA CASA JONAS,…
Rubber muscles - Rubber Developments 1984
Popular Science Jul 1985. Humanoid? Android? Robot? The terminology may not be well-defined, but in any event, Jon Barron, a British engineer, has dubbed his prototype anthropomorphic robot McAndroid the Android. Barron appears with his creation in the photo above. Although he figures that the market for the manlike machine…
Modell einer Bioprothese mit künstlichem Muskel pneumatischer Art. Der Muskel besteht aus einem Gummirohr, in dessen Wände längs der Mantellinie nichtdehnbare Fäden angeordnet wurden. An den Enden sind die Gummikörper mit Endstücken zur Befestigung und Luftzuführung abgeschlossen. Beim Aufblasen des Muskels mit Druckluft verkürzt er sich und erzeugt damit eine…
Above: Keith Clark demonstrates his design for an innovative end effector which would inflate inside, and so grip, a tubular truss structure. Back in 1978, another type of end effector under study for the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) was actually a balloon. The sort of aluminium truss beams proposed…
The inflatable hand first appears at The First Annual International Computer Art Exhibition - Cybernetic ARTRIP, Oct. 6-21th. 1973 at the Ginza SONY Salon. See Shiro Takahashi's website here. When trying to squash a balloon having a particular shape, it is necessary to apply unexpectedly large force, and even if…
CAPTION: ROBOTS ON PARADE Keisuke Inada of Bridgestone Corp.of Tokyo adjusts the Soft Arm robot, a multijoint robot that resembles a human arm in its movements, at Cobo Hall. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers expects 25,000 people to attend its AUTOFACT '90, an exposition demonstrating computer-integrated manufacturing. Photo is dated…
A Slightly different tack was taken by B. F. Goodrich in a "rubber muscle" project. If a straight piece of rubber hose with specially wound reinforcing cord is pressurized with a liquid or gas it will bend to form an arc; if more pressure is applied, the curvature increases until…
ROMAC, THE PNEUMATIC MUSCLE Actuator pulls 10,000 pounds using 60 psi A pneumatic actuator based on the principle of the human biceps has come to our attention in the form of a patent disclosure. The ROMAC, under development by MacDonald Detwiller & Associates of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, works on…
Reference: Science News - March 26, 1988 The Muscular Machinery of Tentacles, Trunks and Tongues Scientists discover a new way for muscles to work By STEFI WEISBURD An arm without bones could not bend. A person who tried to bend such an arm would instead end up with a…
Inventor Nikolai Teleshev watching the operation of an integral robot designed by him. Any further information on this inventor and robot gripper most welcomed.
The arm above is based on an experimental system of pneumatic muscles. Air is forced into the muscle bags, which expand but shrink in length. String tendons link the muscles to the bones, resulting in movement of the limbs. The robot was developed by The Original Android Company [RH-2012-Now…
Pouch-Type Artificial Muscle (1970) An artificial muscle, which would serve as a rotational actuator for prostheses, was developed. It was made of double boards connected by a hinge and an airtight rubber pouch the expansion of which was constrained by nylon so as to generate torque around the hinge. Dr.…
Artists concept of the Lunar Worm, showing a large, crawling Pneumatic bellows shelter, and a smaller transport vehicle with side-by-side circular bellows. The crawling motion is not gained by pumping fluid (air) in or out of the bellow segments, but uses a mechanical travelling-wave connected to the pneumatic-bellows structure.…
Although "fluidic actuators" had been around for a long time prior to Joseph Laws McKibben's invention, none had been used previously for prosthetic applications, yet alone robotics. It was McKibben's use that coined the term "Artificial Muscle". Joe McKibben talks about his invention: More Help For Polio Victims To bring motion to his…
Rear view. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Propellor protection. Prop actually swivels up and down to give ground clearance or motive power. [Source: All the above images - Life 1948] [Source: Mechanix Illustrated - March 1948] [Source: Popular Mechanics - May 1948] [Source: Popular Science - May 1948]…
The earliest known actual walking dragline was from Ransomes & Rapier 1939 using the patented Cameron and Heath walking method. Model W170, it had a 4-yard bucket. TRACTION OR PROPULSION MECHANISM OF THE WALKING TYPE - Cameron et al. Colin McLeod Cameron and Alfred Thomas Heath British Patent 320,223 Granted…
Walking Fish Walking Bird "Boadicea" Walking woman with Chariot - see here. Walking Boat. See here. Exploding Man Clockwork Woman Baldwinisms from Andrew Baldwin on Vimeo. Andrew Baldwin trained as a Master Blacksmith and Welder and worked as such for 28 years. His interest in Victorian engineering, his limitless…
See Andrew Baldwin's website here http://www.andrewbaldwin.co.uk/. Andrew Baldwin trained as a Master Blacksmith and Welder and worked as such for 28 years. His interest in Victorian engineering, his limitless imagination and his aptitude for working metal are what motivates him to create his outlandish mechanical marvels. Among his creations is…
James Wilson -Tapered Robotic Bellows
James Wilson - Bellows Robotic Arm
Unicorn-1 Par10-11 1981
This page contains a timeline showing Early Pneumatic, Fluidic and Inflatable Robots. If image is clickable, then a blog post exists for it. Check out the updates page for recent posts. Pneumatic Robots 1875- "Psycho" Card Playing Automaton  1928 - "Gakutensoku" by Makoto Nishimura  1957-8 - Joe McKibben "Artificial Muscle"  Early Pneumatic Actuator…
"Boadicea" walks very well at around 2 mph carrying anyone that can fit in the chariot. It is well over-powered with a slow-running English Lister diesel engine chuffing away inside the woman's belly from whence profuse clouds of billowing smoke emerge whether out of the engine needing a rebore or, more…
The Friendly Grey Computer, Star Gauge Model 54 Motor-driven assemblage: painted aluminum rocking chair, metal case, two instrument boxes with dials, plastic case containing yellow and blue lights, panel with numbers, bell, "rocker switch," pack of index cards, directions for operation, light switch, telephone receiver, doll's legs, 40 x 391/8…
Gakutensoku (å¸å¤©å‰‡, Japanese for "learning from the laws of nature"), the first robot to be built in Japan, was created in Osaka in 1928. The robot was designed and manufactured by biologist and botanist Makoto Nishimura (1883-1956). Nishimura had served as a professor at Hokkaido Imperial University, studied Marimo and…
Six Legged Bicycle This piece is built to ride like a bicycle, but pedaling walks the six legs, instead of turning wheels, for forward motion. Somewhere between riding a bicycle and a horse. See video here Fabrication: Pete Beeman Engineering: Pete Beeman Date: 2000 Dimensions: 5' deep, 4' wide, 4' high Materials: aluminum, steel, wood, mechanics. [Source: All…
Iron Stallion (Pedal Horse) Carter's linkages remind me somewhat of Alzetta's 1933 horse. Longer legs, a more powerful motor, lower centre of gravity, steering and one could ride this machine bicycle-like. You start and stop with the person's feet touching the surface of the road. The ride would be a bit…
2003 - Robo-Donkey - Christiaan Zwanikken (Netherlands-born) Robotic donkey drives ancient Islamic irrigation system Robotic Donkey drives Moorish water wheel from christiaan zwanikken on Vimeo. Donkey work [Source here] It is an ambitious project to reconstruct all the original features of an irrigation system that, 400 years ago, watered a…
CSERNY Márton Márton is from Budapest, Hungary. His human-powered walking machine is novel in that the front legs do not pull the cart, but are pushed by the pedals, chain and sprocket. The pedaling action also rocks the 'hip', which raises and swings each free-swinging leg in turn. Video Akció…
Mr. Robotham the Great - Radio Modeller Dec 1981
In the movie "What A Way To Go!", "Larry Flint" creates painting machines to produce his abstract art. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rps9NZPesh4#t=2696s Plot This lavishly produced, big-budget comedy (it cost $20 million in 1964 dollars) stars Shirley MacLaine as Louisa, a widow who is worth $200 million dollars. However, she's convinced that her…
NERISSA.- A Nerve Excitation, Inhibition and Synaptic Analogue. This demonstrates particularly the relationship between the various parameters of nervous action such as finite propagation rate, excitation threshold, all-or-none conduction, strength-duration curves of excitability, refractory periods, Wedensky synaptic facilitation and inhibition, inhibitory escape and rebound, transmission of information by pulse interval…
Self-recognition and the Mirror Dance [Image source: An Imitation of Life, Scientific American, May 1950, p42-45.] 7 . Self-recognition. The machines are fitted with a small flash-lamp bulb in the head which is turned off automatically whenever the photo-cell receives an adequate light signal. When a mirror or white surface…
Accomplishments of an Artifact - W Grey Walter
WGW-NERISSA-TLB
Electronics-World-Feb62-Bionics
George Lovatt - Frank Stuart Mechanical Elephant
Nantes-Sultans-Elephant
Tomorrows Man - Popular Science Nov 1963
Cyborgs - Astronautics Sep1960
Cyborg (NASA Driscoll) 1963
Cyborg in space - Life 2 Oct 1964
Dante: In 1992 a walking robot named Dante1 was designed and built at Carnegie Mellon University. Using a tensioned tether, Dante can ascend and descend steep slopes. It is designed to rappel into and explore active volcanic craters. The Dante project was an ambitious attempt to proceed, in 10 months,…
A good example of the "big iron" approach to mobile robots is AMBLER (acronym for Autonomous MoBiLe Exploration Robot), developed by Carnegie Mellon University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This behemoth stands about 5m (16.4ft) tall, is up to 7m (23.0ft) wide, and weights 2500 kg (5512 lb). It moves…
DATE:25/04/08 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com ESA to undertake lunar rover study By Rob Coppinger The European Space Agency is offering €500,000 ($786,500) for a pressurised lunar rover (PLR) phase 0/A study to produce a conceptual design, to evaluate its functional, technical and operational requirements and determine its likely cost and development schedule. …
1931: "Bugs the Mechanical Man" by Bobby Lambert, Charlotte, N.C. USA. 1948: 1949: Elmer the robot, Colorado. Jimmie the Demonstration Robot responds to single words via the telephone. 1950: 1951: 1952: 1953: 1954: 1955: "Reject the Robot" by Tommy Firestine. USA. 1956: "Herbert Watt" the robot. 1957: "Nemo the Magnificant"…
Dante robot - Electronics Australia Jan 1994
John Fare Since the late 60's I have browsed all types of magazines for articles on electronic art, kinetic art, and robots. When I first came upon the John Fare article, I tucked it away, taking it at face value, for a future use. Given the rise of the internet, it appears that the…
John Fare - Insect Trust Gazette "The Hand" - 1968
Russian Walking Machines from Dept. of Theoretical Mechanics. All source material from here. Now tens of scientific groups in the world are developing this problem. Walking machines can be divided into two parts: dynamical stability (with a few legs) and statical stability (multilegged) machines. The letter can be divided into…
Quasar Industries - Interface Age - April 1978
Patent number: 5845540 Filing date: Sep 25, 1997 Issue date: Dec 8, 1998 See full patent here. Patent Abstract: A pair of connected joints is provided in a master-slave robotic system each operated by a plurality of force-imparting means. Such force imparting means for the second joint supported on a…
TeleOperator/telePresence System / Concept Verification Model (CVM) The TeleOperator/telePresence System/Concept Verification Model (TOPS/CVM)[34], was developed as the successor to the 'Greenman'. The TOPS/CVM consisted of a 3-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) head, a 3-DOF torso and a dexterous, force-reflective 9- DOF hand coupled to a force-reflective 7-DOF arm. Fig. 1 TOPS from Space and…
"Greenman" (1983-1988) - The first anthropomorphic (human configured) manipulator developed at SSC San Diego was the Remote Presence Demonstration System, nicknamed "Greenman". It was assembled in 1983 using MB Associates arms and a SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego-developed torso and head. It had an exoskeletal master controller for the human…
"GreenMan" Teleoperated Mechanism 1995
TOPS - Teleoperator/Telepresence 1993
John Fare - Studio International November 1972
Televox - The Michigan Technic - v.40-41 Jan 1928
Painting (1986) by Anton van Dalenshowing B.F. Skinner with Project Pigeon. Project Orcon During World War II, Project Pigeon (later Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American behaviorist B. F. Skinner's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile. The control system involved a lens at the front of the missile projecting an…
Orcon - Toledo Blade 11 Oct 1959
ORCON - New Scientist 8 Oct 1959
Orcon - Cumulative Record p426 b.f. Skinner
Animal Guidance - Electronics Australia - January 1972
Archigram Group's futuristic-type room at Tomorrow's Home Exhibition called 'Living 1990' held at Harrods, 1967. Robot Fred is on the left. IDEAL HOMES Your browser does not support iframes. Possible layouts involving Robot Fred and Robot James. Robot Fred has a smaller footprint than Robot James. LIVING 1990 The Archigram Group…
From eVolo Competition - 2010 Skyscraper Competition Special Mention - Natwalk 2.0 Natwalk II or walking tall Preface ” The sky switches on daylight for us - or the shower. We are small gods, mere gods of the machine which is our highest. Our universe is a huge motor,…
Perhaps the most impressive robot show [from Expo'85] is at the Fuyo Robot Theater. In this exhibit hall, whose exterior is shaped like a pearl in an opening oyster, the robots basically have the run of the place, entertaining visitors with a complicated floor show. Through voice recognition and voice…
Machinery Service Robot: An Unmanned Conveyor Dainichi Kiko This waiter robot, priced at Y5 million, is one of a number of "amusement" robots that Dainichi has developed for use in restaurants and wedding halls. Performing eight basic operations, including the ability to speak sixteen different phrases, the waiter robot is…
This page will contain a selection of early Bionics including CYBORG technologies and Neural computing, and dates showing the creation or announcement of these and related technologies. If image is clickable, then a blog post exists for it. Check out the updates page for the most recent posts. History…
A display of robot models showing which robots were included by Tezuka in the Fujipan pavillion. The Symphonitoron. Robots appearing at an exhibition. Osamu Tezuka with his robots. Dancing robot rotates, and moves its arms. Catalogue entry. Blue photo-taking robot on the left. See the full Jiro Aizawa story…
The Osaka Demonstration Robot by Arata Isozaki consists of a head, body, base and two arms of different lengths. The head contains two control rooms. In the first ambiant data is collected and processed, and then transmitted to the main control room from which the robot receives instructions to respond by…
The 7ft tall, blue robot appeared in the Fujipan pavillion at Expo'70, Osaka, Japan. The robot display for the Fujipan pavillion was designed by Jiro's partner Osamu Tezuka (the creator of Astro Boy) so most likely the robot was, at least, from their Institute of Juvenile Culture. The robot itself is probably an Aizawa…
I don't know what this robot does. There's a large slot in the front and speakers - maybe it is a record player? Robot after restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan in 2008. Image by "Robot". The Robot with his brothers in the Nagoya Robot Museum. The Robot…
Restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan in 2008. Blue stamping robot with his brothers in the Nagoya Robot Museum. The Robot Museum closed 31 September, 2007. Both Stamping robots after restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan in 2008. Image by "Robot". See the full Jiro…
Mr. Saburo after restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan. The caption from a 2010 Japanese catalogue reads (after translation): Three mid-size robot brothers Fujio [富士夫], Saburo [三郎], Kuro [ä¹éƒŽ]. These robots look very similar. The middle robot is the same as the one in the top photo, although the above…
An Aizawa robot that stands on a pedestal. Wrapped ready for transit. I don't know what this robot does. It appears it can nod its head. The front checkerboard patterns have many lamps behind them, maybe generating various patterns in light. The robot after restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology…
æ˜å’Œ32 年（1957 年）発行㮠『科å¦å¤§è¦³ã€ç¬¬10å· ã€Œæ©Ÿæ¢°ã¨é“å…·ã€ç‰¹é›†ã‚ˆã‚Š 次郎æ°ã¨ã€Œå‘¼ã³ãƒªãƒ³ã‚’手ã«ã‚‚ã£ã¦ 時刻を知らã›ã‚‹å£ãƒœãƒƒãƒˆã€ Rough English translation... 1957 (1957) issue 'Scientific general survey' 10th number From “machine and instrument” special edition Mr. Jiro placing a bell in the robots hand. The robot speaks through its 'mouth' to tell the time. See the full Jiro Aizawa story here .
å‰æŽ²æ›¸2é より æ˜å’Œ22年（1947年）製作㮠「ユニãƒãƒ¼ã‚µãƒ«ãƒãƒœãƒƒãƒˆç¬¬2å·ã€ éƒ½ç«‹å·¥è”“é«˜æ ¡ã®å‰µç«‹å››å年記念ç¥ã«å¦ç”ŸãŸã¡ã¨è£½ä½œã—ãŸã€Œã‚¨è”“一郎ã€å›ã®æ¬¡ã«è£½ä½œã•ã‚ŒãŸå¼Ÿã§ã‚ã‚‹ Rough English translation... Cit from Page 2 1947 (1947) production "Universal Robot No. 2" Made with students in Senior high school was founded four decades Jubilee Metropolitan Industrial vine "Mr. Ichiro " is your brother, was made following. Opened back of robot. See the full Jiro Aizawa…
An Expo'70 [Osaka, Japan) postcard showing Kuro-Kun. Two post-cards (one cut down) showing Kuro-Kun (Mr. Kuro). The image is covered in a thin prismatic film so that when tilted, the robots internals can be seen. The images below show a very similar robot. Most likely the same robot, but the chest…
Mr. Testu [Tetsu-Kun], unconfirmed name, also called Mr. Stamp. I've dated him as 1973, but I've also seen a reference to 1971. Mr. Tetsu on display after being restored at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan, 2008. The author with Mr. Tetsu in November, 2010. See the full Jiro Aizawa…
(Source: Mechanix illustrated September 1951) Robots in Ragtime The Japanese have come up with something new in toys. It’s a mechanical orchestra and its tinny music has captured the hearts of the youngsters. Jiro Aizawa, an ex-Kamikaze plane designer, is the creator. Loath to discard his mechanical training after the…
Mr Hachiro appearing on the cover of a 1967 Model Magazine. Mr Hachiro (small robot second from left). A later picture of Mr. Hachiro (third from the left, front, small) with his brothers. See the full Jiro Aizawa story here .
Mr. Ryo [Ryo-Kun] on display after his restoration. Ryo-Kun during restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan in 2008. The robot's left arm follows the X-Y directions from a master arm seen here at the base being guided by a person. Close-up of the drawing hand. Close-up of…
Mr. Atomic is an Aizawa robot that was in an exhibition in 1968. It draws (and/or writes) with its right hand/arm, and rubber stamps with the left. Mr. Atomic may not be it's real name, but is the name on its shoulder. See the full Jiro Aizawa story here .
l Mr. Juro [å郎ã¯] was 'born' in 1967. "Juro" means "ten" in Japanese, so he was most likely the 10th brother. Here he greets and counts (via numbers displayed on Nixie tubes) visitors to the Science and Technology Museum in Tokyo. See the full Jiro Aizawa story here .
The above image is cropped from a larger image showing 3 other brothers. This robot is named Mr Fugio in that image's caption. [Source: Robert Malone Robots] The caption from a 2010 Japanese catalogue reads (after translation): Three mid-size robot brothers Fujio [富士夫], Saburo [三郎], Kuro [ä¹éƒŽ]. These robots look…
An early picture of Mr. Shinsuk [Shinsuk-Kun]. Note: I have not fully confirmed that this robot is called Mr. Shinsuk. Aizawa did a makeover on many of his robots, making matching of them from old photographs difficult at times, to the point one believes they're looking at a different robot…
Mr. Taro the Camera Robot by Jiro Aizawa. Built in 1969 for Expo'70 held in Osaka. He was located in the Fujipan Pavillion, in partnership with another robot. The above image was from a more recent exhibition catalogue held in Japan, 2010, and shows a more modern digital camera. The Nixie tubes…
Mr. Sparks with his four brothers before Goro was born. An earlier picture of Mr. Spark with his brothers. Mr. Spark (2nd from left) with his brothers in the Nagoya Robot Museum. The Robot Museum closed 31 September, 2007. Mr Spark awaiting a full restoration at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology…
Goro, meaning the 'fifth' brother, was 'born' in 1962. Of all the Aizawa large robots, Goro was the first to be popularised by the Western press. During the recent restoration of Aizawa's robots, another robot, incorrectly I believe, is now being called Goro. Source: Popular Mechanics, Feb 1965 p 131. Aizawa…
The first of the 10 brothers by Jiro Aizawa. Aizawa uses the word 'born' to denote when the 'brothers' came into existance. Mr. Ichiro [Ichiro-Kun] was reportedly born in 1959. Mr. Ichiro in the background. Possibly Mr. Fugio [or Mr. Saburo] in the front. Mr. Ichiro on the left, followed by…
Jiro Aizawa, born 1903, is very significant in terms of Japan's history of robots, toy robots in particular. (also Dr. Aizawa, Uncle Robot, Dr. Robot, Zirou Aizawa, Dr. Aizawa Zirou, and 二郎相澤 in Japanese.) In 1910*1, when in 5th grade, Aizawa saw his first mechanical man in a London exhibition [RH Note that…
Sweaty Manny by Arthur Fisher Popular Science - Sep 1988 Manny. One of the most complex and sophisticated computer-controlled movable robots ever designed, as seen in the photos above, is being built at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Wash. "Manny," for robotic mannequin, is so humanlike that it even sweats.…
Kelley invents the "Pedomotor", or power operated walking or running device to facilitate the operation of pedestrianism or running operation. The "Pedomotor" will provide relief of muscles utilized during the running operation, and to increase the speed of the person. Although any type of motive power can be applied, Kelley…
Cobb invents a walking structure that simulates the action of natural walking using mechanical means, typically for a person who has lost the use of their legs. Motive power is supplied by the operators arms driving a crank-wheel which in turn drives the legs in an oscillatory motion. The same…
The Ambushers (Movie) - 1967 When a government-built flying saucer is hijacked mid-flight by Jose Ortega, the exiled ruler for an outlaw nation, secret agent Matt Helm and the ship's former pilot Sheila Sommars are sent to recover it. Once in Acapulco, Helm and Sommers get a tour by Ortega's…
ROBOTICS: Featuring An Automated Pavlovian Dog! Developed many years ago, in the "Pre-IC Age" these Robot Rovers could simulate such Classical Pavlovian Responses as: CONDITIONING, EXTINCTION, SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY, LEARNING CURVES and HIGHER-ORDER CONDITIONING. Three-deck stepping-relays comprised the main elements of the dog's memory. A few transistors were used for…
Electric Bob. Image courtesy Joe Rainone. Electric Bob was introduced in "Electric Bob and His White Alligator; or, Hunting for Confederate Treasure in the Mississippi River" in the New York Five-Cent Library v1 n50 (July 22, 1893) by "Robert T. Toombs," an author about whom nothing is known. E.B. appeared…
"Road Runner", the walking, running legged scooter, was shown at the 1996 annual Idea Olympics sponsored by the Toyota Engineers Society (TES) and held in Tokyo City, Japan. It won the Silver prize, also called the humor award. Gear wheels and a crank drive 4 feet. I want one!
Robots on your doorstep (a book about thinking machines) Nels Winkless, Iben Browning - 1978 - 178 pages Yogi is Smarter than the Average Bear ...It is not widely remembered that Man has been the standard draft animal for most of "historical" times, quite apart from prehistory. Only very late…
Serialised in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction (Oct-Nov 1959) under the name "Starship Soldier". Starship Troopers is a juvenile military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published (in abridged form) as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (October, November 1959, as "Starship Soldier") and…
In the Cute Fun Album for 1953, the story 'Champion Robot' by E R James features totally enclosed eight foot high powered suits for use on farms and in factories. The hero robot 'Creakyfoot' belongs to a boy, Andrew, who climbs through a door in its back into 'the…
Thursday; 14 October 1971 Naval Anthropomorphic Teleoperator (NAT) developed by MBAssociates, San Ramon, California, under a joint Navy-NASA-AEC contract. Slave arm and 3-D TV system mounted on Tripod. Exoskeleton master controller worn by operator (Donald F. Adamski) to the right in the photograph. Naval Anthropomorphic Teleoperator (NAT) The kinematic arrangement…
Although inspired by Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" that had infantrymen wearing "power suits" that surround their bodies and amplify their movements, most of the Gundam mobile suits were of the "driveable robot" tradition, where operators sat in cockpits and manipulated levers and pedals. The Gundam concept was developed in 1978,…
1953 Cute Fun - "CreakyFoot" in The Champion Robot - E.R. James
Shown above is the original three legged walking machine. Contrary to above caption, the 3-legged walker was developed in 1971. Van Derhei, Jack (ed.) / The Wisconsin engineer Volume 77, Number 2 (November 1972) Sanborn, Steve Everyone should walk, pp. 8-9 During the 1971 Engineering Exposition people on this campus were…
SAM, a mobile manipulator, mimics the movements of an operator stationed at a far-distant control center. The Self-propelled Anthropomorphic Manipulator (SAM) that wears NASA logos was developed under Edwin Johnsen's direction in 1969 by the now defunct Space Nuclear Propulsion division of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Johnsen is credited…
Cybernetic Dog from Simple Cybernetics (Russian) -1965
CMU Rover (showing camera slide). The CMU rover wheel drive assembly (simplified cross section). CMU Rover base assembly (showing wheels). Basic robotics concepts - John M. Holland - 1983 The CMU Rover Fully Independent Drive At the time of this writing [1983] Dr. Hans Moravec at Carnegie-Mellon University is…
Wireless World, December 1972 Free Roving Machine by M.. F. Huber, B.Sc. A device which will "explore" a room and by finding and tracing the path of a length of tape laid on the floor, return to a charger at intervals to recharge its batteries A number of years ago,…
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…
Emily - The Robot with a One Track Mind by Bernard Dickman Popular Electronics March 1962 The strange-looking object following the white line is named "Emily." She may look like a dishpan with eyes, but this "Electro-Mechanical Inebriated Ladybug" is actually an electronic robot of the simplest type. Though equipped…
Huber's Free Roving Machine - Wireless World December 1972
"Emily" the white-line follower - Popular Electronics March 1962
GE Hardiman - May 1971 Report
GE Hardiman - Final Report 1971
The devices perform alternating and quite different mechanical works which are controlled by a person. The object of the present construction is to amplify the force of a man and perform different kinds of mechanical works which otherwise have to be performed by hand. The principal kind of works to…
An early patent describing current exoskeletons was filed in 1964 (and issued in 1967) in the United States. Without using the specific term of exoskeleton, Emery Kultsar, the inventor, describes a "system of support and traction for 'body', designed to protect workers from extreme conditions (fire, explosions, fallen wreckage ...).…
Constantin Paul Lent 3034131 MOBILE SPACE SUIT - see pdf here. Patent number: 3034131 Filing date: Aug 7, 1956 Issue date: May 15, 1962 Although the suits key features were related to the aviator's 'needs' for long-duration flights, the invention predicted that as the air became more rarified the higher…
JASON, a robot built by students in the EE Dept. at University of California, Berkeley. They include L. Stephen Coles, Michael H. Smith, Alan M. Robb, Paul L. Sinclair, and Ralph R. Sobek. The robot is equipped with a number of infrared proximity sensors and a radio link to its…
Unicorn-One ( Universal Controllable Robot ) is truly universal and a robot that you can build for between two- and-four hundred dollars, depending on your ingenuity and scrounging abilities. It is fully mobile and has the ability to use its arms and hands. It can be controlled by a cable…
Creep Mk-2 - 1962 A radio controlled programmable robot with an arm and gripper, designed by T R Bridge, Radio Control Models & Electronics April 1962. Creep was programmable by recording, on a tape recorder, the control tones then playing back the tones and feeding them into the transmitter (see…
'HEXY' - a real sexy homing device. Published in Radio Control Models & Electronics, March 1965. This simple light-seeking device is novel in that it scans when the drive motor is reversed.
Creep RCM&E Apr 1962
Unicorn-1 Radio-Electronics April 1981 part 9
The JPL/AMES Manipulator arm came about around 1972. It utilises the arms of Vykukal's Hard Space Suit (see patent infomation below). The patent has Hubert C. Vykukal, Reginald F. King, and Wilbur C. Vallotton as the joint inventors. Around 3 models were built. "Unilateral" means that there is no "force…
Syntelmann - Kleinwachter 1973 NASA Translation
Not so well known is that there were two main types of R2-D2's in the original Star Wars space opera. The models operated by Kenny Baker, the other a radio-controlled (R/C) model. Visually the main difference is the Kenny Baker model only ever had two legs, and the R/C version…
Star Wars - Interface Age - April 1978
Star Wars - Electronics Today International - Dec 1977
Dalek model - RCME Jan 1966
Built in 1985 Robot George, it's 25 years old Dan Mathias first big robot and 40 inches tall, and weights 110 lbs, has one Pentium III - 600 MHz Lap-Top, with 128 meg ram and 20 Gig ide hard drive, sound blaster voice input, voice syntheses and image processing and…
An early, if not the first plans for a radio-controlled model of a Dalek by C. Rowlands as published in Radio Control models and Electronics Jan 1966 (really for Chrismas, Dec 1965). see pdf here
Built by L. Hilderbrand, a German Radio-control enthusiast. Published in Radio Control Models & Electronics, May 1965. See pdf
See pdf here VIDEO CLIP You will need to register (free) and login to http://www.movietone.com/ , then search for the following: Film Title: A LIVIN' DOLL Card Title: THE LIVIN DOLL Location: London, England Date: 25/07/1960 Length: 51 secs Story Number: 80678 Description: This is "Rainbow", the radio-controlled doll,…
You can see a sliding door rail and rollers providing the horizontal guidance. from a comment made on the Scienceworks site re Robbie 19/10/2009 09:03 PM Daniel Bernard Smith was my uncle and when we used to visit his house he would often fire up Robbie and make…
Rainbow - R/C model - RCME Dec 1961
Kunibert - RCME - May 1965
MOBOT-II-ASD technical report. v.61 no.430 1961
Trefor Prest creates some of the most amazing and fantastic sculpture I've ever come across. I've been to Gruyeres and seen H.R. Giger's work, seen Hans Bellmer's "Machine-Gunneress in A State of Grace", and to see Trefor's sculptures is something else again. His maritime series has a Vernian feel about them, a world…
Trefor Prest - Craft Arts No 34, 1995
Herbert - A Soda Can collecting robot (named after the AI pioneer Herbert Simon). In mobile robot research we believe the structure of the platform, its capabilities, the choice of sensors, their capabilities, and the choice of processors, both onboard and offboard, greatly constrains the direction of research activity centered…
Source: Elementary Electronics, Sep-Oct 1976 ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS/September-October 1976 Newscan A little screwdriver twist from his master, Tom Clayton, and a pat on the back from his "half-brother" is practically all that is necessary for Robbie, the robot, to demonstrate his "inborn" programmed talents. A voice-controlled system prompts Robbie into action.…
Trefor Prest - Australian Country Style Dec 1997
The blue Wazoo senses light and sound and responds with a behavioral repetoire of various LED patterns, movements, inflations, deflations, whirs, clicks and jiggles. It is six feet high and weighs about twentyfive pounds. It was made in 1975-76 and uses TTL logic circuits. It is currently owned by Allan…
Growing up in Australia in the 1960s, "Mini-Computer" by Ken Reinhard was my first encounter with Computers and Art. Who can tell... ART? SCULPTURE? MACHINERY? What would you expect to see at on art exhibition featuring on "environ machine" and a "mini-computer"? Something resembling office furniture? That's what I thought,…
BLUe WAZoo - Jim Pallas 1975-6
Not quite an "art robot", but Kotkowski's Laser Chromason Mark II impressed me greatly in 1974 in terms of Electronic art and Laser art. Its design even has a robotic look about it. The above images sourced from here, and flipped for correct orientation. MEANJIN QUARTELTY Vol 68 No. 1, 2009.…
Fred - a light-seeking robot by Peter Holland. from Radio Control Models & Electronics, December 1964. Fred is a light seeking elictrically propelled tricycle with a light sensitive automatic homing device. The basic principles of light sensitive circuits have been combined with a simple scanning device to give proportional automatic…
Fred - RCME Dec 64
Lux' protozoon * This device is a model of a unicellular animal: it consists of a short rubber cylinder with two slots (Fig. 98). According to the ideas of its inventor, it is anchored in a brook, half submerged in the water. The water in the "protozoon" is considered as…
The published posts for W. Grey Walter and his Tortoises. ELMER – a new species of animal – M. speculatrix ELSIE - M. speculatrix ELSIE – upgraded CORA – the tortoise – M. docilis Grey Walter’s Tortoises – the video clips Time-Lapse Photographs of ELMER with ELSIE W. Grey…
scanning - a form of behavior (sniffing, looking, listening, palpating) by which a sensory stimulus is sought or expected, and which is guided by an expectancy of input instead of a future internal state (goal). The search must be broad in the sense of looking everywhere, but narrow in the…
Extract from 1980's article: The articles present experiences in interfacing and programming a SUPERKIM single board computer for the control of a Lour Control ET-2 robot shell. The ET-2 (Experimental Transmobile with 2 drive motors) consist of a three level frame powered by two separately driven wheels and balanced by…
ET-2 - Robotics Age May-June 1981
ET-2 - Robotics Age Fall 1980
"HILARE" An acronym of "Heuristiques Intégrées aux Logiciels et aux Automatisms dans un Robot Évolutif". Designed in 1977 at the Laboratoire d'Automatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes du C.N.R.S Toulouse, (LAAS), it is the first French autonomous mobile robot equipped with ultrasound sensors and laser telemetry. My friend David Buckley with…
From Daniel C. Dennett's Home Page http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/dennettd/dennettd.htm [Mar08] REWARD for information! I found it in an antique shop in Paris. It was made in France in the 1950s, so I have named it Tati, in honor of Jacques Tati (whose classic film Mon Oncle captures the same era with the…
HILARE Robotics Age Spring 1980
HILARE - Robot Research
WILHELMINA Mechanical Elephant
POSITIVE POLES - Lancashire Life Feb 1979
(Source: Practical Electrics Sep. 1923 ed Hugo Gernsback) This electric dog follows a magnetic walking cane in any direction like an obedient servant. Simply hold the cane in front of the dog's nose, whereupon the dog starts running and will follow the cane straight ahead or to the right or…
The Electric Dog - Practical Electrics Sep 1923
Maurice Radburn Letters - Larry Gavette 1979-81
Frank Stuart Patent Applications 1949-50
Hobby Electronics magazine (November 1979-January 1980) describes an autonomous robot. HEBOT is a free roaming robot which can negotiate obstacles, steer towards a light (infra red) and follow a wire (A.C. current) around your home. HEBOT emits a squeak when it detects light or following a collision. Control is transferred…
(Source: Mechanix Illustrated June 1952) Mechanical Ebenezer Children in Des Moines, Iowa are enchanted by a six-foot mechanical man who walks, talks, and smokes cigarettes. Jack Brownson, who spent four years making him, guides Ebenezer by a cable, projects his voice through loadspeaker. Construction is almost entirely auto parts.
Hebot I 1979-80
Hebot III 1979-80
Hebot II 1979-80
Automata A modern piece of elephant automata. Ducamps automata made for Barnum. The above automaton, by Decamps, shows further articulation in the legs, offering a 'knee' action. Martinet elephant clock c1790. See youtube video clip here and here . Walkindg model elephant made from Meccano.
Eric Smith - Mechanical Elephant - Morecambe 2011
Ice show with elephant. Popular Mechanics March 1947 "Then there's Dumbo, the two-man elephant that shambles across the ice on the skates of Ole Ericsen and Jim Hutchinson. Ericsen wears football shoulder pads to support the head and trunk and guides himself by peering through small windows in the cloth…
Ex-Tom Norgate's Mechanical Elephant supplied by Frank Stuart. The ex-Norgate elephant ("Ellie") is the only known baby elephant to have a plate on it saying "Supplied by Frank Stuart". Above 3 images courtesy Derek Tucker. The full history of Frank Stuart and his baby mechanical elephants (stiff legged, not the later walking elephants)…
SEEING THE ELEPHANT. Not Barnum's, But the Great Mechanical Wonder. Few theatre-goers have any intelligent conception of the mechanism of some of the "animals" that are in the cast of a modern spectacular drama or comic opera. A long time ago when the heifer was part and parcel of "Evangeline,"…
From a Pin to an Elephant - Hunwicks
Frank Stuart - Mechanimals Brochure 1950
Gas-powered Elephant to give Children Rides San Antonio Light 4 Nov 1954 Robo, the monstrous robot elephant owned by the Ezell drive-in theaters is scheduled for a 1-week stay at the Fredericksburg rd. drive-in beginning Friday. The realistic elephant will also be exhibited at Handy-Andy shopping centers during the day…
Messmore & Damon Mechanical Elephant. (Sourced from the Messmore & Damon catalogue.) This mechanical elephant does everything but walk! Although Messmore & Damon had been around for some time, the interest here is around the animated elephants. There were early mammoths made for The World a Million Years Ago for…
In 1979 an American named Larry Gavette, who lives in Waterford, M.I., U.S.A., took his daughter to Bald Mountain Riding Stables for a pony ride. There he found a some-what dilapidated life-sized mechanical elephant and he bought it, trailer and all, for 125 dollars. It was in poor condition and…
Caption: Here is "Robie," the amazing radio controlled mechanical man that can do practically everything but think. He is the brain child of Arthur Wilson of Chicago, Illinois. Modern Mechanix December 1936 Mechanical Wonder Man Is Operated By Radio Control "Robie," a mechanical robot walks, talks, smokes and winks his…
In 1956, there were a couple of press reports of Anatole, the robot secretary was on show at the Paris Office Equipment Exhibit. Claims that French engineer A. Grouvel constructed him four years earlier (making it 1952). At the exhibition, the robot exhibited its ability to talk and print envelopes.…
Mr Eric Smith was contacted by the Postal Code officer to build an elephant for them, but he recommended Luneside Engineering to build one. Possibly the image above is the next generation elephant being built at Luneside Engineering in Halton, Lancaster. The original PoCo mechanical elephant. All above photo's courtesy…
Shunyuan Style: Ride On Toy Type: elephant Material: Plush Place of Origin: Hubei China (Mainland) Brand Name: Shunyuan Model Number: SYDX colour: green package: standard exporting packing:cotton clot... type: battery animal car seats: 2seats rides type: lifelike animal: elephent material: plush seat: 1 Specifications Amusement…
This page will contain a timeline showing Walking Animals, and dates showing the creation or announcement of the contraptions. For the moment, it is more a list of what is going to be placed in this blog. If IMAGE IS CLICKABLE, then a blog post exists for it. Check out…
Source: Leader Post, 24 July 1984. Most likely a Shrum elephant. Source: Victoria Advocate, 12 May 1938. Supposedly six were built and three were sold to the New York World's Fair (1939). Source: Modern Mechanix May 1937 Mechanical Elephants walk 500 miles USED for advertising purposes, two mechanical elephants…
This image shows a walking mechanical elephant from Japan. It is 12V electric-powered, 1/4 HP motor. The image is sourced from here. According to the website the images are from a catalog of "Nihon goraku-ki seisakusho (Japan amusement machine manufacturing)" around 1935. More info: The elephant's name is "Jidou-hokou zou (automatic-walking…
Whilst it was Frank Stuart that gets most of the credit for the famous British Robot Elephant, it was in fact Maurice Radburn, an employee of Frank Stuart's that toyed with the idea of building a Walking Elephant. Frank Stuart had already built a stiff-legged motorised elephant but wasn't entirely…
Popular Mechanics Nov 2003 (Sth African edition) Walk tall, break a leg. Left: It may not look a thing of beauty, but Boris's Gauteng Walker has been known to go places. Johannesburg engineer Boris Ingram thought it would be fun to design a walking machine. That was before he got…
Partial extract from Mittelmann's homepage - see here for full description of all KYTRONs. What is a KYTRON? A KYTRON is a small autonomous vehicle. Its name comes from KYBERNETIK (German for cybernetics) and ELEKTRONIK (German for electronics). Another way to define a KYTRON would be as a small electro-mechanical…
Although the caption is not correct, this is the only acknowledged Macades Mechanical Elephant photo found to date. (Image courtesy Larry Gavette). Update Apr 2011: Eric Smith managed to contact David Taylor, ex retired employee of Luneside Engineering, who has confirmed that this image was taken in the loading bay…
Eric-Smith-Elephant-letter-25Apr1983
"Bensina" arrived in Sweden in August 1952. It arrived with Karl Nelles, one of Frank Stuart's elephant drivers. See here for the full Frank Stuart Mechanical Elephant stories. DAGENS NYHETER Onsdo Eq 9 / Elefant „Döp Stockholms nya elefant Barnavårdsdirektör Otto Wangson, längst t. v., bland barnen. ungdomskonsulent Axel Brandt…
HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WORKING ROBOT PET BY FRANK DaCOSTA TAB BOOKS Inc. BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, PA. 17214 This step-by-step guide to creating a unique robot of your own, from a boxful of components to finished, working reality, takes you through all the steps needed to construct and train your…
See article pdf here. Source: Byte August 1978
REPORT : An Inexpensive Turtle BUILDING AN INEXPENSIVE TURTLE by Michael Folk Mathematics Department Drake University Des Moines, IA 50311 Two years ago two colleagues and I set about developing a microcomputer controlled programmable robot for teaching1 . The goals of our project were (1) to build a lowcost (less…
The QMW Mk. IV Mobile Research Robot The final version (Mk. 4) of our first attempts at a mobile robot for machine learning research. It had a somewhat unusual (and not entirely satisfactory) drive layout with wheels at the front of the vehicle. D.C. motor drive was complemented with gray-code…
Mark-IV-robot_queen-mary
Tee Toddler - Byte Magazine Aug 1978
Nellie at Sandy Bay Museum. Photo courtesy Larry Gavette. Nellie's control panel. Photo courtesy Larry Gavette. Caption: Perhaps the earliest model built still in existance, this elephant was in the Sandy Bay Country Museum in Exmouth when this video was taken in 1980 or so. This model is the one…
SABOR with younger "brother" Nico (left) in Chicago. A video clip of SABOR's younger brother and sister can be found on the Archivio Storico Istituto Luce site here. The site is in Italian. Check box "archivio cinematografico" and search on "Notizie brevi da Gossau". Girl reading brochure on SABOR as handed out…
The Wonderful Electric Elephant Written in 1903 by Frances T. Montgomery, The Wonderful Electric Elephant is children's story in which Harold and Ione take a trip around the world in a life-sized mechanical elephant. The tale describes their magnificent adventure and journey. Interestingly for this site though, the book was…
I have very little information on Voltaire and his "robot". The information below is from the link now dead www.magician.org.uk/hmc/archive-2-2005-01.html 9.2 In Town Tonight - Voltaire posted 29/01/05 by Richard Morrell in Oracle Articles [No comments] Many magicians know the wonderful act of Mr. Electric – Marvyn Roy. The subject…
The popularisation of "Man-Amplifiers" was largely due to the movie "Aliens" directed by James Cameron and released in 1986. Earlier scenes introduce it as it is, a power loader for heavy materials. Ripley later uses it as an equaliser for a "mano e mano" with the queen alien. Earlier concept by…
Popular 7th Century legend on King Udayana. King Pradyota of Ujjain wanted to capture rival king Udayana. King Udayana was very fond of music and of capturing wild elephants, and Pradyota trapped him by luring him out of the limits of his Kingdom into the pursuit of a faked elephant.…
Illustration by Léon Benett. From Wiki The Steam House (French: La maison à vapeur) is a Jules Verne novel recounting the travels of a group of British colonists in the Raj in a wheeled house pulled by a steam-powered mechanical elephant. Jules Verne uses the mechanical house as a plot…
On July 28, 1950, Frank Stuart gave his first public outing of his man-made walking elephant, walking the roads of Essex with a load of children in its howdah. This robot "Jumbo" is the remarkable invention by Mr. Frank Stuart, a theatrical mask maker and scenic artist. About two years earlier,…
It is difficult to trace the origins of the Frank Stuart's Mechanical Elephants in America. I'll present some published information that gives clues to their linearity. The earliest date I have found so far is the delivery of Cunningham's [Department Stores in Michigan] "Jumbo"Â is June 1951. The Billboard 23…
Nellie the mechanical elephant was purchased for 1,500 pounds by Edward Hayward during a trip to England, and brought home to feature in the John Martin's Christmas pageant. At the time, Nellie was claimed to be the only full-sized mechanical elephant in the world. There is some video on this…
Peter Clare - Egremont, Cumbria. I keep a mechanical elephant called Snowdrop. It moves its legs and its head, lifts its trunk, squirts water from its trunk and bellows. Snowdrop can carry about six children and will be on display at the Barbican, London this summer. Tue Jan 25 09:27:12…
Source: Popular Mechanics Feb 1938. G.G. Hutton sells his partnership to George Washington Shrum. Most images of "Jumbo" post the 1939-40 N.Y. World's Fair are shown as "Rosie" and owned by Shrum. Most of the photos below are sourced from Life magazine. Life have over 70 images, I've just selected …
A book cover with elephant. the article says the book was published in 1948. The cover reads the book title "Happy modeling & handicraft" and the author "Tokyo metropolitan kogei (craft) high school instructor Jiro Aizawa". The elephant was made by himself (the pet name is "Tamakichi-kun"). Thank you Hisashi…
Caption: 森永製è“ã®ãƒãƒœãƒƒãƒˆè±¡ã€è¡—ã‚’è¡Œãï¼ç†Šæœ¬å¸‚内 (English translation: Morinaga robot elephant goes to the town-city Kumamoto) Other than the image, I have little other information about this mechanical elephant. Image was taken in 1958 in Japan, I believe. RH update Feb 2011 - Thanks to Hisashi Moriyama from Japan I now have the following…
Frank Smith with his very first Mechanical Elephant outside his garage. (Image courtesy Larry Gavette) Eric Smith, Frank Smith's son with their Elephant. Note the distinguishing tusks. (Image supplied by Larry Gavette) (Image courtesy Larry Gavette) Letter by Eric Smith in response to Larry Gavette enquiry 24 Apr 1983. Full…
One of the first known rideable mechanical elephants, called "Mechanical El" in the video clip, This machine is actually a walking machine, but the Howdah frame is on skids close to the ground. Quite a lot of large walking machines use this stabilising and load-carrying technique. Invented by M. Marcel…
Source: Popular Science May 1965. "Mechanical elephant looks real - This battery-driven elephant looks so much like the real thing that people have complained of its treatment. Built for a British ice show, it annoyed some to see it walk on ice. Guided by controls in the neck, it's powered…
Electrophant-Road and Track Apr 1968
A Steam-driven baseball pitcher. Modern Steam Punk illustration.
Copy of original artwork. Labyrinth scene with Humongous: Excerpt from Inside the Labyrinth: Check Youtube for clips on "The Making of the Labyrinth". The text for Inside the Labyrinth documentary was originally transcribed by Stephanie Massick. JIM HENSON: "It seemed like right late in the story what we wanted was…
When I first saw information on Scherman's Steam Man (2004), there was very little information about him. Scherman worked for Disney, and was the definitive person on Disney's Nautilus. His concept for a steam man is amazing. A Vernian enthusiast posted some images (flickr) found in Scherman's friend Kendall roundhouse., also showing a…
Robot Pouring Liquid From Flask Elbow Bender. Showing off its light touch, new mobot Mark II prepares to pour liquid chemical from one flask to another under command of operator Stan Pearlman at control console. The new remote controlled mobile robot built by Hughes Aircraft company has inflated pads on…
Engineer Lester. H. Waechter stands next to a Mobot, a type of robot manufactured by the Hughes Aircraft Company for use in areas too hazardous for humans to work in. Fullerton, California. Remotely Controlled MOBOT* (Mobile Robot) system manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Company, Fullerton, Calif., for the Atomic Energy Division…
MOBOT Mark I (ReMOte roBOT) - Remote Mobile Handler - 1959. MOBOT DISPLAYS ITS ARM - press release 9 Sep 1959 Robert W. Henderson, lft, vice presedent of Sandia Corp., and Dr. Allen E. Puckett of Hughes Aircraft, look over the arms of Mobot Mark I which was unveiled here today.…
My research into the world of early robots and automatons occassionally unearths some interesting articles. Here's one of them. Whilst not related to my main theme, I thought I would publish it anyway. This article is amazingly prescient - imagining a world with personal listening devices, talking books etc - iPods…
Mobot-1-Hughes-Tech-Memorandum-1959
Mobot-1-Hughes-Brochure 1959
"Psycho" at the Museum of Science, London. (Image source: Mechanical Toys - Charles Bartholomew) My intent in putting up this entry is to draw attention on the aspect of remote control by which the slave component is anthropomorphic. This fits in with the early history of teleoperators and manipulators. All…
ANCIENT-and-MODERN-MAGIC-Maskelyne
ANCIENT-and-MODERM-MAGIC-contents
psycho-macmillans-jan-1876
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John Gaughan's version of "The Turk" Like my post on Maskelyne's "Psycho" and "Zoe" automatons, the interest here is its place in history in terms of remote master-slave manipulators, and I shall confine myself to just that. There is significant other matter on "The Turk" published elsewhere already. Well established as a fake…
Torres Telekine Yuste
This page displays images of robots that I know little of or nothing about. It will be updated as I discover more material. If you can identify the robot or you have further information about it, please contact me on cyberne1 at cyberneticzoo dot com . Miscellaneous and Unknown Robots (newest…
My initiial intention with this posting was to show "Zoe" as an example of an early Anthropomorphic mechanical master-slave manipulator as well as being a drawing machine. What is presented are some images and illustrations of John Nevil Maskelyne's "Zoe", and an operational description of what could be "Zoe", but nevertheless a…
I recently placed on Youtube a video clip (see below) of the Torres Chess Computer as demonstrated at the Congress on Cybernetics in France of 1951. I wasn't going to put a post together as I still have a lot of work to do in completing my existing categories. I've rushed…
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[Source: A Century of Toys From The London Toy & Model Museum, 1982, Exhibition Catalogue] Blurb from Youtube: A very rare and clever toy produced in Germany approximately 1885 until about 1905. The little hand-cranked tin artist draws with a graphite stick onto paper via 'programmed' double-cams (x and y…
Make Your Own Robot - Cummings 1981 - Mechanical Toy Artist
Press Photo of Raymond Auger's Painting Machine 1962. ROBOT ART: "Take home a machine-made painting while U want it," reads the sign over the door of the "Automatic Art Show" in a shop in New York's Greenwich Village. Presiding over it is Raymond Auger, a bearded painter who believes in…
Modern Mechanix Nov, 1931 Video Lady Robot Used to Write Window Display Advertising IN THIS mechanical age machinery is being substituted for human beings in every possible and conceivable situation. One of the latest and most unique pieces of machinery to be put to use to supplant human agency is…
The VOR (Volitionally Operant Robot) is the robot of the future. Its sophisticated capabilities reflect state-of-the-art advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. Microelectronics technology has endowed the VOR with powers of sensory perception as well as locomotion and memory. It is able to comprehend and synthesize speech as well as…
In the picture above, 17-year old Frank Grimes of Alphington, near Exeter, is seen introducing his cat to a mechanical man he has made out of odds and ends. It is powered by an electric motor, but only Frank knows the secret of how it walks backwards and forwards, swings…
(Source: Popular Mechanics October 1948)
This page will contain a timeline showing various Schoolboy / Science Fair Robots, events, and dates being the creation or announcement of the robots. For the moment, it is more a list of what is going to be placed in this blog. If image is clickable, then a blog post exists for…
Source: Popular Mechanics August 1965. Robot Flexes 35 Joints to Test Space Suits - Popular Science May 1967. When you do physical work—pushing, pulling, lifting, twisting, gripping—you encounter resistance. but how many pounds of force must you exert to overcome it? It's difficult to gauge. That's the job these articulated…
(Source: Nat Geo Nov 1970) The patient that always comes back Lifelike in its apparent distress, a plastic- skinned manikin known as Sim One —for simulated patient No. 1 — serves as a durable guinea pig for an anesthesia student and his instructor, right, at Aerojet-General Corporation's Electronics Division in…
(Image courtesy Tim Hornyak - author of "Loving the Machine" 2006) Text from the same book, p38 ... In 1929, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which featured the female robot Maria, opened in Japan and proved a wild success. The following year saw an exhibition titled "Tokyo in the Year 1990" at…
GIANT MECHANICAL MAN WALKS CITY STREETS For centuries mechanicians have busied themselves with mechanical figures, or automatons, Which could imitate the actions of men and beasts. They have devised mechanical butlers, flute players, buglers, tambourine players, and chess players; but it remained for an American inventor to build the steel…
(Source: Popular Mechanics May 1918)
"Ruffnik's moniker was a riff on the name of the first Russian space satellite "Sputnik," launched the same year that 3-D Danny premiered on Channel 13. Constructed by the prop department at WKY-TV, Oklahoma City, and shipped to Channel 13 in a large, coffin-shaped crate, "Ruffnik" was a virtual duplicate…
Source and further imformation, see here. (from GroupBlog 222 and 10/3/2006 email) Sharon Berry told us about the creation of Oom-A-Gog, Mark I: My daddy, Jerry Berry, made Oom-A-Gog when I was 2 or 3 years old. It was on a TV cartoon show called Dr. N. Ventor here in…
Source: http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/rivets-golf.html - also contains video clip. Alan Scott & Mr. Rivets "Let Scott Do It" WPTZ, Channel 3 1954 There was a mechanical man on WPTZ, Channel 3 from 1952 to 1956. His name was Mr. Rivets and he was portrayed by Broadcast Pioneers member Joe Earley. The program…
Reading Thoughts by Radio (Source: Popular Mechanics - May, 1924) Can thoughts be read by radio? “Madam Radora” seems to prove that they can. Madam is not a human being, but a life-size automaton shown at the Permanent Radio Fair in New York. Her “thoughts” and movements are controlled entirely…
Text and some images sourced from here - http://www.spawar.navy.mil/robots/land/robart/robart.html This link also contains other links to ROBART information, not covered here. ROBART-I was Bart Everett's thesis project at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. and one of the very first behavior-based autonomous robots ever built. The navigation scheme provided…
GYRO The Robot was created for a children's show on WICC-TV Channel 43. He was designed and built by the Art Director of WICC-TV Morgan Kaolian in 1954. GYRO joined TRIXIE THE CLOWN on the children's show. Trixie (Dick Chalmers) did tricks while GYRO drew pictures about outer space and…
ROBOTIAN-LIKE COSTUMED FIGURE - Ernest Walling - see full patent design here. Patent number: D171959 Filing date: May 27, 1953 Issue date: Apr 1954 It looks as if it was easier for Westinghouse to use people inside Robot costumes going forward. The old robots Vocalite, Elektro, were getting on and…
Source: Nevada State Journal 12 Dec 1940.
Robot appearing at a French fairground side-show in 1935. Other than these images, I have very little information on this side-show "Robot Man". Robot appearing in an Italian film c 1950.
Mechanical Man Exposed; Talks Freely - (Source - Fitchburg Sentinel, 18 Feb 1935.) The "Mechanical Man" isn't. "It" or "he" is a human being, adept at impersonating a mechanical man, robot or some similar electric device. This was disclosed last night at the Oyster Bar when he was publicly "opened,"…
Albert Creuziger was a German 'inventor' who exhibited 'Rupert' in England. Creuziger used bluff to prevent close scrutiny of his so-called robot "...Of course, there were many people who wanted at all costs to more closely get acquainted with "Rupert"'s structure to understand the many wonders. But everyone refused Creuziger engineer.…
from The Syracuse Herald 9 May 1935. Both the Electrical Circus, with its thrilling Chicago entury of Progress demonstrations of man-made lightning, black light, the electric eye, and electric robots with both tastes and sounds vegetable ripeness, and Robota. the mechanical man, remain bright spots of the big Exposition. Describlng…
A photograph of a woman listening to the 'telepathovox', taken by an unknown photographer for the Daily Herald newspaper on 17 August, 1935. Displayed on the Marconiphone stand at the Radiolympia show held at Olympia, London, the device was described as an 'amazing machine which answers questions in an uncanny…
Alpha the Robot at the 1935-7 San Diego Exposition held at Balboa Park. Alpha the Robot kidnapping Queen Zorine of the Nudists. 1935 - Alpha the Robot [Image date incorrect]. Called “Zoro Gardens,” the exhibit featured 50 nudists from “nature cults” all over the world. The colony was presided over…
information sourced from http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/25847 But thanks to a recent eBay purchase and some additional research of my own, I now know the still to be precisely what it claims to be... an MGM publicity still, circa 1928, when LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT was enjoying its initial run in theatres. The 'mystery…
TIN MAN AS WALKING ADVERTISEMENT - Popular Science Nov 1910. A hardware dealer in Clintonville, Wis., recently built a giant tin man of materials on sale in his store, hired a man to walk the streets inside of it, and as a result drew much attention to his wares. The giant…
What is it about Robots and Pretty Girls? Are they omnipotent? masculine? the ultimate female partner? I've also observed, maybe in the age of 'political correctness', that we no longer see these types of images. See Part 1 of Robots and Girls (images) here. See Part 2a of Robots and…
What is it about Robots and Pretty Girls? Are they omnipotent? masculine? the ultimate female partner? I've also observed, maybe in the age of 'political correctness', that we no longer see these types of images. See Part 1 of Robots and Girls (images) here. See Part 2a of Robots and Girls…
See Cinemagic complete article in this pdf.
In 1953, the Soviet acrobat, athlete, illusionist Anatoly Sokol (his real surname was Sadokha) has prepared an original attraction "The Miracles without Miracles". The stunts, built on the use of telemechanics, high frequency currents, ultrasound, radio engineering (radio engineers A. Tyushkevich and V. Sidyakin), were performed for the first time…
What is it about Robots and Pretty Girls? Are they omnipotent? masculine? the ultimate female partner? I've also observed, maybe in the age of 'political correctness', that we no longer see these types of images. See Part 1 of Robots and Girls (images) here. See Part 2b of Robots and Girls…
ON-OFF-Cinemagic.pdf
This page will contain a timeline showing Pseudo Automata, Pseudo Robots, Fakes, and Robot Costumes. I've included this page in my overall blog as one comes across mechanical man and robots that are not what they are supposed to be. Rather than reject them all, I've listed them in their own…
MISS HONEYWELL Olympia, London. - Issue Date: 27/06/1968 At the Instruments, Electronics and Automatic Exhibition we see a futuristic 'robot girl' demonstrating various pieces of equipment by computer company Honeywell Controls Ltd. A man takes the headless robot body from a cupboard and puts a circuit disc into her back.…
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? NO. 14 Your browser does not support iframes. One of the funniest video clips I've ever seen (1m 42sec into preview). 1630.24 | WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? NO. 14 (1:47:33:00 - 1:50:25:00) 05/07/1934 French fake Titles read: "Would you believe it? Queer things the World over.…
Source: The Advertiser (South Australia) 11 Oct 1931. Mar 12 1938 The Market Traders Review The Market Traders Review - The Official Organ of The National Market Traders' Federation. Supplement to The World's Fair, Saturday March 12th 1938 17'x12', 12 pages of fascinating countrywide local articles with lots…
The Canberra Times < Saturday 23 July 1932 p5 ROBOT AS SUPER-SALESMAN Robot, the super orator and salesman, who never stutters or forgets, and whose tongue never makes a disastrous slip, is the new mechanical talking man invented by Mr. William Hutter, chief engineer of the wireless company of Fort…
Source: Popular Science Feb, 1931. 'Popjie' being blindfolded prior to "Radiana" driving the car in Rochdale . l The wording attributes "Radiana" to Popjie, however the person in the images below and in video clip below appears to show a different performer. Is it the same person? VIDEO CLIP Gaumont Pathe Archives…
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS: MONDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 25, 1929. "Radio Wizard" to Appear Here Under Auspices of Express-News Operates 4 Cars by Wireless at Once In operating by wireless control four standard, stock model automobiles at the same time, Maurice T. Francill, world-renowned engineer and inventor, performs one of the most…
"Fontinelle", also spelt "Fontenelle", and also known as "Automatic Man".
(no image yet located)l New Zealand Evening Post 3 Dec 1904. Lovers of the mysterious will welcome a new item which has been added to the programme of the London Hippodrome (says an exchange). It is called "Zutka, the Mysterious," and whether "Zutka" is a living person or a dummy…
(Images from Scientific American article Jan 13, 1906) January 13, 1906 edition of Scientific American. A CLEVER MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL AUTOMATON. An interesting, novel, and pseudo-scientific attraction has recently been entertaining London audiences at the Hippodrome variety theater. This is a cleverly-constructed figure which apparently walks and writes automatically. It is…
(Source: LA Herald 21 March 1906) Phroso appeared in Wisconsin in 1905: "'What is it anyway?' This is the question that is being asked by those who attended the performances at the Bijou theater and saw the act 'Phroso, the Mechanical Doll.' Phroso certainly is a puzzle, whether man or automaton.…
The Maitland Mercury 3 Jun 1882 p5 AN AUTOMATON SWINDLE. A strange prosecution for fraud has just been concluded at Vienna, the defendant being the proprietor of an automaton known as "King-Foo." The whole Court, from Kaiser Francis Joseph to the young princesses, has been delighted with King-Foo's marvellous performances,…
What is it about Robots and Pretty Girls? Are they omnipotent? masculine? the ultimate female partner? I've also observed, maybe in the age of 'political correctness', that we no longer see these types of images. See Part 2a of Robots and Girls (Pulp covers) here. See Part 2b of Robots and…
Arfur the Robot Dog back in 1981 having his 15 minutes of fame. Arfur, the tin dog created by Steve Brooks of east London, approaches a lamppost, March 1981. Brooks spent nine months and almost £2,000 creating his unusual pet. (Photo by Stanley Lewis/BIPs/Getty Images) Steve Brooks of east London…
THE TELEKINE (or Telekino in Spanish) Torres Quevedo started to develop the idea of a remote control around 1901 or 1902, as a way of testing his airships without risking human lives. He was the first person to lay down the modern remote control operation principles, which he expressed in…
Tesla - The Electric Mind 2-2 Model Model Patent number: 613809 (see full patent here) Filing date: Jul 1, 1898 Issue date: Nov 1898 In September 1898, Tesla demonstrates his radio-controlled torpedo boat at Madison Square Garden in Ney York City. (Popular Science July 1956). From Miessner's book "On the Early History…
Fubar D. Robot - Futuristic Uranium Bio Atomic Robot. I don't know who built Fubar. He's still in active use. As at 2010, he's 31 years old! Fubar full of humor, puns, glitz By LORIE McCREA For The Alton Telegraph 2 Sept 1986. Fubar looks like a cross between Groucho Marx…
Selective Timeline 1942 Robert Heinlein - Waldo 1943 - Deaton Puppet Animating Harness Patent 1948 GE Master-Slave Manipulator - John Payne 1948 Ray Goertz Master-Slave Manipulator 1953 Harvey Chapman - Garco 1954 Ray Goertz Electric Servo-Manipulator 1956 GE Yes Man - Exoskeleton Manipulator 1963 Science & Mechanics - "Waldo" as…
With 2T2, Bob Wilkins, and Mr Lobo. "toy Prince" 2007 from blog here Robot 2T2 was a real machine, which was operated off camera, via a cable control box. The robot was built by some local fans at a machining company, and when Bob started the show, Bob remembered them, and…
Frame walkers are a class of mobile robots that are robust and capable mobility platforms. Variations of the frame walker robot are in commercial use today are: Komatsu Ltd. of Japan developed the Remotely Controlled Underwater Surveyor (ReCUS) and Normed Shipyards of France developed the Marine Robot (RM3). Both…
Creeping Robot Activated Balloon (CRAB) - A clever Walking Beam model devised by Peter Holland. See pdf below for full instructions on how to build this novel walking model.
Model of an 8-legged walking platform. Article comes from the May 1976 edition of the Russian hobby magazine "TM". Note: My OCR program is unable to recognise the Russian characters due to the poor quality of my electronic copy (in djvu format).
William Richard Bradshaw (1851–1927) was an Irish-born American author, editor and lecturer who served as president of the New York Anti-Vivisection Society. He is known best for his science fiction-type novel The Goddess of Atvatabar: being the history of the discovery of the interior world, and conquest of Atvatabar (1892).…
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Martin-Marietta Walking-beam stability analysis - Barghava & Waldron
Schematics-CCC1 computer Johan de Boer
The mouse machine was built around two servo motors. One is underneath the robot and drives the two rear wheels. The second servo, visible in the front part, moves a steering wheel to the left or right. There are three of those old fashioned relays visible on the left, used…
Johan de Boer's description (from private correspondence 2010) "A second project [ RH: to the Cybernetic Mouse] was the maze where a light was used to indicate the position of an imaginary mouse in the maze. The maze could be changed with small removable barriers. Each square had a small…
First-Step by David Buckley September 1987 Four Legged Walking Robot, uses 3-D pantograph arrangement to produce a gravitationally decoupled leg mechanism similar to that used by Shigeo Hirose, A Study of Design and Control of a Quadruped Walking Vehicle, The International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol 3, No. 2,…
Photo.2 Sensor based stair climibing walk of the PV-II. KUMO-I (1976, see here), PV-II (1978-1979, Photo. 2). The method of locomotion called "walking" requires considerably more actuators than the wheel me thod of locomotion, the drive system is heavy; and it is not simple to control. However, walking machines, because…
Research on Quadruped Walking Machines KUMO-I (1976, see photo above), PV-II (1978-1979, see here). The method of locomotion called "walking" requires considerably more actuators than the wheel me thod of locomotion, the drive system is heavy; and it is not simple to control. However, walking machines, because they can move…
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…
"Orient Express" is one of my favourites, showing Luggage with arms and legs! Robot with attitude! Harry Grant Dart (1869 – 1938) Unlike many illustrators who graduated from newspaper art departments to the more lucrative magazine markets, Harry Dart continued to work in both fields. Beginning with the Boston Herald,…
Jogging Machine Invented, Awaits Market . Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Dec 15, 1978 HYDE PARK. NY - Burt Shulman gently touched the throttle of the little machine strapped to his back. Suddenly he wasn't Burt Shulman at all, but Mercury about to become Icarus, a quiet mechanical engineer who…
ELF (Electronic Life Form) ELF is a concept cybernetic animal, which is the culmination of many years of research, the idea was to produce a cybernetic creature that is as close to a real life animal as possible. ELF can navigate its environment, feed and look after itself. It has…
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…
Robot ostrich (android) inventor Konstantin Ivanov (Sirotina) from Elektrostal a towing machine with two manipulators (legs), equipped with a seat for the driver. Possible applications for the version of the inventor: Attraction (Jurassic Park robots ; races of robotic ostriches; competition live ostrich and the robot, 2) vehicle. The robot…
The Quantum-Classical Transition on Trial: Is the Whole More Than the Sum of the Parts? by Hideo Mabuchi One quote that I really like came from my thesis adviser, Jeff Kimble (the Valentine Professor and professor of physics), and appeared on page 2 of the February 18, 1997, New York…
VIDEO CLIP There are a few wonderful period French newsreel clips showing Lalanne's Tortoise and other sculptures found here Gaumont Pathe Archives . You have to be registered (free) and logged in to see the preview. Search for "lalanne" without the quotes and look at all three clips from 1966-1970. François-Xavier Lalanne's Radio…
Russian Walking machine model 1973-05
The Architecture Machine - Nicholas Negroponte
From the late 1960's through to the mid 1980's, various Russian hobby magazines published plans for model walking machines. Here are a few of them (in Russian): click image for pdf.
Height : 1m (3.2 ft) Electric motor operated Radio remote controlled Sound produced by tape recorder Unique piece Private collection Radio-controlled gilt (gold leaf gilding) resin whisky table with agate tray. Arthur comes and welcomes visitors carrying tumblers and a whisky decanter in its tray while moving its neck, mouth,…
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"Seek", 1970 by Nicholas Negroponte with the Architecture Machine Group , M.I.T. Originally shown at the "Software" exhibition, curated by Jack Burnham for the Jewish Museum in New York 1970. This piece consisted of a Plexiglass encased, computer-controlled environment full of small blocks and inhabited by gerbils, who continuously changed the position…
zig - 1965 - styrofoam, motors. Above: Float. 1967. Osaka-1, Expo '70 Robert Breer Born in Detroit, 1926. 1949, after graduation from Stanford University (where he won the annual printing award), moved to Paris. Exhibited in group shows there at the Denise René Gallery from 1950 to…
PrOP-M is now at the museum in St.Petersburg. PrOP-M (Device Evaluation Terrain - Mars) [Note: the acronym only works in Russian] ПрОП-Ðœ (Прибор Оценки ПроходимоÑти - МарÑ) Mass………………………………………………4 kg Overall dimensions…………………………215x160x60 mm Travel speed……………………………………1 m/h Power consumption………………………………5 W Customer: Lavochkin Association. (First translated article) Two automated rovers reached Mars in 1971…
Above stills from the video clip. The mechanical model was developed at the Institute VNIITRANSMASH (St. Petersburg). The parameters of the machine are the follows: body length 0,6 m and body width 0,25 m, weight 40 kg, length of leg 0,4 m (Efimov et al., 1982). Efimov, V., Kudriasev, M. & Titov, A.(1982).…
See a few seconds of "NMIIIA" in operation in the above Walking Machine compilation video. As it exists today in Volga city of Togliatti is widely known as the birthplace of "Lada" and "LAD". But there is another interesting attraction, which we know not all - the Technical Museum…
The insect-like walkers were referred to as "cockroaches". In the early 70s, at the Institute of Applied mathematics (IPM) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, a six-legged walking machine controlled on a base of a mathematical model of motion control was developed. The machine motion and the terrain…
see a few seconds of "LIIIM" in operation here. "LIIIM" running mock-up with ski-walking propulsive device (1975) Running mock-up was created in accordance with the "Mars-75" program. Purpose: investigation of the ski-walking method of motion over powdered soil having low bearing strength. Each ski has two electromechanical drives. Mass…………………………………………240 kg…
In 1974, a hexapod with legs arranged radially about a central vertical axis was made in the Aviation Instrument Institute in St.Petersburg. (Ignatyev et al, 1974). Ignatyev, M., F.M.Kulakov & Mihaeilov, A.(1974). Algorithms for control of robot-manipulators. Mechanics of Machines 46, “Nauka”, Moscow, (in Russian). [RH-2012- The arm on the…
The biped walker has been featuring on footage on the history of the Russian moon rover Lunokhod. I extracted those scenes and included in my cobbled together Early Walking Machine compilation video clip on Youtube. Usually shown with footage of other Russian Lunar or Martian Unmanned Rover walking machines. Possibly…
(1904 claims) Skorzewski's Apparatus for Facilitating Walking or Running avoids one of the main causes of muscular fatigue, namely the necessity of a man's lifting his centre of gravity a certain height at every step. During the period of descent there is no compensation for the energy expended. The muscles…
Todd's paper is very readable. See pdf here. Note that although referred to as a "train", Todd appears to have only built one. So the original "train" aspects have been lost. Its interesting to note that "BigDog" does have the concept for a "train", where the lead dog follows its…
from "Walking robot with a circulating gait - Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 90. by JE Bares Perhaps the simplest walkers that can travers rough terrain are frame-type walkers. An example is the Komatsu underwater octopod. ReCUS, which consists of two rectangular frames, each with four telescoping legs -…
The images here from the book "Industrial Light & Magic". I located this interview given by Joe Johnston, who worked for ILM during the production of Star Wars. BTL = Below The Line Former Industrial Light and Magic art director Joe Johnston became a feature film director over 20 years…
"Bicycle built for shoe" Oct (19th?), 1981 Tokyo, Mon. - On your bike - and run! This ingenious contraption, being driven by a Japanese inventor, is a joggercycle. Pedal power drives a pair of running shoes through a mechanical linkage. The joggercycle reached the finals of a Japanese industrial firm's…
The construction of passenger carts walking beam engine of the Soviet inventor I. Lyagusha from Lysychansk (Fig. 1) is programmed more complex trajectory of the 'legs', which is based on t? kzhe is oval. These walking machine with a pre-laid in them the program of the movement "legs" go blind,…
from Popular Mechanics , June 1934 STILT CYCLE HAS TWO LEGS INSTEAD OF WHEELS Wooden legs replace the wheels on a stilt cycle made by a Los Angeles man who proudly boasts that he can now sit down while walking. The two legs are pedaled like a bicycle, the rider…
D.J. Todd - Iron Mule Train 1990
Earlier 1976 version sans stereo cameras. See a few seconds of McGhee's OSU Hexapod in motion in my walking machine compilation video clip. Stop Press! 20 Oct 2010: Just found fabulous footage of this walker plus others. 50meg download. mp4 runs for 16 mins. see here. McGhee used Electric drill's…
Masha being used in some force-feedback experiments. The experiment here to feed a cylinder into an inclined funnel. See Devjanin-Schneider paper here. The above three images show experimentation by Gorinevsky. His paper is available here. Gorinevsky produced a video of the walking machine. After many media transformations, the quality is…
Devjanin-Schneider Force-control using Masha hexapod
Diagram from Bessonov's and Umnov's paper. As seen at the Russian Polytechnic Museum in Moscow. Abstract from Bessonov's and Umnov's 1983 paper. This paper shows that in the task of the maintenance of constant orientation of the body of a walking robot the determination of the actual position of the body,…
Nicholas Yagn, of St.Petersburg, Russia, designed a set of walking, jumping, and running assisted apparatus from 1889-1890. An earlier version used a giant bow spring. The final version used compressed gas bags to store the energy. An example of a passive and human-powered exoskeleton . Patent number: 440684 Filing date: Feb 11, 1890…
Source: St Paul Globe 10 Dec 1889 A WALKING MACHINE A Minneapolis Man Comes to the Front With a Novel Invention. A Minneapolis man comes to the front with a walking machine. It is a cool, breezy day with a refrigerator in the corner when there is anything invented any…
Bessonov and Umnov 6-legged walking machine 1983
Video of Man-Mate CAM 1600 c1976 (narrated by Isaac Asimov). Text of above. New Industrial Boom Is Displayed by GE Schenectady General Electric recently displayed the third member of its family of "Industrial manipulators," the Man-Mate CAM 1600 industrial boom for material handling. The CAM 1600, like other Man-Mate booms,…
Six-legged Walking Machine by Petternella et al. (Instituto di Automatica, Roma, Italia) Mocci, U., M. Petternella and S. Salinari (1973), "Experiments with six-legged walking machines with fixed gait" Vukobratovich M. Shagayuschie roboty i antropomorfnye mehanizmy / M. Vukobratovich. – Moscow : Mir, 1976. – 544p. M.Peternella (Rome, Institute of Automatics) with…
An entirely different approach by Spartaco Maratori(8) produced his 'Golden Horse' which, in the final analysis, is somewhat similar to Shigley's approach. Maratori based his concept on an analysis of the locomotion of the horse. He studied the way horses walk, trot, and gallop and after carefully cataloging the various…
"TEAL" is an acronym for Tripedal Electronic Ambulatory Locomotive. The walking model's appearance and colour scheme, as well as its name plays on a duck theme. Model Size - 12" x 5" x 8". The model featured in Model Maker magazine, June 1955. TEAL appears to be the first ever hobby…
Amazing Stories, September 1944 Title: Stories of the Stars: Betelgeuse, in Orion Author: Morris J. Steele Year: 1944 Variant Title of: Stories of the Stars: Betelgeuse in Orion (by uncredited ) The back covers of 'Amazing Stories' featured fanciful illustrations of life on far-off worlds. "This weird scene on a…
Teleoperations and robotics: evolution and development Jean Vertut, Philippe Coiffet - 1986 J.J. Kessis at the University of Paris VII developed an interesting vehicle with six articulated legs, with a pantograph, allowing coordination to be carried out mechanically in the plane of the leg. The high compliance of the chassis…
Gaston Decamps participated also in the International Exhibition of 1937, creating with his friend Paul Durand, the "Professeur Arcadius" for the Pavilion of the Toy. New Scientist 12th Apr 1962 Another modern automaton, this time a writer, is known as Professor Arcadius. He was built by M M. Durand and Decamps…
Interface Age article pdf here BOOK REVIEW from early KIM magazine TITLE: How to build a computer controlled robot AUTHOR: Tod Loofbourrow PUBLISHER: Hayden Book Co. #5681-8 $7.95 If youre looking for a book which presents a nuts and bolts approach to robot construction--you'll want to look at…
Mike-Microtron-InterfaceAge-Apr1977
ENTROPY— BUILDING A ROBOT FROM SCRATCH Gene Oldfield, began building his first major homebrew robot around 1976. Entropy, as it was called, was a mobile, three-wheeled robot powered by a car battery. A KIM single-board computer was interfaced to the sensors and relays by only seven microchips, which means that…
Extract from the book "Everyone Can Build a Robot Book " by Gene Oldfield and Kendra Bonnet, 1984. "The concept behind the Moth is very simple. When you turn on the robot in a dark room, the photocells have a high resistance rate that blocks the flow of electricity. The…
18th September 1966: Chris Southall and the students of Farnborough College take Robot Rodnee for a walk in London during Rag Week*. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images) The robot was to walk 50 miles to London to raise money for charity. *Rag Week - a week at British universities during…
Michael Freeman's first robot was RUDY, a robot he designed and entered into the Westinghouse Science Fair in 1960, aged 13 where he won first place!. Rudy was a mechanical robot that could walk around by using a tether and wheels, and could remember where it went so that later on,…
Cybernetic-moth-gene-oldfield-1984
Syntelmann II - Electric Tele-manipulator with 9 degrees of freedom per arm, position- and force-controlled sensors for forces, sounds, temperatures (in front), operator with exo-skeleton transducer system, force feedback system, and stereo image transmission system (in the back). The "Syntelmann" was developed by Kleinwaechter in Freiburg, Germany, parallel to the…
Wissenschaft-Jul-1970-bdw
Syntelmann - NASA English translation from German 1972
Title: Robot K-456 Creators: Nam June Paik and Shuya Abe. Japan, 1964. (Construction started in 1963 with Nam Jun and his brother and was completed in 1964 with the aid of Abe helping with the electronics). Description: Originally intended to be a 30-channel radio-controlled robot,  but ended up as a 20-channel radio-controlled anthropomorphic robot. In…
Pitman Designed as an "enhanced special forces capability for low intensity conflicts and counterterrorists". It was conceived at Los Alamos National Laboratory by Jeff Moore of Advanced Weapons Technology Group. The operator is housed in a 500 Lbs fiberglass, polymer/ceramic composite armor called Body Armor, Powered (BAP). Pitman is capable…
The Man-Amplifier The figure above shows a model of the Man-Amplifier proposed by Ross-Hime Designs. It has twenty-six degrees-of-freedom, excluding the hands. A 500 Lbs load capacity is engineered. The modular building block approach applied to the arm and leg actuators simplifies maintenance and reduces parts inventory. Singularity free, pitch-yaw…
A period photo of SABOR as "ORBITUS" - Image courtesy Barbara Douvalakis - Peter Steuer's daughter. SABOR V in the "Die Roboter Kommen!" exhibition in Berlin, 2007. Sabor's remaining spares held in the EBM Museum, Switzerland. SABOR V with his "Orbitus" head gear taken off. In 1964, Sabor conformed to…
Queen Juliana opens Holland's Flower Show in 1955. SABOR greets her and she accepts a gift of flowers from him. See Video clip here. register for free, then login and search for "100 YEAR OLD HAARLEMMEERPOLDER" Film Title: QUEEN JULIANA OPENS FAIR - HOLLAND Card Title: 100 YEAR OLD HAARLEMMEERPOLDER Location: Harlem, Holland…
SABOR V - showing battered body (arms), and updated electronics. The Second World War interrupted August Huber's plans to implement a further attempt of his SABOR series. The earlier SABOR IV had good mechanics, but Huber was not happy with the electrical controls. Electrical Engineer Peter Steuer continued Hubers’ work from…
From “Automata”, Chapuis and Droz. Translated by Alec Reid 1958. The working of the second robot (Televox was described earlier) is much gentler. It is called “Sabor,” a Swiss giant, the brain-child of Auguste Huber, who brought it into the world in Appenzell. At the request of a newspaper, Huber…
From “Automata”, Chapuis and Droz. Translated by Alec Reid 1958. “Sabor II,” a Swiss giant, the brain-child of Auguste Huber, who brought it into the world in Appenzell, Switzerland. Prior to Sabor IV, Huber had previously built three other automata, one of which he began when he was only 12…
Source: Mechanix Illustrated Oct, 1951. Source: Popular Mechanics Jan, 1954 Galveston Daily News 11 Mar 1953 Hold Your Autos; Horse A-Comin' CLEVELAND, Ohio (UP)—No reaction has come from the automotive world as yet, but George Bogart's invention would seem to be a cinch to cause a stir. He invented a…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
In the early ‘60s, as part of the preparations for the Apollo manned moon landing mission, the Jet Propulsion Lab planned a follow-on program to its very successful ‘hard’ landing ‘Ranger’ program, which gave the first close-up views of the moon’s surface. The proposed ‘soft’ lander program was called ‘Surveyor’.…
$7,000 Mechanical Wonder ! The only Steam Man Actually walks and runs alone! The Greatest Invention of Modern Times. The W.W. Cole's Great New York and New Orleans Zoological and Equestrian Exposition toured the American continent between 1871 and 1886, and in 1875 and early 1876 featured a Steam Man.…
New York Times 25 Aug 1910 LIKE AN IRON MAN -------------- Legs Take It to Work on Land or Sea, Carrying Tons at a Load. --------------- INVENTION HAS BEEN TRIED -------------- One of Its Uses is to Give Landing Stages, Doing Away with Necessity of Building Piers. -------------- Charles Guest…
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. Although most articles suggest Edgeworth invented the Caterpillar track, the description offered below is of another invention he called a Wooden Horse." In order to step over a fence, the legs would have…
See video preview here. A second video can be seen here, but you need to create an account and log-in first. Search for "NEW DERBY HOPE" "Tractor Classic", May/June 2004, Vol. 19 #3, pages 25-26. "Blowtorch" currently on display at : Western Development Museum, Moose Jaw Branch - History of…
In 1876, America held its Centennial in Philadelphia. There appears to have been four Steam Men built for the Centennial Exhibition, along with a Mechanical Horse. An American inventor by the name of William Farr Goodwin, had some of his agricultural inventions produced by manufacturers who exhibited at the Centennial…
This wood and brass model with clockwork by Enoch Rice Morrison is a walking mechanism probably very similar to his "Steam Man". The maker's name is painted on an upright as is his home town - Bergen, NJ The model is 6.5" tall. I have now located the patent for this mechanism - see…
William Farr Goodwin was a diverse inventor. Two of his earlier inventions were for toys, the first of these being for a Mechanical Horse, then later a Walking Doll. UNITED STATES PATENTS Patent Number 61416 Goodwin Jan. 22, 1867 . See full patent for the Mechanical Horse here. Later on in 1876,…
This French model, attributed to Alain Gillier, looks as if it is a working model, with the steam boiler in the cart, and a flexible tube leading to the engine mounted in the body. You can see the flywheel in the shadows. The linkages are similar to other Mechanical Horses…
Source: Weekly World News 6 Feb1990. Adrian Wareham built a mechanical spider for the following year, but I have no images of that machine.
See similar video clip here. - RECIPROCATING LOAD CARRIER E. SNELL Patent number: 2430537 Filing date: Dec 8, 1944 Issue date: Nov 1947 See patent here. 1949 Multi-Ped Walking Tractor Manufacture: Multi-Ped Traction Limited, Edmonton, Alberta Engine: Case Model R tractor, 4 cylinder Wasukesha Edward ( Ward ) Snell of…
Middlesex Music Hall Place London, Holborn Title Middlesex Music Hall, … Enormous attraction, the sensation of 1886. Ali … the wondrous electrical automaton! Ali has taken nearly a life time to construct. Its movements are so life-like that it is difficult to believe it is not endowed with life! Admitted by press…
Although sometimes attributed to Robert Hooke, the invention was Francis Potter's, and when presented to the Royal Society (see transcript of minutes below), they asked Hooke to present drawings and comment on it. Hooke; Robert (1635 - 1703); Natural Philosopher Potter; Francis (1594 -1678) Above image found on Royal Society's…
Pat Rawlings’ Rendering of the “Habot” Mobile Lunar Base Concept (courtesy of John Mankins, NASA HQ, and Neville Marzwell, Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Mankins’ Habot John Mankins introduced the Habitat Robot concept, “Habot,” in 2000 as a radical departure from traditional lunar base studies. The strongest attribute of the Habot is…
Patent number: 491927 Filing date: Apr 8, 1892 Issue date: Feb 1893. See full patent here. Rygg Horse Pat 1893, filed 1892. No model. Cannot find any evidence that it was actually built.
Brunton's Traveller was constructed by the Butterley Company in Derbyshire in 1813 by William Brunton (1777–1851). Also known as the "Steam Horse" it had a pair of mechanical legs, with feet that gripped the rails at the rear of the engine to push it forwards at about three miles an…
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY Chapter 5: INVENTING THE STEAM CARRIAGE p77 In 1824 David Gordon tried again with "an arrangement of machinery, by which an action similar to horses' feet could be obtained." Six jointed iron legs, fitted with feet, were connected by brass joints, straps,…
j IMPROVEMENT IN TRACTION-ENGINES JOHN E. PRAUL Patent number: 221354 Filing date: Sep 26, 1879 Issue date: Nov 4, 1879. See patent here.
There are a few other youtube clips showing Shiva, the mechanical tiger. The clip above also include Arthades, a mechanical walking biped. The creator is Kezanti, a pseudonym for Dirk Dewulf. It looks as if Shiva has been converted from the original 650cc motorcycle engine to electric power.
Partial cut-away of Sidewinder. I used to have a copy from an early Annual, but alas, now long gone. If someone has a copy to send I'd be most grateful. Sidewinder (from Wikipedia) A military walking vehicle which appeared in the 1965 episode "Pit of Peril". It resembles a giant…
The Visions of Ron Herron - Reyner Banham - Architectural Monographs No. 38 1994 THAT MOST FAMOUS OF ALL IMAGES to come out of Archigram, the most frequently reproduced and the longest-lived, the canonical version of 'Cities Walking', is seen in flat elevation. There are other versions, invading New York…
Some more photos of W. Grey Walter and his Tortoises. BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland. BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland. BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland. BNI archives, courtesy of Owen Holland BNI archives, courtesy of…
Tokyo, Japan: The Orient's ancient rickshaw gets a very modern look near Tokyo recently. Hiromi Magara, clad in a kimono, smiles while riding in a robot driven (or drawn, if you will) rickshaw displayed at Honda's "New Idea" contest recently. The robot driven vehicle, devised by Honda Motors employee Ryugi…
Patent number: 4175 Patent filing year: 1874-01-01 Patent title: STEAM MAN OR WALKING MACHINE Name/City: ROE, CYRENIUS C.: HAMILTON, Ontario, Canada Year granted: 1874-12-15 Source: Star And Sentinel, 08 Aug 1878, p2. Letter from Reading.READING, PA., August 5, 1878. STAR AND SENTINEL,:—The visitors to the sea shore................. next column .....................…
At the debut press conference, Handyman twirled a hoola hoop and wielded a hammer. Handyman slave station being held up by a G.E. "O" Man. Handyman was built between 1958-59 at Schnetectady, New York for the joint AEC-USAF Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program by Ralph Mosher. The idea of CAMs originated…
The last of Peter Holland's Mr. Robotham series of robots, "Mr. Robotham the Great". Super lightweight at 6 1/2 pounds. See complete pdf of "Mr. Robotham the Great" in Radio Modeller December 1981 here. See Peter's earlier robots from 1955 here. See other early Humanoid Robots here.
Tripod (The War of the Worlds) From Wikipedia Martian tripod illustration drawn by Henrique Alvim Corréa for a 1906 edition of the novel.Tripods or fighting-machines are a type of fictional three-legged walker from the H. G. Wells' classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, used by Martians to…
Pic of cover of Eagle - 20 Jan 1956 Vol 7 No. 1. Phant Walking tank. Concept working drawings including the "walking tank" [top left]. From Frank Hampson's "Ideas Book". Dan Dare - Rogue Planet 1955-7 The above images were taken by David Buckley when we travelled to the British…
Text below from Syd Mead's book SENTINEL The four-legged, gyro-balanced, walking cargo vehicle shown on pages 80-81 is from the US Steel Interface portfolio series [published in 1969 - see image below]. The environment is arctic and the mission is to deliver goods and critical supplies to an isolated exploratory…
The world's first concept for a powered exoskeleton ? We often forget that even the now bygone era of Steam power and locomotion was new and in its infancy, satirists looked at a future whereby the most absurd objects could be powered and animated. Locomotion - Walking by Steam,…
See Quester details and other references in David Buckley's website here. Quester was originally designed to be a micromouse maze solver, and later converted into a general purpose robot with added gripper (see above). David also has a reference to the history of Micromouse competitions here. For the original Micromouse…
"Moonlight Special" Photo at Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories Top - "Moonlight Special" , Middle- "Moonlight Flash" , Bottom Right - "Midnight Express" all in full dress. In 1977, Machine Design sponsored yet another mouse contest, "The great Clock Climbing Contest", coupled with the rediscovered information of the 1972 "Le Mouse…
Oakland Tribune 22 Aug 1957 Lauren V. Merritt, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Merritt of El Cerrito, was concerned. "Gizzmo is acting up," he said. "Gizzmo" is a maze-solving robot. Push a button anywhere and a light bounces through a ?complicated maze? and "Gizzmo" remembers the way out.…
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…
Robert J. Curran's Mechanical Maze is included here as it is essentially a mechanical computer, exhibiting similar characteristics as other electro-mechanical maze solvers. As the mouse travels a path, if it has to back out due to a dead-end, the return pass triggers a mechanical latch to give the maze a…
pdf - Popular Electronics October 1962 Bionics Bionic "Mouse." As mentioned earlier, RCA is working on a far more complicated moving-target indicator containing hundreds of neurons which operates on the same principle. But perhaps the most important piece of neural-bionic hardware to come out of the laboratories so far is a…
Now in the Vienna Technical Museum. Period photo showing Richard Eier opening the covers of the Labyrinth. Zitat: Gerhard Chroust, "Cybernetic Animals at the Technical University of Vienna" , in IFSR Newsletter, Vol. 18, Nummer 2, Seite(n) 2, 1999 CYBERNETIC ANIMALS AT THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA G. Chroust Around…
za098 Labyrinth - Eier & Zemanek
Generalisation Of Learning In A Machine - Lee (Maze learning machine)
MELPAR-maze - Popular Electronics Oct 1962 (Bionics)
The original article appeared in Scientific American, The Amateur Scientist, An Electronic Mouse That Learns From Experience by Harry Rudloe, 1955 Mar, pg 116 . This copy from C. L. Stong. The Amateur Scientist. Ill. by Roger Hayward. S&S, 1960. The Electronic Mouse That Learns From Experience, pp. 394-398. Harry…
Maze currently found in Polytechnic Museum of Science and Technology , Moscow. Cybernetic model "Mouse in the maze" (see video clip here) [Thanks Joseba Arruabarrena as the video clip is now on youtube.] One of the first developments in the field of cybernetics in the Soviet Union. Modeling ability to…
FRANKEN The original Franken maze solver was designed and built by Bert and Ivan Sutherland. I suspect it was built for Edmund C. Berkeley. Berkeley , it appears, had used the early version as a prototype, and engaged his other associates, namely Bob Jensen, Juli Skalski and Stan Skalski in drawing up…
Franken the mouse - Bert Sutherland -notes-1952-4
Franken the mouse - Plans - excerpt - 1957
Franken the mouse - Improvements Ivan Sutherland 1955
Anthony Deutsch, aged 26, with his maze runner from Oxford University's Institute of Experimental Psychology. The head-lamp on the trolley is turned on, and various photo-electric cells are mounted at strategic points in the maze. Deutsch's Maze runner was considered the most sophisticated at the time. It was capable of transferring…
The above is an excerpt from Cordeshi's book "Discovery of the Artificial". Hugh Bradner was at the Psychology laboratory at the University of Miami, Ohio. His robot learnt by trial and error. The cart was 12 inches long, 6 inches wide with 2 wheels on a front axle. a driving…
Deutsch-Maze-Discovery-Dec1955
Deutsch-Maze-Runner
Internals showing N-S, E-W carriage, Relays, Uni-selector, motors, amongst other electrical components. See 18 mins 51 secs in for 27 seconds. See 9 mins 16 secs in for 32 seconds. As the 1952 maze solver was recently at the MIT Museum. Picture from Life Magazine 28 July 1952. Top trace…
VADIM MATSKEVICH Entertaining ANATOMY OF ROBOTS Published by the Radio and Communication ", 1988 CYBERNETIC TOY program-controlled Fig. 82 depicts a funny puppy who goes merrily wagging his tail, barks, turning his head left and right, stopping, looking around, and then again with the barking continues to move. He constructed…
Shannon-Maze-PopSci_Mar1952
A Radio Controlled, Reversible, Steam Powered Christmas Pudding Is "the Pud" an earlier form of the "Crabfu" type of machine?
See story as told on TV - "Robot inventor speaks out about his journey" Video By: Mark Repasky : 02/11/2008 - 09:36 PM The Story of Thodar© as seen on YouTube May 2009 ( Video story about Thodar© starts 2.28 minutes into the report.) see Ron Hezel's website here. Thodar…
Leg detail - motors are modified power drills. From George A. Bekey - Autonomous Robots - From Biological Inspiration to Implementation and Control (2005) The first autonomous quadruped robot in the United States was constructed in the 1960's at the University of Southern California; it was dubbed the Phony Pony…
Although referred to as the "Iron Mule Train", only one carriage was built for test purposes. I believe it was Frank Tinsley's original idea in extending Space General's original Moonwalker that inspired Morrison into promoting this third variant (the other being the Moonwalker disability walker after NASA's cancellation of the…
Although published in 1962, the illustration is dated 1961. Frank Tinsley's concept pre-dates A. J. Morrison's "Iron Mule Train" by about 7 years. Given the cancelled Space programme for an un-manned lunar misssion, I wouldn't be surprised that Tinsley's concept inspired Morrison in resurrecting the Moonwalker project (having already had a…
Frank Tinsley - Iron Mule Train Mechanix Illustrated Apr 1962
Space General designers have built an insect-like vehicle with six legs, two arms, a triangular body, a solar-cell panel, and an antenna. The left arm, ending in a claw, picks up objects to examine. The right one holds a TV camera to do the looking - and to see where…
Life Magazine 28 May 1956 p 125. The disembodied device graciously helping the girl with her coat (above) is one of the most dexterous robots yet designed. Its arms have elbows that bend, wrists that swivel and three-clawed hands. Still being perfected by G.E., it is an electro-mechanical slave called…
This demonstration model was remotely controlled by means of flexible cables: the operator used one limb to control each leg. The British firm W. H. Allen & Company, with A. C. Hutchinson and F. S. Smith, designed the first military related walking machine in 1940. The proposed armoured fighting machine…
Hutchinson "Machines can walk" CME Nov 1967
Tanks-that-Walk-and-Jump-PopSci-Jul1960
Mechanics of Walking Vehicles - Shigley 1960
There are at least two variations of the walking machines attributed to Prof. Joseph E. Shigley, then from the University of Michigan. The first relates to the pantograph leg with some descriptions suggesting up to 16 legs were to be used - 4 gangs of 4 legs so a leg was…
One of the few photographs we see of Hardiman I. I'd have a smile like that on my face too if I had one of these. Hardiman is a name derived somehow, from "Human Augmentation Research and Development Investigation." and Man from MANipulator. Sometimes written as HardiMan, Hardi-Man, Hardi Man,…
Mosher-Handyman-to-Hardiman-1967
The below video clip was recently placed on Youtube by Neil Mizen's son. The person in the video and in the below pics is Ronald J. Patterson, a technician from Cornell Aeronautical Labs at the time. ll Note: The description above incorrectly describes the exoskeleton as having motors. Unfortunately Cornell…
Machines With Strength - Science Journal Oct 1968.
Exoskeleton Man Amplifier - Mechanix Illustrated Dec 1961.
Exoskeleton Man Amplifier - Popular Science Nov 1965
Preliminary Design of an Exoskeleton Neil J. Mizen 1962.
Exoskeleton - Neil J. Mizen-1964
As a child, I really wanted one of these! Of the three built, two may still be in existance at the Rancho Los Amigos. **Video clip via youtube - has both the Moon walker prototype and the chair** Either an early version, or the prototype for the later Iron Mule…
This page shows a timeline of significant events in the development of Teleoperators, Exoskeletons and Industrial Robots with dates showing the creation or announcement of these machines. Check out the updates page for recent posts. There are many way to sub-categorize Teleoperators, from remote manipulators, Man-amplifiers and exoskeletons, prosthetics and orthotics,…
Image found on flickr. Exhibit now located at Musée Mécanique, San Francisco. See video clip here. from Mechanix Illustrated May 1947 from Popular Science Jan 1939.
The above image from Popular Science April, 1933. The Harford Courant Mar 6, 1933 p16 Italian Designs Mechanical Horse From Steel Tubing ---- Device Looks Like Grasshopper Stepping Along Road Spezia, Italy—(AP.)—A mechanical horse, designed to substitute for the farm animal or even light tractor, has been invented by an…
1983 "Trojan Cockroach", a Six-Legged Hydraulic Walker by Ivan Sutherland. The Sutherland Walker was a six-legged all-terrain robotic designed by Sutherland Sproull Associates with the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University under contract to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The robot used a gasoline motor to power its…
Machines-that-Walk-SciAmJan83
In 1952, Richard A. Wallace built a Maze Solving Computer as a model of "machine learning". His definition of learning is "The ability to modify a response to a stimulus because of past experience with the stimulus." see full pdf here.
The Thomas Ross Maze Learning Machine showing its feeler tracking the slots of this comb-shaped maze. See complete Scientific American 1933 article titled "Machines That Think" - pdf here.
wallace-maze-1952
Thomas Ross "A Machine That Learns" SciAm Apr 1933
Electromechanical-Servant-1979-DrDobbs
"Newt" updated showing manipulator. In an email response from Dr. Hollis (2010), I learnt that his old robot is called "Newt," not "NEWT." (It is not an acronym.) He is planning to put together a small web site with lots of pictures and background on Newt, its predecessors and follow-ons. …
For full story, see pdf.
SERVO 01.2004 Vintage Anthony Ellis, Conceptioneer (inventor / product developer, www.appliedmachineintelligence.co.uk) is the trailblazing roboticist behind our first modern robot from the past. If you're new to robotics, or haven't kept up with news from across the pond, you probably haven't heard of this "vintage" robot. Meet Anthony Ellis' 23-year-old creation,…
Maisie the Robot (c1977) with David Strange. From a comment below, David Strange informs me that the robot he called Maizie was a maze solving robot whilst he was working for the BBC Open University. It was used in several programmes on cognitive psychology. Thanks David. From further correspondence with David…
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…
The poor image quality of the article prevents me from performing OCR and translation.
The “Bible” of the Biocybernetics Department dnipt.irtc.org.ua/history.html In 1964 Nikolai Mikhailovitch Amosov formulated a hypothesis on the information processing mechanisms of the human brain. Within this hypothesis he expressed his system-level observations on the brain’s structure and the mechanisms that are made operational by a human’s mental functions.…
See full pdf article from the Russian magazine Radio September 1970 here.
Russian-Tortoise-Radio-09-1970
Newt-Ralph-Hollis-ByteJun1977
Odex-1-Pop-Sci-Sep-1984
Odex-1-Robotics_Age-Sep-Oct-1983
Anthony Reichelt - president of Quasar Industries Inc. with Klatu sporting 'eyes' c1978. Klatu - [the name Klatu, it was claimed at the time, was based on the utterance of the speech synthesizer chip when the word "u-talk" was spoken in reverse. "Gort" is the name of the Robot in the movie "The Day…
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA139111&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
ODEX I is a tele-operated walking machine. Initially developed by Steve Bartholet. Pic shows wooden mock-up. (pic from SERVO June 2004 article here.) see Popular Science Sep 1984 pdf here. see Robotics Age Sep-Oct 1983 pdf here. See ODEX-1 patents here: There was an ODEX II and and ODEX III.…
For construction details, see Russian magazine pdf here.
VIDEO CLIP - See robot walking here.
"Robot conductor was made by Russian children of the Oblast Station of Younf Technicians. According to the Soviets, robot has worked with Moscow's transportation system, greeting passenders and keeping accounts of tickets." Construction plans for a similar Robot Conductor (1973). See pdf here. VIDEO CLIP - see video clip here.
Other than the pictures, I have no other information on this robot.
"Vanya the Muscovite hates loud noise. He can "feel" heat and draws back from it." - c1964 p239 "The Cybernetic Medley" The robot named GPTU is endowed with a faculty that is not inherent in man. It can sense radioactivity in addition to perceiving light, sound, heat and smartly circumventing…
Ticket-robot-russian-1973
Russian-Robot-Orion-mk-1980-10
Radio-1970-robot-pt3
1970 - Expo-70 Robot. Vadim Matskevich with his students. "At the station, young technicians (ODT) Schelkovo Moscow region in 1969, the guys have created a cybernetic giant robot, successfully exhibited at the World Exhibition "EXPO - 70" in Japan." [RH Mar 2010- I suspect Matskevich had a hand in building…
Expo-70-MK-1969-02-p31-3
Sometimes referred to as the "Robot from Kaliningrad". «Ð ÐÐœ» Built by: Ð. ÐœÐЛИÐОВСКИЙ , Ð. БИКЧЕÐТÐЕВ. A. Malinovsky, E. Bikchentaev. See pdf here containing "Radio" (Russian "Радио"), No 4 and 5 1970. Part 3 is here. VIDEO CLIP - see here.
[RH-Mar 2010 - any further information on this robot greatly appreciated.]
Electron (left) and Neptune (right) with child (Andryusha ?). Electron getting a drink (detail below). Source: Look and Learn - Young Scientist 1971 (Thanks to David Buckley for a copy of the original) Russian schoolchildren have been building robots who can wander through their city, Kalin[in]grad, and act as guides.…
tm_1971_09p43RobotsSirbijak3 1967-Sibiryak-СибирÑк google translate "Sibiryak-3" VNUK, SIBIRYAKA-1 " AND SON "Sibiryak-2, familiar to our readers (see TM No. 6, 1967). Made in the Omsk region house engineering students vocational training schools No. 2 and No. 5. Inherited the family profession guide Pavilion «Proftehobrazovanie» to VDNKh. The sequence of actions the…
Can anyone help with the translation into English?
http://www.energodetal.ru/kibernetika-dlya-lyubitelej/konstrukciya-kiberneticheskix-zverej/element-chuvstvitelnyj-k-zvuku Universal Robot ARS Universal Robot ARS. This machine is the result of three years of Boris Grishin (БориÑа Гришина) (USSR) and serves as the home secretary: 1. Responds to telephone calls and provides a record of 25 ... 30 calls when the owner is not home. From phone call triggered…
A non-perfect OCR with a non-perfect English translation No. 12 города КуÑтанаÑ. РрÑдом Ñ Ð‘Ð¸Ð¿-Бипом джон (Ñнимок 2). Ñто не заморÑкий гоÑÑ‚ÑŒ, он « роднлÑÑ » в поÑелке МеталлоÑтрой, что под Ленинградом. РоÑтом 130 Ñм (без антенн), веÑом в 40 кг, джон имеет отноÑительно проÑтую конÑтрукцию, вполне доÑтупную длх
Mechanical «person», on behalf of TUP, was created not by scientists and engineers: it was designed and built the students from the eight - Rural schools Bvlamutovki Xmelnitskoy area. (Please forward a better translation if you have one)
Sepulka ( Сепулька ) is a Visitor guide robot at the Russian Polymus Museum and is still in active service. Sepulka model
Illustration above showing a depiction of "ЧТС" shaking hands with "ТУМ". Вадим Викторович Мацкевич - Vadim Viktorovich Matskevich built quite a few robots in his lifetime. For further infomation on Matskevich, see here.
Above pic shows the name "ЧТС" (HTC) . Otherwise it is the same robot as those below. The cover of one of Matskevich's books on robots. The construction of this robot is detailed in the above pamphlet. The folded broadsheet is not reproduced here. The illustration on the pamphlet is…
Russian_robot_1970
ROM (or V2M) as it appeared in the 1937 Paris Exhibition. Possibly the first Russian Humanoid Robot ever built. [Note: I haven't quite worked out the Russian <-> English translation of this Robots names as yet.] Retired Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Viktorovich Matskevich turned 82 years old [in 2002] . As well as…
Miss Nude World with AROK - click here only if over the age of 18. VIDEO CLIPS See 1979 French newsreel clip here showing Arok, SNEB, and Ben Skora's automated house. "Home Movie" DVD extract (6 minutes into 9 minute clip) See also this clip made by Ben's friend and modern…
(above) Robert the Robot is the first robot built by Kirt Golden in 1954. Interesting robot built by Kirt Golden, age 16 at the time (1955). Limited budget led him to realize that one dextrous arm is sufficient to perform most tasks. For a small robot, it had sufficient weight…
Inventor controls his robots up to two miles away One of England's most ingenious robot inventors is Dennis Weston of Leeds. His best known creation is Tinker, a six-foot-taII robot that can be programmed for such tasks as washing a car (upper right). Tinker is activated by some 430 motors…
First year of skating and he's in the Follies! Commander Robot is a 7-foot, 4-inch aluminum and plexiglass creation whose skating skill rates him a featured spot in Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies of 1969—as well as an admiring glance from another skater who obviously is not…
[cyberneticzoo: Dec 2014]- Tinker the Robot lives! One of my favourite robots from all time has been found and will be cleaned-up over the next few months. Initially he was thought to have been scrapped. Thanks to Paul Weston, Dennis Weston's grandson by his first marriage, for the news and…
I first saw this robot on the cover of Tihamér Nemes book on Cybernetic Machines (German edition 1967). I assumed it to be a toy. It wasn't until I found the video clip that I realized it was a full-size humanoid. Other than that, I know little about this robot.…
See video clip showing both of the "Electric Actors" in motion, amongst other assemblages. SPARE PART ART Your browser does not support iframes. "Electric Man Mark I" as he was in June 2009 when I visited Bruce along with David Buckley who joined me on my 'old robot' pilgrimage. The…
I know very little about this Chinese robot. It is the first full-size humanoid robot I have seen from China. The video clip is found here. You will need to register first (for free), then login. Search for "1961 14 8" including the quotation marks. The clip is titled UN ROBOT…
ПроÑÑ‚Ð°Ñ ÐºÐ¸Ð±ÐµÑ€Ð½ÐµÑ‚Ð¸ÐºÐ° Ðвтор:Е. Копытов, Ð’. Салов, Т. Шорикова Ðазвание:ПроÑÑ‚Ð°Ñ ÐºÐ¸Ð±ÐµÑ€Ð½ÐµÑ‚Ð¸ÐºÐ° ИздательÑтво:ÐœÐ¾Ð»Ð¾Ð´Ð°Ñ Ð³Ð²Ð°Ñ€Ð´Ð¸Ñ Ð“Ð¾Ð´:1965 ---------------------- Simple cybernetics Author: E. Kopytov, V. Salov, T. Shorikova Title: A simple cybernetics Publisher: Young Guard Year: 1965 See pdf Thanks to Waldemar DekaÅ„ski from Poland for locating the source for this Cybernetic Dog.
Concepts done 1962, test Pedipulator demonstrated in 1964. It was never completed as a poposal for a more useful quadruped was put forward and accepted (see here ). See Popular Mechanics Oct 1965 article here (pdf). See video clip of Pedipulator here. The Gaumont video site is a pain to use. One must be…
"MM7" on the left, Claus Scholz in the middle and "MM8" on the right. Scholz made MM7 between 1957-8 and finished with MM9 in 1973, so I believe. The MM7 Selektor human machine is the development for which the international scientist Scholz-Nauendorff, nicknamed the "Viennese father of robots", is best known.…
R.O.S.A. B.O.S.O.M. Radio Operated Simulated Actress - Battery Or Standby Operated Mains (sometimes seen written as ROSA. BOSOM, or Rosa Bosom, or Rosabosom.) Image courtesy Bruce Lacey. Image courtesy Bruce Lacey. Image courtesy Bruce Lacey. Her finest moment was to win The Andrew Logan's Alternative Miss World competition in 1985.…
Above and below: "Robert" as he is today. These images are from the Scienceworks Science Museum's webpage (Photographed by Benjamin Healley). Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria. This pdf gives some information as well. Robbie the Robot can currently be viewed as part of the Scienceworks collection store tour – just ask your…
The first version of "George' the robot built when Tony Sale was seventeen years old in 1949. Compare with image below shows that this negative/print masked out the brand of vacuum cleaner. The later version of "George" displayed bigger feet, broader shoulders, and with ears! I contacted Tony Sale in 2009…
A Penny Popular item from 1916 , this fictional story about the adventures of tthree comrades Jack, Sam, and Pete. Pete has a Steam Man. He appears with his own axe in both cover illustrations. Maybe he chops his own firewood?
Galveston Daily News 13 Dec 1896 (pdf here) In the Deep of Time by George Parsons Lathrop in collaboration with Thomas A. Edison For The News-Copyrighted. This story is the result of conversations with Thomas A. Edison. the substance of which he afterwards put into the form of notes written…
La Porte City Review 16 Nov 1882 p2 (see pdf here) Fiction originally from Harper's Magazine How Aluminium Won The Grand Prix by William B. Greene "'This is my creation," continued Joe, stroking the animal's mane. "It is I who have breathed life into his nostrils." "Is he mad?" I…
Fig. 38. Schematic of the charge, voltage conversion, the element changes tropism and chain contact device "turtle" "Tortilla". Fig. 39. Schematic of extreme search direction of the "turtle" "Tortilla". Fig. 40. Schematic of reaction "turtle" "Tortilla" with the whistle. Information and images courtesy Waldemar DekaÅ„ski from Poland (January 2010). Hello…
Although built using a child's electric car as the chassis, the fully functional Buster was a true Cybernetic Animal, showing reflexes, phototropism, and hunger / recharging modes. He could operate totally autonomously if so desired, but had manual overrides via a remote panel or remote control via an acoustic adapter.…
elektor june 75 M. Keul and H. Lohr the moth This is a design for a simple cybernetic model, based on an electric toy car, that will be attracted towards a light source like a moth, negotiating obstacles in its path. The car has two motors, one to propel it…
elektor june 75 beetle Beetles, tortoises and the like have often served as models for cybernetic machines which must also have a reasonable appearance. The beetle described in this article can 'see, hear and feel' and reacts to information in the form of sounds and movements. The animal has a…
Beginnings: The Times Record - 24 July 1962 p13 From as early as 1962, the General Electric Ordinance Dept. in Pittsfield, Mass., undertook a study for the US Army which may lead to the building of a manned walking machine, with arms and legs, ..... where tractors might get stuck.…
"MOVE OVER, HUMAN - Even a hard-bitten Parisian driver would be likely to obey that command from the odd driver of this odd vehicle. No visitor from another world. It's a homegrown robot named "Cosmos" which, like the helicopter in the background, was on display at a science exhibit on…
Eugene Wendling's original robot from 1930 was called "Televox" (not to be confused with Wensley's "Televox" from America). "Mekko" is probably either a rebuild or an upgrade of his earlier "Televox". Amsterdam, 1958. A recently discovered magazine article from 1936 shows the metallic "Mekko" from above but called "Televox"! You can see Wendling…
See video clips here and here. I don't know much about Romoletto (also called "Romollo II" by someone else on the net). He was shown at the IV RASSEGNA INTERNAZIONALE ELETTRONICA NUCLEARE E TELERADIO-CINEMATOGRAPHICA exhibition in Rome, 1957. Maybe someone could offer a transcription of the Italian voiceover in the…
Radio Control Models & Electronics, September 1960 p244-5 CYGAN - Dr. Fiorito's Giant Electronic Robot From Italian Rassegna di Modellismo This fantastic model is the work of Dr. Ing. Fiorito, a keen aeromodeller from Turin, who has been working on a whole series of such models and fitted them with…
14-year-old inventor Donald Rich with Robotron walking robot designed as a computer at International Gadget & Invention show at Madison Square Garden. [Getty image] (above image from Jim Linderman's site) text from Corpus Christi Times Fri Aug 9 1957 p10. DOES EVERYTHING BUT TALK - Ready to respond to his…
VIDEO: SCHOOLBOYS EXHIBITION Your browser does not support iframes. A pdf containing the 1955 and the 1965 versions is available here. The larger version is descibed in the December 1965 issue of Radio Control Models and Electronics, but in Radio-controlled form. It was built much earlier. Here's the introduction to…
In my earlier post on the "Electric Dog" by Miessner and Hammond (here), I commented on some uncertainty regarding Miessner's and Hammond's relationship together, and as to whether or not there may have been another dog built. This was as a result of how the newspaper and magazine articles were…
Edward S. Ellis' first of the dime or penny magazine fictional stories that featured the "Steam Man" had a publish date of August 1868, some 7 months AFTER the first known announcement of Dederick's actual "Steam Man" in January 1868. Note: There are those who have either mistaken or mis-represented the Ellis story…
March 23, 1954 ROBOT DEMONSTRATED: In Cranston, R.I., yesterday—Sherwood Fuehrer, 13, operated the controls of a robot he built from cans, gears, motors, die castings and other articles too numerous to mention. The robot —5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 92 pounds—can hold a plate of cookies and pass…
Tin Can With An Idea - An imaginative Kansas teacher ( Bill Allen, Hamilton School in Wichita, Kan.) builds a robot to stir his students' interest in classroom science. Disappointed with his first-year performance as a general science teacher at Hamilton School in Wichita, Kan., Bill Allen figured that what…
Mr. Magnetron - At the National Radio Show held at Earls Court, London, England, Signalman Mellor, of Manchester, introduces a young man to the robot Mr. Magnetron. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS Date Photographed: September 1, 1953 Mr Magnetron 24th March 1954: Lieutenant Corporal Pauline Bevan and Private Smith of the…
This page is a timeline showing early Mobile Robots, events, and dates being the creation or announcement of these robots. If image is clickable, then a blog post exists for it. Check out the updates page for the recent posts. Early Autonomous Mobile Robots 1953 - Beetle 1962 - "Creep…
This page contains a timeline showing early and significant Maze Solving machines. The dates being the creation or announcement date of these machines. IF IMAGE IS CLICKABLE, then a blog post exists for it. Check out the updates page for recent posts. 1933- Thomas Ross -Learning machine 1935- Smith / Ross - Rat 1937-…
"CYCLOPS" (CYbernetically Controlled Light Oriented and Powered System) , built by L. C. Galitz as a construction project for The Radio Constructor [later renamed to Radio & Electronics Constructor from Jan 1973 onwards]. Cyclops is one of the last construction projects for a fully featured cybernetic model subscribing to the conditioned…
XEE -pdf Practical Electronics June-July 1971 Practical Electronics June-July 1971 XEE HERE! An animal approximation utilising integrated circuits to process optical and tactile sensing together with a random control to give reasonable lifelike responses. By G. Brown There has been a considerable amount of correspondence relating to "electronic animals" following…
see full pdf here. Personal Computing FEBRUARY 1978 p56-61 BERT (excerpt) Building Your BASIC Robot Robots vary in sophistication and control structure, from Mars-walking space probes and industrial assembly robots to self-motivating household pets and computer-controlled "turtle" drawing robots. My interest in these simple mobile computer input-output devices, robots, led…
Meet MERV - Electronics Today (Australia) April 1971 MERV stands for Mobile Environmental Response Vehicle. Its creator, Peter Vogel, built it to demonstrate his theory on artificial intelligence IS it true that machines are incapable of intelligence, or can they in fact be endowed with reasoning power?' One answer —…
ROBUG: switch-programmable to wake/seek/avoid on light/touch/wind; feelers charged to 90 volts! "In high school [Montreal,1964] he [Hans Moravec] won two science fair prizes for a light-following electronic turtle and a tape-controlled robot hand. As an undergraduate he designed a computer to control fancier robots, and experimented with learning and automatic programming…
Anatole the Robot A radio controlled French robot made by Jean Dussailly. According to Tout Savoir magazine for July 1954 Anatole could move its head right and left, move its arms and responded to ten commands; and it weighed 140 kg and was 2m 10cm high. Le Haut-Parleur No. 956…
Details from British Pathe film clip here: 1337.25 | GARAGE ROBOT (1:41:02:00 - 1:42:03:00) 14/09/1953 Stratford St Mary, Suffolk. At a petrol station we see garage owner Ivan Robinson setting up his own invention - 'Horace the Robot' - on the forecourt. Horace is connected to an electric cable which…
Patent number: 209468 Filing date: Jul 26, 1878 Issue date: Oct 29, 1878 see pdf here. Although a patent for a toy, the walking mechanism is what's important here. On the whole, I have found that toys, particularly those that actually made it into production, show proof of concept in…
Patent number: 200266 Filing date: Aug 4, 1877 Issue date: Feb 12, 1878 see full patent here. The Independent 01 Mar 1927 p5 A man by the name of Doyle, ... invented a power horse that was little short of a marvel of ingenuity and that imitated the movemenents of…
Patent number: 74176 Issue date: 1868 see here.
Seymour Papert's Turtle is included in this category for various reasons: 1. It marks the start of the continuance of our need for realization of concepts in the real world, satisfying our thousands of years old quest to build objects that mimic living things, (typically man's own image, but animals…
pdf of Cybernetic Tortoise (in Russian). If anyone can offer more information on this model, they can contact me on reubenh at cyberneticzoo dot com . Unfortunately this blog software cannot support the Russian language set as well as others that I use.
pdf of Cybernetic dog cable follower (in Russian). If anyone can offer more information on this model, they can contact me on reubenh at cyberneticzoo dot com . Unfortunately this blog software cannot support the Russian language set as well as others that I use.
pdf of Cybernetic Bee (in Russian). If anyone can offer more information on this model, they can contact me on reubenh at cyberneticzoo dot com . Unfortunately this blog software cannot support the Russian language set as well as others that I use.
Cybernetic model from the Russian hobby magazine M-K, June 1966. pdf of article - no English translation as yet. If anyone can offer more information on this model, they can contact me on reubenh at cyberneticzoo dot com . Unfortunately this blog software cannot support the Russian language set as…
ПроÑÑ‚Ð°Ñ ÐºÐ¸Ð±ÐµÑ€Ð½ÐµÑ‚Ð¸ÐºÐ° Ðвтор:Е. Копытов, Ð’. Салов, Т. Шорикова Ðазвание:ПроÑÑ‚Ð°Ñ ÐºÐ¸Ð±ÐµÑ€Ð½ÐµÑ‚Ð¸ÐºÐ° ИздательÑтво:ÐœÐ¾Ð»Ð¾Ð´Ð°Ñ Ð³Ð²Ð°Ñ€Ð´Ð¸Ñ Ð“Ð¾Ð´:1965 ---------------------- Simple cybernetics Author: E. Kopytov, V. Salov, T. Shorikova Title: A simple cybernetics Publisher: Young Guard Year: 1965 Thanks to Waldemar DekaÅ„ski from Poland for locating the source for this Cybernetic Tortoise. Original Russian text originally used found…
Grey Walter : My Miracle
EMMA - Electronic Mime Mobile Animal There were two versions of EMMA offered, the second one referred to as "Educated" EMMA, having a Condition Reflex cirrcuit added in. The pdf attached has the complete articles, but I've OCR'ed the introductory descriptions - see below. Block diagram of EMMA without additions.…
ASTOR V1 [Image from "Cybernetics" , John Frederick Young, 1969] As from the text below, ASTOR V1 used discrete components and was built by P. A. Kidd and C. J. Lloyd. It was probably built earlier than the book date, but I have not found any other record of this.…
Les amateurs de « zoologie » électronique sont aujourd'hui légion. Ici, une « tortue » réalisée par le chercheur belge André[sic] Delsemme et qui, comme ses consoeurs, est capable d'apprentissage (arch. ph. Boulanger/Ministère de l'Éducation nationale — Service Cinématographique, Bruxelles). English Translation The amateurs of electronic “zoology” are now legion.…
Pic and article from The Machine: As Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age by Pontus Hulten (Beautiful pressed-metal Hardcover - 1968) Robin Parkinson. American, born 1943 (artist) Eric Martin. American, born 1943 (engineer) Toy-Pet Plexiball-Ball. 1968 Plexiglass, electrical equipment, motor, microphone, synthetic fur bag; sphere, 11" diameter.…
From: Cybernetic Serendipity : The computer and the arts. Studio International special issue 2nd Ed revised Sep. 1968 Bruce Lacey - Mate 1967 Electronic parts, aluminium, batteries, motors, etc. 24 X 24 X 72 in. Built as a companion to R.O.S.A., which it follows automatically and generally interacts with. Using…
Charles Rosen with "Shakey" c1970. Shakey is one of the more well known and documented autonomous automaton. With the then more topical name of "Artificial Intelligence", the "Cybernetic" world starts to lose favour. We are now entering the era of "Intelligent Automata". The research proposal for "APPLICATION OF INTELLIGENT AUTOMATA…
At this stage I have very little information on Friedman's ADROIT. If I can get hold of his paper I will add exceprts here. ---------------- interesting reference from SRI Shakey's 1966 interim paper "Definition of the Automaton System Factors Influencing the Choice of a Mission There is not much prior art in…
When I visited Heinz Zemanek and the Technisches Museum Wien [Vienna], although the museum normally has Bielowski's tortoise, only the shell was present as the machine was on loan to another museum (Nixdorf Computer Museum) at the time (June 2009). The Vienna Tortoises: Left: 1954 Eichler's Schildkröte; Centre: 1959 Kretz/Angyan/Zemanek…
"Omega" Cybernetic Tortoise (Kybernetische Schildkröte) - R. Oettel - There is too much German for me to translate quickly. I'll do it at a much later time. The construction model appeared in the German magazine Funkamateur, as well as the booklet Der Praktische Funkamateur Band 54 Kybernetische Experimente fur den…