a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Humaniform automatons, mechanical men, robots covering late 19th century and the 20th century
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. When I first met Bruce …
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 tour guide to point him …
Read More “1956 – “Robert the Robot” – Bernard Smith (Australian)”
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 and hopefully soon I will …
Read More “1949-50 – George the Robot – Tony Sale (British)”
"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 the banks of the Seine. …
Read More “1958 – “Cosmos the Robot” – Christian Dupont (French)”
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 directing the flashlight to the …
Read More “1949-58 – “Mekko” & “Firato” – Eugene Wendling (Swiss/Dutch)”