a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Humaniform automatons, mechanical men, robots covering late 19th century and the 20th century
Built by Hungarian inventor Tarján Ferenc (Budapest, 1895.11.04.- Budapest, 1956.11.28.) (English = Frank or Francis Tarjan). The robot was shown at the Corvin department store in January 1929 in Budapest . Operated in a fully acoustically isolated, remote controlled chamber. This room is a miniature studio, which not only speech, but controlled some movement – see remote …
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A rare picture of " Telelux ". The "Telelux" Sound and light were transformed into mechanical action at the banquet of the National Tool Exposition recently to illustrate their possibilites in regulating traffic, aiding the aviator, and performing automatic functions. A beam of light was thrown into the "eyes" of a mechanical contrivance known as …
Rupert I – 1928 Rupert was built as a mechanical representation of major organs of a human. The Popular Science [Apr 1929] article suggests it was built by British schoolboys. Rupert II – 1929 (re-modelled innards) from Popular Science Apr 1929 p58 Boys Build "Human Engine" in Study of Anatomy USING two furnaces for the stomach. …
Whilst Roy James Wensley's "Televox" came about in 1927, he had invented and patented an earlier "supervisory control system" (patent filed in 1923). This system was effectively a system that could "remotely control" equipment via power lines, wireless, telephone lines, but not sound, which is how it is differentiated with the later "Televox". Some articles give this earlier "supervisory …
Each press article of the day offered a different snippet about Captain William H. Richards’ Eric Robot. I will summerise them here. Eric Robot was constructed at Gomshall, near Dorking [see note below], by Captain William H. Richards, a veteran of the First World War, and a noted journalist and A. H. Reffell, a motor engineer.  What caused its invention was the …
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