a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
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 maintains stability at every position …
Read More “1981 – The Walking Gyro – John W. Jameson (American)”
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 details here. Filing date: Apr …
Read More “1950 – Toy Unicycle Pedaling Clown – Wilfredo Perez (American)”
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 the gyroscope and drives the …
Read More “1936 – The Gyro-Cycle – Hubert Charles Henry Townend (British)”
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 mind with superb problem-solving and …
Read More “1988 – “Wendell” the Unicycle Rider – Garner Holt (American)”
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.