a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
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 to the wire following circuitry …
Read More “1979-80 HEBOT I, II & III – John FitzGerald (British)”
(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.
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.
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 head. Hutchinson brings up the …
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) remains unclear. In the mid …
Read More “1947-55 – Baby Mechanical Elephants – Frank Stuart (British)”