a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
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 .
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, until I opened my program …
Read More “1968 – “Mini-Computer” – Ken Reinhard (Australian)”
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. Putting the body back in …
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 to activate the servo motors. …
Read More “1968c – Cybernetic Mouse – Johan de Boer (Dutch*)”
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 [ McGhee's own documents also …