a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Apollo-Soyuz Shuttle Manipulator Demo (1971-1972) – By David S. F. Portree , 05.14.2012 During the 1983 STS-7 mission, the crew of Shuttle Challenger used the Remote Manipulator System arm to deploy and retrieve the SPAS satellite, which captured this iconic image. The arm, bent to form the numeral “7,” is visible near the front …
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Wireless World, December 1972 Free Roving Machine by M.. F. Huber, B.Sc. A device which will "explore" a room and by finding and tracing the path of a length of tape laid on the floor, return to a charger at intervals to recharge its batteries A number of years ago, Dr. Grey Walter first demonstrated …
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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)”
Not quite an "art robot", but Kotkowski's Laser Chromason Mark II impressed me greatly in 1974 in terms of Electronic art and Laser art. Its design even has a robotic look about it. The above images sourced from here, and flipped for correct orientation. MEANJIN QUARTELTY Vol 68 No. 1, 2009. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/82683/20090515-0729/www.meanjin.com.au/editions/volume-68-number-1-2009/article/light-becomes-the-medium/index.html Light Becomes the Medium …
Read More “1972-4 – Laser-Chromason Mk II – J. S. Ostoja-Kotkowski (Polish-Australian)”
In 1974, a hexapod with legs arranged radially about a central vertical axis was made in the Aviation Instrument Institute in St.Petersburg. (Ignatyev et al, 1974). Ignatyev, M., F.M.Kulakov & Mihaeilov, A.(1974). Algorithms for control of robot-manipulators. Mechanics of Machines 46, “Nauka”, Moscow, (in Russian). [RH-2012- The arm on the hexapod is actually the end-effector …
Read More “1972 – Manned Hexapod (Model) – Ignatiev (Soviet)”