a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Text below from Syd Mead's book SENTINEL The four-legged, gyro-balanced, walking cargo vehicle shown on pages 80-81 is from the US Steel Interface portfolio series [published in 1969 – see image below]. The environment is arctic and the mission is to deliver goods and critical supplies to an isolated exploratory colony beyond the DEWline. Like …
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"Moonlight Special" Photo at Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories Top – "Moonlight Special" , Middle- "Moonlight Flash" , Bottom Right – "Midnight Express" all in full dress. In 1977, Machine Design sponsored yet another mouse contest, "The great Clock Climbing Contest", coupled with the rediscovered information of the 1972 "Le Mouse 5000" contest that spurred on …
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Oakland Tribune 22 Aug 1957 Lauren V. Merritt, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Merritt of El Cerrito, was concerned. "Gizzmo is acting up," he said. "Gizzmo" is a maze-solving robot. Push a button anywhere and a light bounces through a ?complicated maze? and "Gizzmo" remembers the way out. Merritt is a student of …
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Robert J. Curran's Mechanical Maze is included here as it is essentially a mechanical computer, exhibiting similar characteristics as other electro-mechanical maze solvers. As the mouse travels a path, if it has to back out due to a dead-end, the return pass triggers a mechanical latch to give the maze a "memory". The patent description gives …
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The above is an excerpt from Cordeshi's book "Discovery of the Artificial". Hugh Bradner was at the Psychology laboratory at the University of Miami, Ohio. His robot learnt by trial and error. The cart was 12 inches long, 6 inches wide with 2 wheels on a front axle. a driving wheel in the middle, and …