a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
1912 – Dreadnought Wheel and "Big Lizzie" – Frank Bottrill A dreadnaught wheel is a wheel with articulated rails attached at the rim to provide a firm footing for the wheel to roll over, they have also been known as endless railway wheels when fitted to road locomotives, and were commonly fitted to steam traction …
Read More “1912 – Dreadnought Wheel and “Big Lizzie” – Frank Bottrill (Australian)”
"Working model of a table-clearing robot [Mk 2] designed to test the present-day feasibility of principles required for the house-working robot and other machines. The model has one 'sight' and two 'touch' sensors which enable the mechanical arm to pick up objects and place them on the rotating, clearing tray on top of the machine." …
Read More “1962 – Table-Clearing Robot – Meredith Thring (Australian/British)”
The FloorBot is a robotic floor cleaner for the home. It's designed to automatically clean the floor while you relax, get a little exercise, or just head off for work. Press the start button and the FloorBot cleans in logical laps while sensing and navigating any obstacles in the area. When the FloorBot has finished …
Read More “1991/2002 – Floorbotics Robotic Vacuum Cleaners – G. T. Duncan Ashworth (Australian)”
The Robot Garguantua. gar·gan·tu·a -n. A person of great size or stature and of voracious physical or intellectual appetites. [After the giant hero of Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais.] Like most, including myself, the true significance is lost in the title ("An Automatic Block-Setting Crane") and opening description of the original article published globally in …
Read More “1937 – The Robot Gargantua – “Bill” Griffith P. Taylor – (Australian/Canadian)”
Stair-climbing wheels Wheels that shoot out spring-loaded "legs" enable an experimental British vehicle to climb stairs and other obstacles. The vehicle, powered by batteries, is the "miniclimber," developed by Prof. Meredith Thring and Brian Shayer at Queen Mary College, London University. The small machine travels at about three mph. On level ground, the weight of …
Read More “1964c – Walking Wheel Stair Climbers – Meredith Thring (British)”