a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
18th September 1966: Chris Southall and the students of Farnborough College take Robot Rodnee for a walk in London during Rag Week*. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images) The robot was to walk 50 miles to London to raise money for charity. *Rag Week – a week at British universities during which side-shows and processions of …
New York Times 25 Aug 1910 LIKE AN IRON MAN ————– Legs Take It to Work on Land or Sea, Carrying Tons at a Load. ————— INVENTION HAS BEEN TRIED ————– One of Its Uses is to Give Landing Stages, Doing Away with Necessity of Building Piers. ————– Charles Guest Norris, a prominent English engineer, …
Read More “1909 – “Iron Man” Walking Platform – Piercy (British)”
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. Although most articles suggest Edgeworth invented the Caterpillar track, the description offered below is of another invention he called a Wooden Horse." In order to step over a fence, the legs would have to be lifted quite high. …
Read More “1770 – 8-Legged Walking Wooden Horse – Edgeworth (Irish)”
Source: Weekly World News 6 Feb1990. Adrian Wareham built a mechanical spider for the following year, but I have no images of that machine.
Although sometimes attributed to Robert Hooke, the invention was Francis Potter's, and when presented to the Royal Society (see transcript of minutes below), they asked Hooke to present drawings and comment on it. Hooke; Robert (1635 – 1703); Natural Philosopher Potter; Francis (1594 -1678) Above image found on Royal Society's web site. Let h. denote …
Read More “1663 – Cart with Legs – Francis Potter / Robert Hooke (British)”