a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Source: Popular Science May 1965. "Mechanical elephant looks real – This battery-driven elephant looks so much like the real thing that people have complained of its treatment. Built for a British ice show, it annoyed some to see it walk on ice. Guided by controls in the neck, it's powered by a one-hp., 50-volt motor …
Read More “1965 – “Electrophant” Mechanical Elephant – Frank Stuart (British)”
Robot Cyclist will Ride the Streets. A robot cyclist named Dynamo Joe, capable of propelling himself unaided through the streets has been built by students of Bristol University Engineering Department as the main attraction of the University's Rag Week, which begins Wednesday 28th February 1951. The robot's body is made from a 10-gallon oil drum, …
Charles Lawson lighting a cigarette for his robot. Other than the above images, all that's reported for this robot is that is talks and smokes. The photo above shows a seat with a lightning-bolt motif on it. The seat suggests robot could arise and sit again. Robot''s right arm moves to show a stop signal to …