a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
LONDON – ALL SET FOR SANTA aka CHRISTMAS TOY FAIR Meccano promotional robot at the1965 Christmas Toy Fair, London. The robot's head turns, ears spin, eye lights flash, mouth opens and closes, chest lights flash, each arm can move up and down and the head's antenna rotates. It appears that one leg may move, and the …
Meccano put out a robot models kit called "Meccanoids" in 1979, with instructions and parts for any of 10 models. See Instruction booklet pdf here. Venusian Desert Bug Sirus Stroller Saturn Dinosaur Martian Mantis Space Skate Lunar Lurcher Mercurian Creeper Uranian Rhino Cosmic Spider Cyborg Robot Comments from some Meccano Men : "Then there are the …
'HEXY' – a real sexy homing device. Published in Radio Control Models & Electronics, March 1965. This simple light-seeking device is novel in that it scans when the drive motor is reversed.
Michael Freeman's first robot was RUDY, a robot he designed and entered into the Westinghouse Science Fair in 1960, aged 13 where he won first place!. Rudy was a mechanical robot that could walk around by using a tether and wheels, and could remember where it went so that later on, it could re-trace its steps. …
Read More “1960 – Rudy the Robot – Michael Freeman (American)”
Les amateurs de « zoologie » électronique sont aujourd'hui légion. Ici, une « tortue » réalisée par le chercheur belge André[sic] Delsemme et qui, comme ses consoeurs, est capable d'apprentissage (arch. ph. Boulanger/Ministère de l'Éducation nationale — Service Cinématographique, Bruxelles). English Translation The amateurs of electronic “zoology” are now legion. Here, a “cybernetic tortoise” made …
Read More “1964 – Cybernetique Tortue (Cybernetic Tortoise) – Armand Delsemme (Belgian)”