a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Sweaty Manny by Arthur Fisher Popular Science – Sep 1988 Manny. One of the most complex and sophisticated computer-controlled movable robots ever designed, as seen in the photos above, is being built at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Wash. "Manny," for robotic mannequin, is so humanlike that it even sweats. "In its final form," says …
Robots on your doorstep (a book about thinking machines) Nels Winkless, Iben Browning – 1978 – 178 pages Yogi is Smarter than the Average Bear …It is not widely remembered that Man has been the standard draft animal for most of "historical" times, quite apart from prehistory. Only very late in the game, during the …
Read More “1956c – “Dog-Mobile” Dog-controlled Walking Truck (Concept) – Iben Browning (American)”
In the Cute Fun Album for 1953, the story 'Champion Robot' by E R James features totally enclosed eight foot high powered suits for use on farms and in factories. The hero robot 'Creakyfoot' belongs to a boy, Andrew, who climbs through a door in its back into 'the soft cushioned space inside. Creakyfoot …
Read More “1953 – “Creakyfoot” Power Suit – E.R. James (British)”
Although inspired by Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" that had infantrymen wearing "power suits" that surround their bodies and amplify their movements, most of the Gundam mobile suits were of the "driveable robot" tradition, where operators sat in cockpits and manipulated levers and pedals. The Gundam concept was developed in 1978, with the TV series first …
Read More “1978-9 – Mobile Suit Gundam (Fiction) – Yoshiyuki Tomino (Japanese)”
The devices perform alternating and quite different mechanical works which are controlled by a person. The object of the present construction is to amplify the force of a man and perform different kinds of mechanical works which otherwise have to be performed by hand. The principal kind of works to be performed are digging, pile-driving, …
Read More “1930 – Giant Mechanical Worker – Franz Hübl (Czechoslovakia)”