1971 – Naval Anthropomorphic Teleoperator (“NAT”) – Adamski (American)

Thursday; 14 October 1971 Naval Anthropomorphic Teleoperator (NAT) developed by MBAssociates, San Ramon, California, under a joint Navy-NASA-AEC contract. Slave arm and 3-D TV system mounted on Tripod. Exoskeleton master controller worn by operator (Donald F. Adamski) to the right in the photograph.  Naval Anthropomorphic Teleoperator (NAT) The kinematic arrangement is shown in Figure 3.2.2-7(c)[not …

1969 – Self-propelled Anthropomorphic Manipulator (SAM) – Edwin Johnsen (American)

SAM, a mobile manipulator, mimics the movements of an operator stationed at a far-distant control center. The Self-propelled Anthropomorphic Manipulator (SAM) that wears NASA logos was developed under Edwin Johnsen's direction in 1969 by the now defunct Space Nuclear Propulsion division of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Johnsen is credited with introducing the popular term …

1963c – MOBOT – Hughes Aircraft (American)

Engineer Lester. H. Waechter stands next to a Mobot, a type of robot manufactured by the Hughes Aircraft Company for use in areas too hazardous for humans to work in. Fullerton, California.  Remotely Controlled MOBOT* (Mobile Robot) system manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Company, Fullerton, Calif., for the Atomic Energy Division of the Phillips Petroleum Company, …

1770 – “The Turk” Chess Automaton – Wolfgang von Kempelen (Hungarian)

John Gaughan's version of "The Turk" Like my post on Maskelyne's "Psycho" and "Zoe" automatons, the interest here is its place in history in terms of remote master-slave manipulators, and I shall confine myself to just that. There is significant other matter on "The Turk" published elsewhere already. Well established as a fake contrivance [pseudo automaton, faux (false) automaton], …

1877 – “Zoe” the Drawing Automaton – John Nevil Maskelyne (British)

My initiial intention with this posting was to show "Zoe" as an example of an  early Anthropomorphic mechanical master-slave manipulator as well as being a drawing machine. What is presented are some images and illustrations of John Nevil Maskelyne's "Zoe", and an operational description of what could be "Zoe", but nevertheless a contemporary suggestion of how a …