a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Plot Summary for Rikky and Pete (1988) Follow the lives of Rikky, a talanted geologist, and her brother Pete, an off-the-wall mechanical genius. To find peace of mind they travel to the outbacks of Australia and meet up with a desert mining town full of zany individualists. In the movie, Pete builds a newspaper folding and …
Read More “1988 – “Rikky and Pete” Mechanical Horse – David Parker et al (Australian)”
Bipedal Ornithopter in flight. Parts. Source: http://web.archive.org/web/19961114042310/http://robotgroup.org/projects/Roboblimp.html Bipedal Onithopter UAV By David Santos It runs on two legs, flaps wings to take flight, and flys nimbly about the nooks and crannies of urban landscapes. Featured on the Discovery Channel's, Invention Series, ABC's Good Morning America, and Newsweek magazine. The blimp is a 12-foot-long airship with running legs …
Read More “1990 – Bipedal Ornithopter – David Santos (American)”
Pouch-Type Artificial Muscle (1970) An artificial muscle, which would serve as a rotational actuator for prostheses, was developed. It was made of double boards connected by a hinge and an airtight rubber pouch the expansion of which was constrained by nylon so as to generate torque around the hinge. Dr. Ichiro Kato, the leader of …
Artists concept of the Lunar Worm, showing a large, crawling Pneumatic bellows shelter, and a smaller transport vehicle with side-by-side circular bellows. The crawling motion is not gained by pumping fluid (air) in or out of the bellow segments, but uses a mechanical travelling-wave connected to the pneumatic-bellows structure. The Epoch Times July 20, …
Read More “1966 – “Lunar Worm” (Concept) – Dobson & Fulton of Philco (American)”
Rear view. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Propellor protection. Prop actually swivels up and down to give ground clearance or motive power. [Source: All the above images – Life 1948] [Source: Mechanix Illustrated – March 1948] [Source: Popular Mechanics – May 1948] [Source: Popular Science – May 1948] Leapfrog Barge Swims, Walks, Climbs …
Read More “1947 – Walking Amphibious Barge – John T. Tucker (American)”