Ancient robot rebooted
Older than Spinola
ASIA’S OLDEST ROBOT is up and running again thanks to a $200,000 refit.
Gakutensoku was built in Japan in 1928 to mark the ascension of the Emperor Showa, who is better known in the West as Hirohito, the WWII bloke.
The robot stood 10 feet, 6 inches tall, which was symbolically twice the height of the tiny emperor and had limited mechanical ability. It could tilt its head, blink, smile and puff up its chest and cheeks.
While this was not much for a robot of today’s standards, it was exactly the sort of thing people wanted from their Emperor.
In the days before the war, the robot was controlled using a system of inflatable tyres. The thing has been restored with a $200,000 computer-controlled pneumatic servo system.
It still moves like an asthmatic turtle on its way up a hill with a heavy load of shopping.
Gizmodo has a creepy video of the beast here. µ
Comments
Itanium
I read the article and could not help but think this was a clever parody of the design and build of the Itanium 2.A bit like Animal Farm.
Wink or nod if your on the same frequency ...
Don't be too obvious about it or Paul's Ecret Police will descend upon us.
What is a robot?
This is ridiculous, if this is a robot, than my car is a robot. If I kick over a mannequin does that make it a robot, or kick a pot off the stove?I wish people, and the press, would stop publishing petty stupid stories like this. A robot is clearly not an inanimate object requiring direct control by a human, like a remote controlled car, a giant puppet maybe.