The First Robot (translation)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The original text was written by Dan Wohlbruck and can be found here.

It happened in September 1928

Dan Wohlbruck adds to his “When Did This Happen?” series of essays about the first human-looking robot. He reports, surprisingly, that “Eric was a simple and successful substitute for the Duke of York.”

On September 20, 1928, Eric, the first human-looking robot, opened the Society of Model Engineers Exhibition in London. Captain William Richards, a journalist and World War I veteran, and A. H. Reffell, an engineer, were the inventors. Captain Richards was inspired to build Eric when the Duke of York, who had been invited to open the exhibition, was unable to attend the ceremony. Eric’s presentation is described on the cyberneticzoo.com website as follows:

Neural Networks on Kind of Idea

The First Robot (translation)