History of Toy Robots
Times have certainly changed - just look at what kids are playing with these days. While toy cars and dolls may still keep youngsters entertained, popular playthings of the new generation include video games, remote control toys, and toy robots.
The origin of toy
robots can be traced back to the development of robots. One of the
earliest robots was an automaton invented by Frenchman Jacques de
Vaucanson in 1738. He made a self-automating mechanical duck that was
able to eat and digest grain, flap its wings, and excrete. In Japan,
Hisashige Tanaka created an assortment of extremely complex mechanical
toys, some of which were capable of firing arrows, serving tea, or even
painting a Japanese character.
In the 1930s, Westinghouse
Electric Corporation built a humanoid robot. The robot, called Elektro,
was exhibited at the World's Fair during 1939 and 1940. From 1948 to
1949, William Grey Walter of the Burden Neurological Institute at
Bristol, England developed the first electronic autonomous robots. Named
Elmer and Elsie, these "turtle robots" could sense light and contact
with external objects. They were also capable of finding their charging
station when their battery power ran low.
The first truly modern
robot that was digitally operated, programmable, and teachable was
invented by George Devol in 1954. His robot was called the Unimate,
which he sold to General Motors in 1960. In 1961, it was installed in a
plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die
casting machine and stack them.
In 1985, the Tomy Kyogo Company
created the Omnibot 2000, a toy robot that could be controlled with a
hand-held remote control or through programs stored on magnetic tape. In
the late 1990s, AIBO the robotic dog was introduced by Sony. AIBO was
capable of autonomously navigating a room and playing ball using its
sensor array.
In case you adored this article along with you would like to obtain more information about yougears i implore you to pay a visit to our webpage. Other pet robots soon followed. Tiger Electronics created the Furby in
1998, a pet toy that could communicate with its owner. In 2001, Omron
released the robotic cat NeCoRo as a competitor to AIBO. It had Mind and
Consciousness (MaC) technology, enabling it to generate feelings.
Toy
robots have certainly come a long way from Jacques de Vaucanson's
mechanical duck over two centuries ago. They are a more common sight
nowadays, and it is without a doubt that we will continue to see more of
toy robots in the years to come.