The first servo manipulator was developed at Argonne National Laboratory under R. Goertz and involved some 8 years of work. Four of them were installed 9 years ago in the remote handling facility of Argonne, since when there has been no further production. In any case, this type was too big for installation in the PS tunnel. The development work was continued by a team at CNEN (Atomic Energy Commission of Italy) under C. Mancini. The first manipulator of this development was presented around 1960, and after many improvements it was exhibited in Geneva at the time of the Atoms for Peace Conference in 1965. Finally, a new type with reduced overall dimensions was finished in 1968 and installed in an Italian fuel reprocessing plant. This version has been seen and tested by us. Its size and working capacity meet very well the requirements inside the PS tunnel.
……
The only servo manipulator which can be obtained at present is therefore the one which was developed at CNEN and will be produced now under the name of Mascot by the firm SELENIA in Rome.
ENEA'S ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF NUCLEAR ROBOTICS – An advanced teleoperator, the Mascot, has been developed by ENEA for use in radiation environments.
A Mk III version of MASCOT.
The Mascot teleoperation system
In 1961 the researchers from ENEA developed the first Mascot unit, a telemanipulator for nuclear plant operation.
This manipulator was, and still is, one of the best machines available in the world as regards the force feeling it can transmit back to the operator (force feedback signals).
The Mascot is a Master/Slave telemanipulator of the force feedback type (see Fig. 1 above). Each arm has seven servo-controlled joints: six links for six degrees-of-freedom plus a gripper. Each joint is driven by its own actuator through gears or steel cables. The control algorithm is based on comparing the position and velocity of the joints of the Master and Slave arm, sensed at the same instant. These values, the position and velocity errors, are then multiplied by adequate proportional coefficients to determine the torques to be applied to the Slave arm actuators (which is thus forced to follow the Master) and to those of the Master arm, to generate the force feedback to the operator. These torques are applied in order to minimize the position errors.
A modern commercial example of a bilateral teleoperation system for use in the nuclear industry is the MAnipolatore Servo COntrollato Transistorizzato (MASCOT) system developed by Elsag Bailey.
This features dual six-DOF, kinematically identical, master and slave arms with full bilateral control. Each arm can move up to 20 kg with an accuracy of 0.5 mm. Communication between master and slave sites is via optical fibre cable. The system has the ability to compensate for the weight of grasped objects (so that those constant forces need not be maintained by the operator). It supports reindexing (so the workspace of the slave manipulator may be larger than that of the corresponding master arm), and has a "teach and repeat" function (so sequences of operations may be stored and later replayed).
The early MASCOTs were analogue based, and only in the 1990's were they digitalized.
"The Mascot IV telemanipulator was chosen by the remote handling group in the late nineteen eighties to form the basis of the remote maintenance system for the JET torus. It is a two arm Master-Slave device with 7 degrees of freedom per arm (including gripper).
The Mascot IV microprocessor (Z8000) controlled system evolved from the analogue Mascot III developed at ENEA in the 1960’s. The Master and Slave controllers are linked by a high speed 1MB serial line, allowing a separation of several kilometres. The Slave unit can be positioned anywhere inside or outside the tokamak, using specially designed robotic transporters, while the Master unit is operated from the remote handling control room.
The ‘man-in-the-loop’ philosophy of using bilateral, force-reflecting, servo-manipulators was considered necessary to provide the flexibility to handle the wide range of maintenance tasks that the constantly evolving JET project would require. Viewing is provided by the ‘Cyclops’ camera mounted on the Slave unit between the arms, two wrist mounted camera’s, a hand-held
mobile camera unit, and other in-vessel camera’s."
H.A. Ballinger, 'Machines with arms', Science Journal, October 1968
…..
Because European governments have not sponsored extraterrestial developments of nuclear power, there has been little money or encouragement for creating free-roving machines with arms.
However, a section of the CNEN Laboratories of Italy under Ing. C. Mancini created in 1960 a note-worthy machine: the MASCOT (Manipulatore Servo Controllato Transistorizzato). This device followed and improved on the techniques of Goertz in mounting a pair of arms, with the described bilateral control, on a mobile 'dolly'. From a console fitted with an identical master arm, a stereo vision screen and a foot control for the dolly's movements, the seated operator can integrate his own subconscious neuro-muscular control into co-ordinated and complex responses of slave's movements. Its one limitation, like that of the others described, is a restriction to floor areas cleared of normal obstructions. But, of all the machines developed, the MASCOT is the most aesthetical engineered device; the machine creates a humanistic impression which generates an impulse to speak orders to the machine rather than to the operator.
The Goertz Teleoperator Model E3 was used by the Italians as a basis for development of the MASCOT servomanipulator.
A few pages from Robotics by John F. Young, 1973 giving specifications of MASCOT. See pdf Mascot-Robotics-J-Young-1973
See other early Teleoperators, Exoskeletons and Industrial Robots here.
In 1958, the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) Thermatool Corporation (later known as AMF Corporation, later acquired by Prab Company of Michigan) initiated an R&D project for a Versatile Transfer Machine, or VERSATRAN, a programmable cylindrical coordinate frame robotic arm designed by Harry Johnson and Veljko Milenkovic. AMF introduced Model 102, a continuous-path transfer device, and Model 212, a point-to-point transfer device, in 1962.
AUTOMATIC HANDLING EQUIPMENT CALLED 'VERSATRAN'.
3243.02 | AUTOMATIC HANDLING EQUIPMENT CALLED 'VERSATRAN'. (1:02:10:00 – 1:05:52:00) 1967
Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Date found in the old record – 23/02/1967.
Various shots of the 'Versatran' – an artificial arm and a hand construction grab which is controlled from large panels. Developed in the USA by American Machine & Foundry Company. The grab is seen picking up a large bobbin and placing it in a box. The control panel can be programmed in advance so the grab can be operated in advance. Demonstration by Mr D C Hall.
It was only in 1967 that the Tokyo Machinery Trading Co. in Japan imports and sells the first industrial robot, a Versatran from AMF, Inc. Britain aquires its first Industrial Robot, a Versatran, in 1967, by Douglas Hall, as seen in the video clip above.
RISE OF THE ROBOTS by George Sullivan 1971
A second industrial robot arrived upon the scene in 1963. Manufactured by a division of AMF Thermatool, Inc., this robot is called the Versatran ( from versatile transfer ). It is characterized by a sturdy horizontal arm coupled to a six-foot vertical steel column which is mounted on a rectangular base.
Although they [Unimate] are different in appearance, the Versatran robot and the Unimate have many similarities. Both can handle objects weighing over 150 pounds. Both are built to last for forty thousand working hours. They sell for about the same price, approximately $25,000 [1971].
Industrial Robots at Work
Industrial robots do work of every imaginable type. They spray-paint automobile engines and spot-weld auto bodies. They stack brick and pluck hot parts from presses and die-casting machines.
What the robot does depends on its program. With the Versatran robot, there are two types of program controls. One is called point-to-point control and is the type used for relatively simple jobs. The other, for more complex tasks, is called continuous-path program control.
When programming a point-to-point control operation, the arm movements and functions to be performed are first drawn on a piece of paper. Then this sequence of "orders" is translated into electronic signals. Short lengths of metal-tipped wires, known as "patch cords," are inserted into the holes of a small, black pegboard, called a "patchboard," to correspond to the written orders.
The programmed patchboard locks into the robot's console panel. The board's contacts connect with memory-storing and command devices known as "potentiometers." Once the potentiometers have been adjusted for the various arm positions in the cycle, the machine is ready to operate. The robot user may own several patchboards, each programmed for a different job.
Programming the Versatran robot for "continuous path" operation is a matter of "teaching" the machine the proper motions to follow. A switch in the console is set for "program." The operator then leads the robot arm through all the motions it will later assume on its own. Gripper commands are also acted out. These signals are automatically recorded on magnetic tapes within the control console. There are fifteen minutes of program time available on each of the two reels of tape the console contains.
The Unimate is programmed in similar fashion—by moving the robot arm through the desired sequence of operation. The sequence registers in the machine's memory unit. Once the robot arm has been "taught" a program, it will follow the prescribed set of operations over and over.
"There's no mystery to programming," says one user. "It doesn't even require a mechanical background, much less a knowledge of electronics."
The job the robot is programmed to do may involve several individual tasks.
See Milenkovic tribute and mention of Versatran development here.
VERSATRAN robot in the 1971 movie "Silent Running"
The "billiard's" playing robot is actually an AMF Versatran industrial robot.
Regarding "Silent Running", for a 1972 movie, the Versatran was still considered a state-of-the-art industrial robot.
Two interchangeable end-effectors are shown, a gripper for loading/depositing billiard balls, and a pneumatic "cue" to strike the ball (below). The standard two-fingered Versatran gripper picks up a B.A.S.E.(tm) 3-fingered gripped to deposit the balls. Another small continuity error in that when picking up the B.A.S.E.(tm) gripper, the 2 pneumatic lines are not attached, but then magically appear in the next shot (see above). Also in the above image is the AMF Versatran name/logo, as well as the controller on the left.
The control panel in the background is a real and actual point-to-point Versatran control panel, used to program the various movie sequences. Although portrayed as "thinking for itself" , this robot would have to be choreographed and programmed via the point-to-point controller.
Other than the image, I have little other information about this mechanical elephant. Image was taken in 1958 in Japan, I believe.
RH update Feb 2011 – Thanks to Hisashi Moriyama from Japan I now have the following information.
Robot Elephant was made for campaign by Morinaga, a confectionery company. http://www.morinaga.co.jp/museum/gallery/show02/gallery_3.html
The actual manufacturer is “Kowa display co., inc.”
The elephant was named “Toffee-kun”.
2.4m high, 3.15m long.
25h.p. automobile engine.
Real ivories were attached.
“Toffee-kun” visited 162 cities, the visiting lasted about a year. The campaign was very effective.
Google translation (uncorrected – see brief form above):
You toffee robot elephant
Pilgrimage across the country you toffee robot elephant
Caramel absolute throne, occupied by Hisashi Mori milk caramel into a yellow sack after the war. Further around 1955, appeared one after the new caramel flavor. Toffitaipu ones like Britain, which had previously been made from a type of Asotokyande, Toffikyarameru Hisashi Mori was released in 1957 as the first of the so-called pockets (£ 20) is a powerful counter propaganda were characterized. A sack of caramel, it was not designed the figure of the Palace Guards UK. To make several thousand life-size tin signs named after this place we head the country’s leading confectionery and went in a big eye-catching campaign.
The same year Hisashi Mori in the press inviting Korakuen amusement park in Tokyo, conducted a naming ceremony and presentation of the world’s first robot elephant. Put the real teeth height 2.4 m, length 3.15 m giant elephant with a sophisticated and you are named toffee.
This pilgrimage to the country you toffee, newspapers and radio around the hustle and bustle of the parade was reported extensively in television. Equipped with a 25-horsepower automobile engine, our walking, moving Nosshinosshi neck and nose, a distance and did not put genuine distinction. Visiting 162 cities nationwide, 20,000 km of total stroke, total distance 660 km walking robot elephant, during the visit about a year and raised the great hype effect.
The Elephant appears to have rigid legs with powered wheels. Its head is also larger than other Mechanical Elephants I have seen.
See other early Mechanical Elephants, Horses, and other Walking Animals here.
At the debut press conference, Handyman twirled a hoola hoop and wielded a hammer.
Handyman slave station being held up by a G.E. "O" Man.
Handyman was built between 1958-59 at Schnetectady, New York for the joint AEC-USAF Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program by Ralph Mosher.
The idea of CAMs originated nine years ago when the General Electric Co. was in need of an especially delicate manipulator to handle experiments with an atomic aircraft engine. Manipulators with the theoretical dexterity to turn screws, fit parts and assemble close-tolerance components were available. But they always turned out to be clumsier and more inefficient than expected. The company asked Mosher, a mechanical engineer in the General Engineering Laboratory, to try to design a manipulator that could handle the task.
"I realized that after a certain point improvements in mechanical dexterity added little to a manipulator's performance," says Mosher. "So I began wondering why a human being is so efficient and a slave robot so awkward. Soon it was obvious that the manipulator's operator was missing what he ordinarily experiences, a sense of feel."
Mosher toyed with several methods of restoring a tactile sense to a manipulator's operator before he hit on force feedback. The idea itself wasn't new; power steering, for example, which became popular in the early 1950s, uses the same principle. But no one had ever applied it to a high performance slave robot. When Mosher did, the difference was dramatic. "We didn't just make a better manipulator," he says. "Adding touch created an entirely new kind of robot."
From Mosher's work came Handyman, a pair of arms with pincer hands sensitive enough to pack eggs, strong enough to crush golf balls, and adroit enough to light a match. The robot proved to be the most effective linking of man to manipulator ever built.
But it did have serious drawbacks. One was the electronic force feedback system, which used sensors in the robot's pincers and arms to pick up and relay stress. The electronic equipment was bulky and far too complex to be practical. In addition, the cost of the servo mechanisms and follower racks was prohibitive for anything but specialized projects. General Electric put Handyman and similar CAMs to work in its own plants. But their complexity and expense nixed plans for continued development.
For a further description on Force and reflective feedback, see post here.
Video Clip – there is a video clip, but, alas, no preview is available. Here's the clip description:
Mechanical Man Clip Description:
Schenectady, N.Y. — Manipulator-Mechanical Man
Cut Story:-Three shots Robot moving arms, 2 shots man operates same, Med Robot removes pipe from tube, Med operator, Med Robot twirling hoop, stops & holds hands together over head. Various shots Manipulator in action.
"Handyman"-Mechanical Man.
(18776) (NXO 2518) 16mm
Story number: 147-183
I found another video clip that has small snippets from the above video clip, but just showing the claw only.
"MM7" on the left, Claus Scholz in the middle and "MM8" on the right.
Scholz made MM7 between 1957-8 and finished with MM9 in 1973, so I believe.
The MM7 Selektor human machine is the development for which the international scientist Scholz-Nauendorff, nicknamed the "Viennese father of robots", is best known. Designed as a means of studying cybernetic movement the MM7, with its feedback stepping switches and visual receptors, is widely regarded as the predecessor of today's industrial robots. Its inventor later concentrated on artificial thought processes in an attempt to motivate follow-up models to act autonomously.
Cybernetic Machine MM7 Selektor, 1961
Claus Christian Scholz-Nauendorff [1915-1992]
Inv # 21918
MM stands for MaschinenMensch i.e. MachineMan.
Popular Mechanics 1964 incorrectly calls this robot MM47, it is MM7.
Younger lady is Scholz daughter, I believe.
Note: MM47 is a typo, should be MM7.
MM7's younger brother MM8 (Contina).
Notice the later modified head on MM8 between the images above and below. The rear head mount and grill-mouth are changed. This is an upgrade of MM8 .
Upgraded MM8.
MM8 is controlled by another 'phantom' or remote control, looking simpler than MM7's phantom.
The combination of 'phantom' and controls and motors makes MM8 much more responsive than MM7. The video clip shows MM8 brushing Mrs. Scholz' hair, near impossible for MM7.
Story
MR. KLAUS SCHOLZ, A VIENNESE INVENTOR AND ENGINEER, HAS DEVELOPED TWO ELECTRICAL ROBOT "SERVANTS" WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO PERFORM VERY EXACTING TASKS.
AS WELL AS ANSWERING THE DOOR AND THE TELEPHONE, THE ROBOTS CAN POUR DRINKS, SHAKE HANDS, HANG UP CLOTHES AND VACUUM CLEAN FLOORS. TO ANSWER THE TELEPHONE, THE ROBOT USES A MINIATURE TAPE RECORDER DEVICE WHICH IS BUILT INTO ITS HEAD.
THE MOVEMENTS OF THE ROBOT ARE CONTROLLED BY COMPLEX INSTRUMENT PANEL IN THE INVENTOR'S WORKSHOP. MR. SCHOLZ HOPES TO DEVELOP HIS MECHANISM EVEN FURTHER SO THAT EVENTUALLY HIS ROBOTS WILL BE VISUALLY ABLE TO RECOGNISE AND REACT ON KNOWN OBJECTS. HE ALSO PLANS TO BUILD A MACHINE WHICH WILL DO ALL HOUSEHOLD CHORES – EVEN THE WASHING-UP.
Reference 2661/64
Can 3734
Source REUTERS
Date original 16 MARCH 1964
Duration 1.49
Technical 16MM/NEG.
16MM/POS.
Subset Reuters TV – RTV Post 1957
Location VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Sound
Colourbw B/W
1. MV FIRST ROBOT AT DOOR 0.05
2. CU "SCHOLZ" NAME PLATE ON OTHER SIDE OF DOOR PAN.. TO ROBOT OPENING DOOR 0.13
3. CU ROBOT MOVES EYES 0.21
4. MV ROBOT CLOSES DOOR 0.27
5. MV KLAUS SCHOLZ AT DESK 0.29
6. CU SCHOLZ AT CONTROLS 0.34
7. MV DITTO 0.36
8. CU VOLTMETER 0.39
9. CU SECOND ROBOT TAKES VISITOR'S HAT 0.51
10. CU FIRST ROBOT 0.53
11. CU SECOND ROBOT 0.59
12. CU SECOND ROBOT'S EYES MOVE 1.04
13. MV FIRST ROBOT WALKS WITH BOTTLE IN HAND 1.11
14. CU FEET MOVING 1.16
15. CU BOTTLE OVER GLASS HELD BY SECOND ROBOT 1.21
16. CU SCHOLZ MANIPULATES CONTROL FOR POURING ACTION 1.25
17. CU BOTTLE TILTS 1.27
18. CU POURS DRINK INTO GLASS 1.36
19. CU SECOND ROBOT RAISES GLASS TOWARDS HEAD 1.44
20. CU FIRST ROBOT 1.49
Another video clip here, thanks to the author of a comment below in locating it.
Stills from clip.
MM7 (and MM8) remotely controlled by a 'phantom'.
Scholz was also experimenting in voice recognition and ….
…pattern recognition.
Claus Scholz.
Translated from Spanish by Google
A creature that is not gossip
Last "robot" built by the Viennese engineer Claus Scholz, who has been engaged for years in this kind of gadgets. Went do remote electronic control, open the door when the doorbell rings, the phone serves, if Mr. or Mrs. are not home, takes message on tape and plays it when convenient. It also handles the vacuum or serving a drink if asked. In short, perfect maid or butler, the days off without pay.
Caption: Taking a wrong message by telephone without names is something that "MM-7" made without difficulty. (Improved image from another magazine)
Caption: The lady who goes to visit her friend is frightened by the disquieting aspect of the "maid". But you will get used to her. (Improved image from another magazine)
(Improved image from another magazine)
Caption: [Below image] Will need to understand that children of the house, if any, are gradually accustomed to a different home as physical as the one they know. To the left [above], 'MM-7' helps to shed the coat sir.
Google translation from Spanish
LADY: BEHOLD YOUR NEW DOMESTIC
It's ugly, but does not answer to bad manners
THE Vienese Engineer Claus Scholz is about to solve the problem of domestic service, as alive as living standards improve. He has built and what will be the perfect servant and that currently called "Selector MM-7 '. This is a "robot" able to perform simple tasks, such as dusting, open the door, sweep, serving snacks and dry dishes. The mechanical maid is high. It measures 1.82 meters, but weighs little: is less than 50 kilos. Her skin is not pleasant, it is made of synthetic resin, and has feet too big, first to fit the number 49. Nor can it be said to offer a pleasant face. But evil does not answer, no armhole and, above all, does not require frequent wage increases or claims free time to go with her boyfriend to "cinema". For now, the new home is in the period that the housewives have devoted to updating the servants from the village. The engineer Scholz says his "chacha" soon be perfected and that before long enough that the lady says, "Prepare a meal for six people" so that the "robot" fulfill the order. For now, the acquisition of a maid is expensive electronics. If forecasts are met rows mass production and further desired, housewives can calm breathing, and tightness of the traditional "girls serve" will be corrected with the entry into the homes of these dolls, which provided "mnemonics files" receive instructions and develop relevant work .., without question. So be it.
Source: Blanco y Nero, Dec 1963
MM7 as he was in 2009.
In May of 2009 I travelled from Australia to Europe on a pilgrimage to see the old robots the had infuenced and aroused me in my youth. I went to Vienna to see Heinz Zemanek and his many Cybernetic tortoises and Maze solvers. These items are now housed in the Technical Museum of Vienna. Whilst there, I also saw Scholz's MM7, which was unexpected. DI Dr. Otmar Moritsch arranged for my behind the scenes visit. Here is the address of the Museum:
It looks as if Scholz had walking and stability problems early on with MM7. The knees were then "frozen" to prevent a bending action, and a metal frame added that also extended the length of the feet and added a steering castor at the rear.
David Buckley (on the right) joined me on my pilgrimage. Peter Schoen, Dr Otmar Moritsch's colleague who went out of his way to ensure our visit was a success, is on the left.
Close-up of the hands.
Detail of the head.
MM7 has no back as such. His exoskeleton body is made of reinforced fibreglass. MM7 was mains, not battery powered.
MM9 was built around 1973, so i'm lead to believe, but currently I have no image of it. MM6 was built in 1957-8.
Im Technischen Museum Wien ist noch bis 14. Juli 2013 die Ausstellung "Roboter. Maschine und Mensch?" zu sehen.
Christian Stadelmann, gemeinsam mit Bodo-Michael Baumunk Kurator der Ausstellung, stellt hier eines seiner Lieblingsexponate vor. Es handelt sich um den „Maschinenmenschen“ Numero 6 aus dem Jahr 1958. Erbaut wurde er von dem Wiener Kybernetiker Claus Scholz-Nauendorff in dessen Privatwohnung. Christian Stadelmann umreißt die Bedeutung dieses Roboters folgendermaßen:
„Das ehrgeizige Ziel, das Scholz-Nauendorff verfolgte, war es, sogenannte künstliche Intelligenz in Gestalt humanoider Roboter zu schaffen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit muten aus heutiger Sicht bizarr an, allzu simpel erscheinen die technischen Lösungen angesichts des Anspruchs, ein dienstbares Wesen zu schaffen. Aber die Öffentlichkeit zeigte vor allem an den Nachfolgemodellen MM7 und MM8 großes Interesse. Scholz Nauendorff präsentierte seine ‚Geschöpfe’ mit ernstem Stolz im Fernsehen und in Zeitungs- und Zeitschriftenartikeln. Dauerhafter Erfolg war diesen Forschungsaktivitäten nicht beschieden. MM7 kam ins Technische Museum Wien, MM8 ins Wiener Bezirksmuseum Landstraße. Sie haben dort einen eher skurrilen Status erlangt. MM6 ist überhaupt in Vergessenheit geraten.“
Und wie kam nun dieser MM6 in die Ausstellung des Technischen Museums? Das ist eine jener spannenden Geschichten, wie sie Ausstellungsmacher/innen auf der Suche nach interessanten Exponaten gerne erleben. Im Zuge der Recherchen zum Begleitmaterial zu den „Maschinenmenschen“ konnte Christian Stadelmann die Witwe des 1992 verstorbenen Kybernetikers, Friedericke Scholz-Nauendorff, ausfindig machen. Während eines Gesprächs über die „Maschinenmenschen“ ihres Mannes erwähnte sie dem Kurator gegenüber en passant, dass „einer von denen“ ja noch „hier herumsteht“. Für Christian Stadelmann war das ein ebenso aufregender wie berührender Augenblick:
„Auf meine unsichere Frage hin, was sie denn meine, führte mich die beim Gespräch anwesende Pflegerin von Frau Scholz-Nauendorff in einen Vorraum zur Küche, wo tatsächlich in einem Erker der mannshohe, über 50 Jahre alte Roboter stand. Wegen mechanischen Problemen hatte Scholz-Nauendorff seinerzeit die Entwicklung daran eingestellt und mit der Herstellung des Nachfolgemodells begonnen. Über meinen Wunsch, den MM6 ins Museum zu holen, zeigte sich die Betreuerin sehr erfreut, denn sie fürchtete sich jedes mal, wenn sie an ihm vorbeigehen musste, wie sie gestand.“
Für Christian Stadelmann ergab sich bei dieser Gelegenheit nicht nur ganz unerwartet ein tolles Ausstellungsobjekt, sondern auch eine direkte Verknüpfung zu den vielen Hoffnungen, die in Roboter gesteckt wurden und werden – wozu auch die Vorstellung zählt, dass Roboter dereinst in der Pflege von kranken Menschen eingesetzt werden könnten. Ein Gedanke, der in diesem Moment und in Gegenwart einer Pflegerin aus Fleisch und Blut einen ähnlich unheimlichen Beigeschmack besaß wie die äußere Gestalt des MM6.
English translation
ANSICHTSSACHE NO. 14: – ". Robot machine and man" "One of those" Christian Stadelmann about one of his favorite exhibits in the exhibition.
The Technical Museum in Vienna until 14 July 2013, the exhibition "Robots. Machine and man?" to see.
Christian Stadelmann, together with Bodo-Michael Baumunk curator of the exhibition, shares with us one of his favorite exhibits. These are the "human machine" Numero 6 from the year 1958. It was built by the Viennese cyberneticist Claus Scholz Nauendorff in his private apartment. Christian Stadelmann outlines the importance of this robot as follows:
"The ambitious goal of the Scholz-Nauendorff pursued, was to create so-called artificial intelligence in the form of humanoid robots. The results of this work seem bizarre at from today's perspective, the technical solutions seem overly simplistic, given the claim of creating a serviceable creature. But the public was mainly due to the subsequent models MM7 and MM8 interest. Scholz Nauendorff presented his 'creatures' with earnest pride on television and in newspaper and magazine articles. Long-term success was not granted these research activities. MM7 came to Vienna Technical Museum, MM8 into Vienna's Museum highway. They have acquired a rather bizarre state. MM6 is ever forgotten. "
And how does this MM6 came into the exhibition the Museum of Technology? This is one of those fascinating stories, as curator / inside in search of interesting exhibits like to experience. In the course of research on the supporting materials for the "machine-man" could make Christian Stadelmann's widow died in 1992 cyberneticist, Friedericke Scholz Nauendorff, locate. During a conversation using the "machine-man" of her husband, she mentioned the curator over en passant that "one of those" still "around here is." For the Christian Stadelmann was as exciting as touching moment:
"In my uncertain question what they mean for me the nurse present during the conversation of Mrs. Scholz Nauendorff led into an anteroom to the kitchen where actually stood in an alcove of the head-high, over 50 years old robot. Due to mechanical problems Scholz Nauendorff had once stopped developing it and started the production of a new model. About my wish to bring the MM6 to the museum, the supervisor was very pleased, because she was afraid every time she had to walk past him, as she confessed. "
For Christian Stadelmann was found on this occasion not only quite unexpectedly a great exhibit, but also a direct link to the many hopes that have been placed in robot and be – including the idea is one that robot one day used in the care of sick people could be. A thought that at this moment and in the presence of a nurse in the flesh had a similar sinister connotation as the exterior of the MM6.
As a result of the 2012-13 Robot exhibition held at Vienna Technical Museum, I now have images of MM6.
Scholz was exploring electro-hydraulic limbs in MM6, dating from 1957-58.
Above photo by Thomas Preiss.
Images by David Kotrbar.
MM8 normally resides at Wiener Bezirksmuseum Landstraße (Vienna's District Roads Museum).
MM8 doesn't walk (slide) as per MM7, but rolls around with rigid legs.
Picture rights: praktiker.at/Felix Wessely
Claus Scholz with MM8 in 1990.
Picture is from praktiker magazine 6/1990 which carries an excellent article on the story of Claus Scholz and has diagrams of MM6 to MM9.
Claus was a Professor. The only paper I could find is "System with automated exploring of problems for intelligent data processes by ergonomic dialog" published in 1982 under his fulll name of Claus Christian Scholz-Nauendorff.
Audio files by Scholz are located here and here. An English translation by a reader would be greatly appreciated and acknowledged.
Missing Articles: Mentioned here are 2 articles on Scholz that I'm having difficulty in locating.
One is supposedly in an 1964 edition of LIFE magazine. I've searched all of 1964 issues online and not found this article. It may be in an International edition of Life Magazine.
The other is in a 1970 German edition of Mickey Mouse (Micky Maus).
Any assistance in locating these articles would be much appreciated.
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