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When a man's an empty kettle / He should be on his mettle ...
Probably because my childhood memories and cultural imagination have been very much shaped by American TV and cinema, I always thought that Robby the Robot was the real deal and the first of his metallic kind.
So imagine my surprise when I recently read of Eric; the first functioning electric-powered robot, made in England by former First World War pilot Capt. William Richards, and aircraft engineer Alan Reffell ...
Following his first public appearance - at London's Royal Horticultural Hall in 1928 (opening the Exhibition of the Society of Model Engineers) - Eric and his two operators set off on a US tour, where he cheerfully introduced himself to audiences as the man without a soul.
I think my favourite description of him comes from an essay by Tina Ferris:
"Eric was designed to stand, bow […] and to dazzle the audience by answering simple questions. […] Motorized pulleys moved his arms and head while 35,000 volts of electricity generated glowing eyes and sparks that shot from his mouth when [he] spoke. Eric's six-foot-tall aluminium body resembled a knight in shining armour […] A big breastplate was emblazoned with the letters RUR across [his] chest leaving little doubt about [his] inspiration."
Ferris concludes, however, on a somewhat sour note, that Eric's performance ultimately amounted to no more than "exotic theatrical showboating that at once seemed to trivialize robots and also to magnify their threat" [1].
Mysteriously, however, Eric disappeared soon afterwards: some think he self-destructed; others that he was cannibalised for spare parts. Personally, I like to think that he eloped with Maria the Maschinenmensch and star of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (or at least an identical replica of everybody's favourite fembot).
Afterword
In 2016, the Science Museum raised funds through a Kickstarter campaign to rebuild Eric. Working from archive material including photographs and film clips, the artist-roboticist Giles Walker brought him back to life (so to speak) and Eric was added to the museum's permanent collection, appearing as part of the 2017 Robots exhibition. For more details, click here.
I think my favourite description of him comes from an essay by Tina Ferris:
"Eric was designed to stand, bow […] and to dazzle the audience by answering simple questions. […] Motorized pulleys moved his arms and head while 35,000 volts of electricity generated glowing eyes and sparks that shot from his mouth when [he] spoke. Eric's six-foot-tall aluminium body resembled a knight in shining armour […] A big breastplate was emblazoned with the letters RUR across [his] chest leaving little doubt about [his] inspiration."
Ferris concludes, however, on a somewhat sour note, that Eric's performance ultimately amounted to no more than "exotic theatrical showboating that at once seemed to trivialize robots and also to magnify their threat" [1].
Mysteriously, however, Eric disappeared soon afterwards: some think he self-destructed; others that he was cannibalised for spare parts. Personally, I like to think that he eloped with Maria the Maschinenmensch and star of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (or at least an identical replica of everybody's favourite fembot).
Afterword
In 2016, the Science Museum raised funds through a Kickstarter campaign to rebuild Eric. Working from archive material including photographs and film clips, the artist-roboticist Giles Walker brought him back to life (so to speak) and Eric was added to the museum's permanent collection, appearing as part of the 2017 Robots exhibition. For more details, click here.
Notes
[1] Tina Ferris, 'D. H. Lawrence and "The Machine Incarnate": Robots Among the "Nettles"', in D. H. Lawrence, Technology, and Modernity, ed. Indrek Männiste, (Bloomsbury, 2019), pp. 51-71. Lines quoted are on p. 55.
[2] Ibid.
Musical bonus: Jack Haley as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (dir. Victor Fleming, 1939), performing 'If I Only Had a Heart' by Harold Arlen (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics): Click here.
For a follow-up post to this one, featuring the bad boy of robots, Elektro, click here.
[2] Ibid.
Musical bonus: Jack Haley as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (dir. Victor Fleming, 1939), performing 'If I Only Had a Heart' by Harold Arlen (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics): Click here.
For a follow-up post to this one, featuring the bad boy of robots, Elektro, click here.
