Elektro is a robot built by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in its Mansfield, Ohio, facility between 1937 and 1938. Seven feet tall (2.1 m), weighing 265 pounds (120.2 kg), humanoid in appearance, he could walk by voice command, speak about 700 words (using a 78-rpm record player), smoke cigarettes, blow up balloons, and move his head and arms. Elektro's body consisted of a steel gear, cam and motor skeleton covered by an aluminum skin. His photoelectric "eyes" could distinguish red and green light. He was on exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair and reappeared at that fair in 1940, with "Sparko", a robot dog that could bark, sit, and beg to humans.
Replicas of Elektro the Moto-Man and his Little Dog Sparko
Several minutes of color sound footage of Elektro in action can be seen at 33:55 in the movie, "The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair", a fully-produced hour-long movie made by Westinghouse, which showcased the Westinghouse pavilion.[1]
History
Elektro toured North America in 1950 in promotional appearances for Westinghouse, and was displayed at Pacific Ocean Park in Venice, California in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He also appeared as "Thinko", in Sex Kittens Go to College (1960). In the 1960s, his head was given to Harold Gorsuch, a retiring Westinghouse engineer.
Elektro and Sparko both appear as minor characters in the novel "Mr. Atom" (1969) by Theodore Pratt. The two join fellow machines in an attempt to go on strike and overthrow humans.[2]
In 1992, the dance band Meat Beat Manifesto produced the song "Original Control (Version 2)" which prominently featured snippets of Elektro's monologues, quoting lines such as "I am Elektro" and "My brain is bigger than yours".
elektro, other, uses, electro, robot, built, westinghouse, electric, corporation, mansfield, ohio, facility, between, 1937, 1938, seven, feet, tall, weighing, pounds, humanoid, appearance, could, walk, voice, command, speak, about, words, using, record, player. For other uses see Electro Elektro is a robot built by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in its Mansfield Ohio facility between 1937 and 1938 Seven feet tall 2 1 m weighing 265 pounds 120 2 kg humanoid in appearance he could walk by voice command speak about 700 words using a 78 rpm record player smoke cigarettes blow up balloons and move his head and arms Elektro s body consisted of a steel gear cam and motor skeleton covered by an aluminum skin His photoelectric eyes could distinguish red and green light He was on exhibit at the 1939 New York World s Fair and reappeared at that fair in 1940 with Sparko a robot dog that could bark sit and beg to humans Replicas of Elektro the Moto Man and his Little Dog Sparko Several minutes of color sound footage of Elektro in action can be seen at 33 55 in the movie The Middleton Family at the New York World s Fair a fully produced hour long movie made by Westinghouse which showcased the Westinghouse pavilion 1 History EditElektro toured North America in 1950 in promotional appearances for Westinghouse and was displayed at Pacific Ocean Park in Venice California in the late 1950s and early 1960s He also appeared as Thinko in Sex Kittens Go to College 1960 In the 1960s his head was given to Harold Gorsuch a retiring Westinghouse engineer Elektro and Sparko both appear as minor characters in the novel Mr Atom 1969 by Theodore Pratt The two join fellow machines in an attempt to go on strike and overthrow humans 2 In 1992 the dance band Meat Beat Manifesto produced the song Original Control Version 2 which prominently featured snippets of Elektro s monologues quoting lines such as I am Elektro and My brain is bigger than yours Elektro is currently the property of the Mansfield Memorial Museum 3 4 In 2013 a replica was exhibited at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan 5 Sparko s fate is unknown 6 References Edit The Middleton Family at the New York World s Fair Retrieved 2023 01 22 Pratt Theodore 1969 Mr Atom Fort Lauderdale Fla Wake Brook House pp 106 107 ISBN 9780874820034 Sharkey Noel December 17 2008 The Return of Electro New Scientist doi 10 1016 S0262 4079 08 63234 0 Jacobs Emma April 2 2012 America s First Celebrity Robot is Staging a Comeback National Public Radio Designing Tomorrow America s World s Fairs of the 1930s Exhibit Preview The Henry Ford Museum April 2013 Archived from the original on 2014 02 20 Elektro the Moto Man Had the Biggest Brain at the 1939 World s Fair spectrum ieee org Retrieved 2021 07 26 External links EditElektro commentary YouTube Video footage of Elektro at the 1939 World s Fair The Middleton Family at the New York World s Fair 1939 Shows entire Elektro demo starting at 34 minutes into movie Mansfield Memorial Museum This robotics related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Elektro amp oldid 1136666684, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
