Robot
In 1928, one of the first humanoid robots, Eric, was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Model Engineers Society in London, where it delivered a speech. Invented by W. H. Richards, the robot's frame consisted of an aluminium body of armour with eleven electromagnets and one motor powered by a twelve-volt power source. The robot could move its hands and head and could be controlled through remote control or voice control. Both Eric and his "brother" George toured the world.
History of robots
The first post-classical society known to construct automata were the Byzantines. They inherented the knowledge on automata from the Alexandrians und developed it further to build water clocks with gear mechanisms, such as for example described by Procopius about 510. The knowledge on how to construct automata was passed on to the Arabs. Harun al-Rashid built water clocks with complicated hydraulic jacks and moving human figures. One such clocks was gifted to Charlemagne, King of the Franks, in 807. Arab engineers such as Banu Musa and Al-Jazari published treatise on hydraulics and further advanced the art of water clocks. The segmental gears described in "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices", published by Al-Jazari shortly before his death in 1206, appeared 100 years later in the most advanced European clocks. Al-Jazari also published instructions on the construction of humanoid automata.