A new exhibition at the Science Museum in London explores the 500-year development of robotics and mankind’s obsession with replicating itself. It has taken four years to track down objects from across the world to bring together for the exhibition.
The word robot was first used in 1920. The exhibition examines how robots have been shaped by religious belief, the Industrial Revolution, 20th-century popular culture, and dreams about the future.
More than 100 objects are on show in five different historical periods, from a 15th-century Spanish clockwork monk who kisses his rosary to steam-powered Victorian men made from brass and iron and the high-tech helpers in modern-day research labs.
The first robot on display is a life-like mechanical human baby, recently acquired for the museum’s new robotics collection. Visitors are able to interact with some of the 12 working robots on display, including an articulated iron manikin built in the 1500s, and a 2.4m-tall walking model from the 1950s called Cygan.
Other notable pieces on display include the original skeleton of the T-800 robot used in the filming of Terminator Salvation, Honda’s Asimo humanoid robot, and Inkha – once a receptionist at King’s College London – a robotic head that offers fashion advice.
The Zeno R25 replicates visitors’ facial expressions, and Rosa will move its camera “eye” and head to watch visitors as they walk past. The exhibition also includes a telenoid communications android for hugging during long-distance telephone calls, and Kaspar, a minimally expressive robot designed to help ease social interactions for children with autism.
The challenges of recreating in mechanical form human abilities such as walking are also explored. Visitors are able to study the intricate mechanisms of the Bipedal Walker, rescued by curator Ben Russell from a cupboard, and Honda’s P2 – two of the first robots to walk like humans.
Also on display is a beautiful astrolabe, made in France in about 1300, the oldest astronomical instrument originating in western Europe. And there are examples of machines from factory production lines.
Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum Group, said: “The exhibition explores the question of why, rather than how, we build robots. To look through the eyes of those who built, commissioned or gazed upon these mesmerising mechanical creations over the past 500 years reveals so much about humanity’s hopes, fears, dreams and delusions.”
The exhibition runs at the Science Museum until 3 September. In late 2017 the show will embark on a five-year UK and international tour – visiting the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the International Centre for Life in Newcastle upon Tyne, and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
For more details, see: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Look and learn - Five things to see
1. Britain’s first robot: Eric, a “talking” robot, was built in 1928 and later vanished. Now, thanks to a fundraising campaign, he has been rebuilt.
2. Thousands of parts: Built in 1957 by engineer Piero Fiorito, Cygan is made from 300,000 parts and could move its arms and crush drinks cans.
3. Interactive bot: Nao, the most widely-used humanoid robot in the world, stands (or sits if tired) to tell a story of how robots make decisions.
4. Silver swan: This automaton, which featured at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, was built by John Joseph Merlin, the inventor of roller skates.
5. Robo Thespian: The UK-built machine is a full-sized humanoid that moves around the exhibition giving theatrical performances.