UK’s First Robot to Be Rebuilt by the London Science Museum

Back in 1928, two First World War veterans named William Richards and Albert Herbert Reffell managed to invent the first humanoid robot in the United Kingdom, and they decided to name it Eric. Covered in aluminum, the rather imposing machine was able to perform basic tasks such as moving its arms and changing the position of its head, but the interesting thing is that all of these movements could be controlled remotely using a wireless connection or through voice input. As you can probably imagine, this technology was incredibly advanced during those times, which is why the robot received plenty of attention from the media, especially when it met up with celebrities and politicians.

Unfortunately, Eric suddenly disappeared at some point, and nobody knows exactly whether it was scrapped for parts, destroyed or lost. The good news is that the London Science Museum is now looking to re-create it using archived material and photos delivered by the relatives of the original builders. If the reconstruction process goes well, the new Eric will be unveiled at the museum in October for all to see, but it will be taken down afterward and scheduled to appear in a paid exhibit in February. In order to fulfil its goal, the museum has created a campaign on Kickstarter that asks for £35,000 (about $50,551). Even though the new robot would not be able to replace the original one in value, it would still provide a very good insight into the early days of robotics.