5 Useless Robots (And Why We Love Them)

• robotics
• Nintendo
• GE
• General Electric
• toys
• Resident Roboticist
• Westinghouse

In 1937, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation started construction on a robot designed to mimic many basic human actions. Within one year, Elektro was created—a giant steel and aluminum contraption adept at blowing up balloons, and smoking cigarettes and able to move its head, arms and legs. Some of Elektro's more impressive feats included the ability to use a camera to distinguish between red and green lights and a motor skeleton to walk on command. Less impressive were the bad jokes broadcast over its speakers via microphone.

The robot was the face of Westinghouse—much like ASIMO is to Honda—for years, making appearances at places like the 1939 New York World's Fair, where he showed off in front of a crowd of 3.7 million. Elektro's final days included a small role in the 1960s film, Sex Kittens Go to College. Soon after the filming, Elektro was bought by a small, privately owned museum. Last year, the son of a Westinghouse engineer built a nonworking simulacrum of the robot, now on display at the Heinz History Center.

CLICK FOR MORE 5 Useless Robots
1. Elektro	2. Hardiman	3. R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy)	4. Furby	5. The Land Walker

Popular Mechanics editorial advisor Daniel H. Wilsoncompiled list of useless robots. Wilson has a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and master's degrees in robotics and machine learning; he is the author of several books, including How to Survive a Robot Uprising and How to Build a Robot Army. He also hosts the History Channel's The Works, a show where he explores the complex systems found in everyday life.

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