←back to thread

A 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics

(www.technologyreview.com)
125 points danso | 1 comments | 17 Apr 25 15:42 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
eterpstra ◴[20 Apr 25 15:17 UTC] No.43744326[source]▶
I had this thing and loved it but it WAS SO G$DD$MN LOUD!!!!!

It was like the sound of a pile of silverware dumped into a garbage disposal played at full volume over an AM radio.

Great controls, though.

replies(2): >>43745116 #>>43746939 #
Mountain_Skies ◴[20 Apr 25 17:25 UTC] No.43745116[source]▶
It was made for Radio Shack by Tomy, who made lots of battery operated toys in that era that were very complex and clever amalgamations of plastic parts. My sister had Tomy's 'Dream Dancer', which was obnoxiously loud, though you don't see that in the advertisements. She never got a second set of batteries once the Christmas day set gave out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K8ZP1pnP78

replies(2): >>43745430 #>>43747772 #
jhbadger ◴[21 Apr 25 01:18 UTC] No.43747772[source]▶
They even made "fake" electronic games like Blip -- a version of Pong that was electromechanical rather than electronic. Presumably at the time that was a cheaper way to do things, but like mechanical watches it is in a way more impressive than using electronics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blip_(console)

replies(1): >>43748030 #
1. Mountain_Skies ◴[21 Apr 25 02:26 UTC] No.43748030[source]▶
We had Blip and a baseball game that tried to look like an electronic game but we instantly knew it was inferior to the "real" thing. Looking back on it now, the mechanical games were more impressive, even if the electronic games were more expensive due to the various ICs.

Though Blip used batteries, it didn't go through them anywhere near the rate something like Head-to-Head football did. The baseball game was completely human powered, making them both far more useful in our rural area where batteries weren't available without a trip to town. Plus batteries were an added expense.