Senator John Heinz History Center - IMG 7802

Elektro is a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

built by J.M. Barnett, Jack Weeks Sr., Harold Gorsuch, and other engineers at the

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in Richland County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 47,534 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Columbus via Interstate 71, it i ...

, facility between 1937 and 1938.

Physical specifications

Seven feet tall (2.1 m), weighing , humanoid in appearance, he could walk by voice command, speak about 700 words (using a 78-rpm

record player A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

), smoke cigarettes, blow up balloons, and move his head and arms. Elektro's body consisted of a steel gear, cam and motor skeleton covered by an aluminum skin. His

photoelectric The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a material caused by electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner are called photoelectrons. The phenomenon is studied in condensed matter physic ...

"eyes" could distinguish red and green light.

Exhibit history

Elektro was on exhibit at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

and was joined at that fair in 1940, with "Sparko", a robot dog that could bark, sit, and beg to humans. Several minutes of color sound footage of Elektro in action can be seen at 33:55 in the movie, ''

The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair ''The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair'' is a 1939 American film directed by Robert R. Snody produced by Westinghouse Electric (1886), Westinghouse for their exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 2012, the film was added to ...

'', a fully-produced hour-long movie made by Westinghouse, which showcased the Westinghouse pavilion. Elektro toured North America in 1950 in promotional appearances for Westinghouse, and was displayed at Pacific Ocean Park in Ocean Park,

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, "which was in operation from 1958 to 1967, as part of the ''House of Tomorrow'' exhibit''.'' Elektro appeared as "Thinko", in '' Sex Kittens Go to College'' (1960).

Property dispute

Sparko's fate is unknown. All original pieces of Elektro were eventually located and restored. Today, he is on display at The Mansfield Memorial Museum in

. In the 1960s, his head was given to Harold Gorsuch, a retiring Westinghouse engineer. In 2013, a replica was exhibited at

The Henry Ford The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection contai ...

Museum in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...

. Elektro is currently the subject of a property dispute by Weeks' family, Schaut's heirs and the Mansfield Memorial Museum.

References

External links

*http://themansfieldmuseum.org/elektro/ *
Mansfield Memorial MuseumYouTube Video footage of Elektro at the 1939 World's FairThe Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939)
Shows entire Elektro demo starting at 34 minutes into movie.

''Tales of Future Past''
Elektro
on

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Humanoid robots Historical robots Mansfield, Ohio 1939 New York World's Fair Humanoid robots 1937 robots Robots of the United States