Eric was the first British robot, built in 1928 by First World War veteran Captain William Richards, and aircraft engineer Alan Reffell. He was constructed to open the Exhibition of the Society of Model Engineers at London's Royal Horticultural Hall in 1928, after

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

(then the Duke of York) cancelled and an exasperated Richards, the exhibition's secretary, offered to "make a man of tin" to take the Duke's place. At the event's opening, Eric rose to his feet, bowed and gave a four-minute opening address. The robot was operated by two people, and Eric's voice was received live by a radio signal, Richards claiming to be working under a license of the

Marconi Company The Marconi Company was a British telecommunications and engineering company founded by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 which was a pioneer of wireless long distance communication and mass media broadcasting, eventually becoming on ...

. Although able to sit and stand, Eric could not move his legs to walk. His chest bore the letters "R.U.R.", a reference to the robot manufacturer in

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

's 1920 play of the same name. Following his first appearance, Eric was taken on a US tour, introducing himself to an audience in New York in 1929 as "Eric the robot, the man without a soul". The ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'' described him as "the perfect man". Some time after this, Eric disappeared. Having researched Eric's story,

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

curator Ben Russell concluded that "no-one quite knows what happened to him, whether he was blown-up or taken to pieces for spare parts". In 2016, the London Science Museum raised funds through a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign to rebuild Eric, working from archive material including ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' photographs. Eric was added to the museum's permanent collection, and appeared as part of a 2017 robots exhibition.

George

In the 1930s, William Richards built a similar robot called "George", which toured the world including Germany and Australia. George could deliver speeches in French, German, Hindustani, Chinese and Danish. He cost almost £2,000 to build, compared to Eric's £140, and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper described him as "the educated gentleman, alongside his rough-hewn awkward brother".

References

{{authority control 1928 in the United Kingdom 1928 robots Humanoid robots Robots of the United Kingdom Collection of the Science Museum, London