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Dr. Grey Walter's Revolutionary Tortoise Robots

Dr. Grey Walter developed his autonomous tortoises Robots Elsie, and Elmer between 1948, and 1949 at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol. As seen in our latest video the tortoise Elsie demonstrates this by independently seeking out her kennel when her batteries run low a clear display of environmental agency that remains impressive nearly eighty years later. Walter referred to these Robots as having a simple two-cell nervous system yet the complexity of their interactions with the world was profound. We previously featured Elsie, and Elmer in a visual advertisement post, (True Partner Systems Advertisement: #65), earlier this year where we highlighted their unique almost uncanny ability to exhibit self-awareness. When placed in front of a mirror these Robots did not just move blindly. 

 They would flicker, twitter, and jig in what Walter famously described as a dance of a clumsy Narcissus appearing to recognize their own reflections. This level of responsive autonomous behavior is the antithesis of the rigid cloud-tethered devices being pushed onto consumers today. While modern hardware often relies on constant remote connections, and proprietary subscriptions to function these tortoise Robots were masters of their own environment relying entirely on their own internal analogue circuitry. True Partner Systems champions this original vision of Robotics: machines that function as sovereign agents serving the user directly without the need for an external leash.

Video Credit: video sourced from skitterbot