The Robot Man of Szeged ( Hungarian: ''Szegedi Robotember'', literally "Robot Human of Szeged") was an early

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

which was developed in

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet Uni ...

in 1962. It was designed and constructed by Dr. Dániel Muszka of the University of Szeged, the same creator of the Ladybird of Szeged. The robot was made to serve in the Pioneer House of Szeged as a robotic

receptionist A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title ''receptionist'' is attributed to ...

, greeting and guiding visitors at the entrance. The original Robot Man was scrapped since its debut, but Muszka built a replica in 2014.

Conception and name

The Robot Man was constructed at the request of the Pioneer House of Szeged. The robot's name in Hungarian is ''Szegedi Robotember'', literally "Robot Human of Szeged", as the Hungarian language never used the word for "man" to refer to humans or people in general.

Structure

The Robot Man was a roughly human-sized stationary robot. It was capable of rotating its head in a 100° range using an automobile

windscreen wiper A windscreen wiper, windshield wiper, wiper blade (American English), or simply wiper, is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, truck ...

motor taken from a Wartburg 311. It had a photosensor built in the front of its torso. The robot's left hand held a panel of 24 buttons with topic labels next to them. The right hand held a transistor radio. The head had two "eyes" which could light up and an antenna on the top.

Operation

The Robot Man's photosensor on its "stomach" enabled it to sense when people passed it or stood in front of it, and to "greet" them audibly. Pressing an associated button of a topic on the panel held in the robot's left hand made the Robot Man "talk" about the desired topic. The radio held in the robot's right hand either played

Kossuth Rádió Kossuth Rádió (formerly known as ''MR1-Kossuth Rádió'', ''Radio Budapest'' and ''Budapest I.'') is the national radio station of Hungary. It was established in 1925 as Budapest I. and named after Lajos Kossuth, a Hungarian national hero, in 19 ...

or Petőfi Rádió, the entirety of domestic national broadcasts of the day. During operation, the robot's "eyes" were lit and its antenna on top of its head spun.

Publicity

The Robot Man's replica was first exhibited at the ''A kibernetika hőskora – avagy volt élet a PC előtt'' ("The Heroic Age of Cybernetics, or, There was Life Before the PC") temporary exhibition held at the Museum of Nuclear Energetics of the

Paks Nuclear Power Plant The Paks Nuclear Power Plant ( hu, Paksi atomerőmű), located from the small town of Paks, central Hungary, is the first and only operating nuclear power station in Hungary. In 2019, its four reactors produced more than 50% of Hungary's ele ...

at Paks in 2014. The next public appearance was at the Technical Study Stores of the

Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum The Magyar Műszaki és Közlekedési Múzeum ("Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum"), still often referred to with its former name, Közlekedési Múzeum ("Transportation Museum"), is a museum in Budapest, Hungary. It is one of Europe' ...

(MMKM) at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 2015, as part of the annual Night of the Museums. As of 2017, the replica is one of the exhibit items at the ''MI és a Robot'' ("AI and the Robot") temporary

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

exhibition held at the Informatics History Exhibition (ITK) in Szeged.

References and notes

External links