ELEKTRO

Elektro is an early humanoid robot developed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the late 1930s. It was publicly unveiled at the 1939 New York World's Fair as part of a Westinghouse exhibit intended to showcase automation, electronics, and the future of technology. The machine stood about seven feet tall and was powered by electrical circuits, using vacuum tubes, relays, and a tape-based audio system to produce speech. Operators controlled its movements and voice output, and Elektro could perform a limited set of actions, such as moving its arms, blinking, and enunciating a number of pre-recorded phrases. It could respond to simple prompts and could count to a small integer.

Historically, Elektro is regarded as one of the first widely publicized humanoid robots. The display contributed to public fascination with robotics and artificial intelligence and helped shape later depictions of robots in popular culture. Although it was far from autonomous by modern standards, Elektro demonstrated the potential of automated systems and the integration of sensing, actuation, and human-machine interaction.

Today, Elektro is remembered as a milestone in the history of robotics and automation, illustrating early conceptions of machines that can imitate human form and behavior. It remains a reference point for researchers and historians studying the evolution of intelligent machines in the 20th century.