Replica of Eric, the first British robot, by Giles Walker, 2015-2016. The original Eric was designed and built by Captain William H. Richards, and Alan Reffell, England, 1928.
Eric was the first modern British robot. He was built to open the exhibitoin of Model Engineers held at the Royal Horticultrural Halls in 1928, standing in for the human Duke of York. He used 13 electric motors and a closely guarded control system to stand, bow, give a four-minute speech and answer up to 60 questions. Eric’s London performance was the start of a long career touring the world to meet excited audiences. He wowed audiences around the UK and Europe, and in the USA and Australia. This replica was built by Giles Walker in 2016 for the Science Museum's 2017 'Robots' exhibition, based on drawings of the original Eric published in the Model Engineer magazine.