1961 ( 1961): Walt Disney coins the term 'Audio-Animatronics' and his WED Enterprises team begins developing modern animatronic technology.

1961 ( 1961): Heinrich Ernst develops the MH-1, a computer-operated mechanical hand.The animatronic galloping horse was also on display at the 1939 World's Fair, in a different exhibit than Sparko's. 1939 ( 1939): Sparko, The Robot Dog, pet of Elektro, performs in front of the public but Sparko, unlike many depictions of robots in that time, represented a living animal, thus becoming the very first modern day animatronic character, along with an unnamed horse which was reported to gallop realistically.A Billy Bob animatronic with a child at a ShowBiz Pizza Place History Timeline Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. Audio-Animatronics does not differentiate between animatronics and androids.Īutonomatronics was also defined by Disney Imagineers to describe more advanced Audio-Animatronic technology featuring cameras and complex sensors to process and respond to information in the character's environment. The term Audio-Animatronics was coined by Walt Disney in 1961 when he started developing animatronics for entertainment and film. The term Animatronics is a portmanteau of animate and electronics. Robots (or other artificial beings) designed to convincingly resemble humans are known as ' androids'. Since then, robots have become known as more practical programmable machines that do not necessarily resemble living creatures. The oldest extant automaton is dated to the 16th century.īefore the term 'animatronics' became common, they were usually referred to as ' robots'.

Greek mythology and ancient Chinese writings mention early examples of automata. Animatronics stem from a long tradition of mechanical automata powered by hydraulics, pneumatics and clockwork. Figures are usually encased in body shells and flexible skins made of hard and soft plastic materials and finished with colors, hair, feathers and other components to make them more lifelike. Motion actuators are often used to imitate muscle movements and create realistic motions. Animatronic figures can be implemented with both computer and human control, including teleoperation. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy and mechatronics. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. The term animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. Tyrannosaurus at London's Natural History Museum Lucky, a free roaming Audio-Animatronics figure (pictured wearing a hat at Disney's Animal Kingdom), was the first designed to walk.

JSTOR ( April 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Mario in animatronic horror games