“Tati” the Cybernetic Dog – owned by Daniel Dennett (built in France) - - - The spring head antenna is most likely an overhead collision or bump detector. There are 4 sets of contacts inside the head, surrounding a dark red, brownish ball mounted on the lower end of the spring. A possibility could also be that it is used for manual steering/guidance, much like a joystick. I'm unsure what the 3 sets of contacts mounted in the nose perform. Each of the lower contacts has a fine, element type wire wound around it. To the left, as seen in the previous image, is a cooling fan (and not the motor used for eye or jaw movement). These contacts may be a type of thermostat.
The driven gear wheel with attached crank arm steers the head. The head is unable to fully rotate; my guess is that it can only rotate about 30 deg. left or right, which also gives clues as to how it needs to be steered for overall guidance.The aluminium 'cups' are Selenium cells – you can see metallic strips (3 strips) [ also seen in IOTA (4 strips)], but are mounted at the rear. Unlike IOTA, where the selenium cells are used as 'eyes' for photo-tropism, they appear to be positioned more for remote-control purposes. So rather than be led by a light beam, it is possibly controlled by a light beam from behind. There are 5 separate cells at the rear (tati06.jpg – above); 2 located at each rear corner facing directly behind ; 2 at 90 deg to those just mentioned for side control; and 1 single cell directed rearwards mounted mid-point on the rear of the dog's body.
The red motor in the back of the head drives a worm gear which in turn connects to the red eyes to swivel them left or right. The motor is from the S.E.V company (Société Anonyme pour L’Équipment Électrique des Véhicules) that manufactured pre-war car components. It is a wiper motor, one of the few that could operate in manual or automatic mode at that time. You can just see the vertical worm drive. This may be the motor and drive system that tilts the head. Crude form of distance counter incorporated in the wheel. As the red tangs pass under the contacts, a circuit is opened and closed.
The robot dog you see above is a mystery. [Daneil Dennet], a professor of philosophy at Tufts University found this in an antique shop in Paris.
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