#robot #dog killed while# chasing a #car

In 1939, a #robot #dog was killed while chasing a car. Really.

Rutherford Review:  Sometimes you stumble across a piece of  history that is too good not to follow up on, the robot dog, is one such piece of history. Prepared for the World's Fair in 1939, he got out of his pen, chased a car, and was killed. No fooling.

      One of the most tragic cases was Sparko, the electronic dog. Sparko was a litter of three Sparkos, inspired by Philidog, a French robot exhibited at the 1929 International Radio Exhibition in Paris. Philidog would follow a specific light obediently, and when it got too close to the glow, would stop and begin to bark. A decade later, the Sparkos were meant to upstage the French.

     All the Sparkos were modelled on Scottish Terriers and meant to be shown off with their master, a smoking robot, at the 1939 World's Fair. They were supposed to follow any light, and chase after visitors playfully.

     But the first to perish died tragically before the Fair even began, when a careless worker left the door to its storage area open. According to sources at the time, a car passed the door. Immediately, the dog saw its headlights. Off it went. Apparently it, 'rushed headlong towards it and was run over, despite the efforts of the driver to avoid it.'

       “Our dogs, like our shoes, are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges, but they fit well.”  Bonnie Wilcox, Old Dogs, Old Friends