Leafing through old magazines, sometimes you come across amazing things. For example, an article in Popular Science in May 1933 told about a robotic cow presented by Hidden Motors at the World's Fair.
A cow that "chews gum", breathes, moves its head, blinks its eyes, hums and gives real milk … wow! This unique electrical movement was made in the Messmore and Damon workshop in New York. They have already made prehistoric dinosaurs and modern puppies before. But a cow - for the first time.
The robot is a replica of the Holstein dairy cow, whose skin covers a mechanical body. And the cow was chosen due to the fact that it had a large black spot on its side. At this point, the craftsmen made a door that can be opened if something goes wrong inside the mechanism.
A near-silent electric motor drives the cams and levers to create a variety of realistic movements of the robotic cow: change the speed of the movements of the tail, jaws, head, ears and eyes. The mechanical sides move in rhythm to simulate breathing.
The milking machine milks the cow and the real milk is poured from the reservoir into the udder. Viewers see it through transparent tubes and a glass container. But they do not see the small centrifugal pump in the pedestal on which the animal is standing, and he is pumping milk into the udder again.
The cost of the cow was $ 3,000. It is possible that advertising helped return this money to customers, but in any case, the cow impressed many. Dozens of publications wrote about her in 1933-34.
