1985 · Infrared Logo Floor Robot · Work 992 of 1,871
A primary school classroom in Melbourne on a sunny mid-morning, on a large sheet of brown wrapping paper on the pale linoleum floor a small domed floor robot twenty-four centimetres across, a low round base of cream slightly yellowed plastic on two hidden wheels, two small red lamps set flush in its front rim, above it a faceted shell of translucent sea-green plastic in pentagonal panels, through it a black circuit board with small coloured parts and wires, a black pen upright in its centre, behind it a fresh black pen line closing a square, three small hands from the lower edge of the frame resting on the paper, sunlight from tall windows.
What it was used for
Floor robot for teaching Logo, designed in 1983 by Dave Catlin at Valiant Designs in London and built there until 2011; the example in Museums Victoria is dated circa 1985. A turtle-shaped case with a transparent green shell, 2 driven wheels and 2 red LEDs for eyes. As it moved it could draw shapes on the floor. The maker's brochure archive quotes a guide (SCET 1994) naming the concepts of position and movement in mathematics as its field, and lists versions for the Archimedes, BBC B and Master, IBM compatibles and RM Nimbus: 595 dollars for the robot and 79.95 dollars for the separately sold interface.
What was new
What marks it is control by infrared: no cable hung off the robot, which ran freely across the floor while the computer sent the Logo commands. Museums Victoria places it in turtle geometry, a field of mathematics that arose only because objects could be controlled by programs; Logo goes back to Seymour Papert, whom the museum names as its advocate. The barb stands in the same record: millions of children learned that geometry without access to a physical robot; the turtle on the screen was enough for them. The machine was nonetheless built for 28 years, from 1983 to 2011.