[Tyler]

Animatronics Technology of 1933
     

"Back in MY day...." (creeky voice) we built robots with plywood and
steam engines.  Back then, a PIC was used to break ice, and
an oscillator was someone without direction.
This look back at an
old Popular Science magazine article by the
Modern Mechanix blog
shows the innards of a giant sloth created for the 1933 Chicago World's
Fair.
He moves his head, breathes and roars using a prehistoric array of
bellcranks, bellows,
and even a state-of-the art electric motor controlled by a remote operator.

   

http://robots.net/article/2569.html