Comments on: Odex I Hexapod Robot From 1984

By: Reuben

Reuben — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:10:51 +0000

Me again. I’ve uploaded my ODEX-1 video clip into youtube. See embedded link here http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2462 .

By: Reuben

Reuben — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:12:12 +0000

Thanks David, for suggesting my site http://www.cyberneticzoo.com . I do have a video clip of Odex-1 . I’m trying to load my site in chronological order, but maybe I can build this post early and include the yet-to-be-loaded-into-youtube video clip. It will appear in the Walking machines page http://cyberneticzoo.com/?page_id=164 . It will take me a few days, though. Regards, Reuben Hoggett.

By: John

John — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:54:59 +0000

I never thought of elevators as robots, but I guess it makes sense:

http://www.popsci.com/archive-viewer?id=8ycDAAAAMBAJ&pg=44&query=elevator

By: David

David — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:15:27 +0000

For videos try http://www.cyberneticzoo.com

By: baker

baker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:11:01 +0000

It doesn't look like the blockquote tag included the source for that list of credits quote... it came from http://www.answers.com/topic/odetics-inc.

By: baker

baker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:08:35 +0000

The Odex 1 was a pretty successful robot, being sold to a number of buyers. Odetics was also a very successful company, although their success was short-lived. After doing very well in digital data storage and other tape related technologies, they branched out into robotics, and, besides the Odex 1, had fire-fighting robots that could be used in a number of dangerous situations. Some of their other claims to fame:

Odetics' list of credits by the mid-1980s included taking pictures of Chernobyl's nuclear accident from space, making flight recordings on NASA's space shuttle, developing a special laser scanner for the Department of Agriculture, and building docking and birthing devices utilized by NASA.

From what I can find, the company Odetics hasn't vanished, but now has a new name, Iteris, and a new focus in traffic systems. Details are sparse, but from what I can tell, Odetics was still going fairly strong in 2003 as a "a market leader for video-based sensors used for surface transportation, a developer of integrated systems for facility security and trace detection of dangerous chemicals and explosives, and is a provider of automation systems to the broadcast industry." (source) It looks like sometime around 2004 one of their subsidiaries, Iteris, took over the show. Their website can be found here: www.odetics-its.com.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:50:40 +0000

It looks like a phage.

By: Uncle Warthog

Uncle Warthog — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:21:54 +0000

I remember seeing this thing on TV as well. If I remember correctly, the demo I saw had it climbing into and out of the truck and walking across a stage. It had a fairly spider-like gait as I recall. Very cool. I know newer versions of this thing had an arm as well and were being marketed to the nuclear power industry (though I don’t know if it was ever actually sold for it or just marketed). I’ve been trying to find more than just photos and articles, i.e. videos, of this thing on-line but have come up empty.

By: Göran Larsson

Göran Larsson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:57:04 +0000

I’m feeling old. I remember seeing the Odex on TV in 1984. It looked just as impressive as today but if I remember correctly it was rather slow and did not do anything except walk.