Atlas record: https://www.aitimeline.dev/en/events/evt-0068/
Research · 1948 — 1949
Grey Walter's tortoises
Walter built two autonomous robots on two valves each that sought light, avoided obstacles and returned to a charging hutch.
Why it matters
Complex behaviour came out of very few parts, an argument against the idea that intelligent behaviour needs an intricate device.
Elmer and Elsie ran on three wheels with a photocell and a contact sensor. Walter observed behaviour that did not repeat and described it as a hint of free will. A later variant was trained on a conditioned reflex. Three of the later tortoises of 1951, not Elmer and Elsie themselves, were shown at the 1951 Festival of Britain.
Event record
- Event date
- 1948 – 1949 · Approximate date
- Timeline date
- Event date
- Verification
- Sources gathered automatically · September 17, 2026
- Lines
- ID
- evt-0068
The tortoises were built across 1948 and 1949; sources give no exact assembly dates. Walter's own account appeared in Scientific American in May 1950.
Related events
Later
- Related Shannon's relay maze machine 1951links to this record
Grey Walter's tortoises of 1948 are another early machine that behaves purposefully; the sources name no causal link.
- Extends Subsumption architecture 1986links to this record
The historical account of the tortoises names Brooks among those who took up Walter's biologically based robotics decades later.