Do robots dream of new owners?

Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick once asked in the title of his famous book, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”  In the story, Dick envisioned a world where most life, human and animal, has been obliterated in a nuclear war, and where owning a real animal is an incredible status symbol.   Androids, or humanoid robots, do common household tasks, and serve as an incentive for colonists to leave Earth.  The protagonist owns a robot, an “electric sheep,” which he keeps on his roof (although he is embarrassed by it since it is not alive).  While we are a long way off the book’s doomsday scenario, we now have household robots to clean our floors (such as roomba), and robot dogs (such as the Aibo)  for entertainment.  Robots are becoming somewhat commonplace.

During the last century, we saw robots in every medium, from comic books to TV to movies.  For some of us, it suffices to see them onscreen, or to even just imagine them.  Others prefer to actually see robots up close.  And, finally, there is a small group that enjoys creating replica robots from these various mediums.

Which brings us to today’s remarkable listing.  Up for sale is a collection of Life Size robots:R2D2, C3PO, LIS B9, Robby the Robot, Bender and more.  There are so many robots up for sale at once, and each is so unique, that we’ll need to go through them one by one.  Note that the seller, floridarobot, wants to sell his robots as a group, and not individually.  In his words, “(i)t would be kind of like breaking up a family.”

Probably the most recognizable Star Wars characters, aside from those played by human actors, are the robots R2-D2 and C-3PO.  They appear in the same, recognizable forms in every Star Wars movie, outlasting their human counterparts.  The R2-D2 unit in today’s remarkable listing is fully functional, able to move, beep, and tweet.

The seller goes on to tell us a bit more about this R2:

His drive train and systems are very reliable using NPC motors and his structure and dome is primarily aluminum.  He lights up, his dome turns and can be driven remotely.  His sounds are also controllable remotely.  I usually stand back with my hand in a bag containing the spektrum remote controller so it appears that he is interacting autonomously with the crowd.

Of course, you can’t very well have an R2 unit without his robot translator. In the Star Wars movies, there was no better translator than C3PO, a so-called “protocol droid” able to understand and relate to his human audience what his chirping robot partner has to say.

Unfortunately, though, this C3PO is not able to move and/or talk. From the description:

C3PO is primarily fiberglass and was vacu-metallized to give it that shiny gold look that the real C3PO had. Other than the head, this can be used as a wearable costume with some modifications. The head is not wearable and the hip portion would be a very tight fit. There are several scratches on him and the metallized finish is starting to show it’s age even though to the average person that sees C3PO thinks he looks beautiful.

He has a removable magnetic restraining bolt and although it’s not evident by the pictures, the middle of the chest is slightly duller than the rest of his body due to a defect by the vacu-metallizing company. His eyes are powered by a 9v battery and LEDs and are triggered by a sensor. They turn on when someone approaches him.

If you win this auction, you can simply state that this C3PO has somehow been frozen in an invisible carbonite case.

Another interesting pair of robots in this collection is known simply as the “bus stop robots”:

The Fantastic Universe science fiction magazine cover from 1958, pictured below, inspired the building of these two robots.  These magazines featured short stories from some of the legendary science fiction names of the 20th century, including Isaac Asimov, Harlan Ellison, and even Phillip K. Dick.

The seller relates that he placed the robots on his porch, where they would welcome people as they approached the front door.  Apparently they have a sensor that detects movement, and makes the robots’ heads move back and forth while their eyes light up in surprise.

“Danger, danger, Will Robinson!” was the catch phrase of the robot sent to protect the Robinson family in the 1960s TV show Lost in Space.  You may have known about the robot, but if you are like us, you had no idea he had a name.  According to the seller, the robot’s designation was B9:

I built this robot because as a young boy I loved the 1965 television show “Lost in Space”. The neon on B9 lights bright orange in synch with the audio tracks. There is special software that allows you to send hundreds of funny phrases through the robot using the actual voice of Dick Tufeld who was the original voice of the show.

B9 (on the right) is pictured below with Robby the Robot:

Robby the Robot (left) and B9 (right)

Next to B9 is Robby the Robot, originally from the movie Forbidden Planet.  Robby had subsequent roles in many TV shows, including a “guest robot” in an episode of Lost in Space, detailed by the seller, below:

Robby the Robot stands over 7 feet tall and was created by Fred Barton from molds of the original Robby. The robot lights up and when he talks, blue neon tubes light up in sync with the audio. I added a computer module to add random motion to his radar scanners (ears) and sax valves. I also added authentic 1950′s tubes and electronics in his head that can be seen when people try to peer through the neon tubes. It is a fun illusion that gets people thinking the robot really is from the 1950′s.

I also have special video and audio tracts from a famous episode (War of the Robots) of lost in Space where B9 and Robby (Robby was called the Robotoid in that episode) fought. This episode plays on a black and white television (included with the robot) while the robots say their parts and the neon lights. It’s a very cool effect and I modified an ipod to power this effect. There are other tracts from the series on the ipod that can be played through the robots and television.

The video that the seller refers to is pretty cool.  Take a look at the robots in action, in the video below:

Questions over whether robots dream of new owners, or whether androids dream of electric sheep will need to be answered by future philosophers.  If these life-size robots seem a bit too intimidating or too expensive, don’t worry – there are numerous other robots for sale on eBay, which you can find by searching here.

Written in memory of Dick Tufeld, voice of robot B9 on Lost in Space (among many other memorable performances), who died January 22, 2012, age 85. Rest in Peace.

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