Past Forward: This Robot Was the Fall Guy for British AI

Meet FREDERICK Mark 2, the Friendly Robot for Education, Discussion and Entertainment, the Retrieval of Information, and the Collation of Knowledge, better known as Freddy II. This remarkable robot could put together a simple model car from an assortment of parts dumped in its workspace. Its video-camera eyes and pincer hand identified and sorted the individual pieces before assembling the desired product. But onlookers had to be patient. sorting and assembly typically took about 16 hours, and that was after a day or two of “learning” and programming. Freddy II was one of a series of research robots developed by Donald Michie and his team at the University of Edinburgh during the 1960s and '70s. The robots became the focus of an intense debate over the future of AI in the United Kingdom. Michie lost, his funding was gutted, and the ensuing AI winter set back U.K. research in the field for a decade.