My Robots

VISUALLY STIMULATING

“Tony Dyson’s goal is for all his products to be visually stimulating, it is a goal he unfailing achieves and with the advent of more and more amusement parks around the globe, his own brand of scientific showmanship looks set to put the Droid Factory on the leisure map, not only in the U.K and China but throughout the world.” Park World U.K

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STAR WARS - LUCAS FILMS INC

Without doubt R2-D2 is probably the most famous robot I have ever built and arguably one of the most famous robot in the world.

The total commission was for eight robots in three different categories, plus the master moulds and an additional head.

This broke down into four remote control units, two Kenny Baker units with a seat fitted inside and two throw away units to be used in the bog scene where the monster spits out R2 onto dry land, from the middle of the swamp.

The construction consisted of a wide variety of materials, including G.R.P, epoxy resin, aluminum, carbon fiber and thermo plastic. We were given just five months to complete the project and I can honestly say it was one of the most exciting periods of my life.

In 2003, R2-D2 was selected for induction to the Robot Hall of Fame at Carnegie Mellon University

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PHILIPS LTD

We designed, built and operated the first android in Europe. “Phil” he starred in two T.V. commercials and later toured the U.K promoting white goods.

Phil started off as “Ultra the amazing android” and the U shape in the center of his chest housed a secret sliding door (Very James Bond) Ultra was two years in the making, not the actual robot itself but the technology, which was created in our R and D department, Wow that sound impressive but it’s true, after finishing R2-D2 for Star Wars, I was so impressed with C-3PO the golden Android, I thought that turning C-3PO into a real robot would be really Cool.

Fortunately for us “Philips Company” were also very impressed with the idea and so we entered into a three year contract, which included two TV commercials and over two hundred personal appearances in stores through out the UK.

Funny it’s the small things that you remember the best, Phillips had a partnership with the people who make “Persil Soap Powder” which lead to a competition on the Persil packets, to “Name this Android” and I can see my sons in the local super market rushing down the aisles turning the Persil packets round to show a great picture of our Android on the reverse side of the packet.

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SONY U.K LTD

For this project we were given only seven weeks to design and construct a robot look - a - like of the famous English actor comedian John Cleese, the robot was a great success in four T.V. commercials which became a cult figure. I was also honored to be nominated for an EMMY award.

John Cleese has always been a favorite comedian for me, so when John Webster of BMP advertising agency contacted me about this project I was thrilled

We have all heard of stories where a great idea was originally drawn out on a cigarette packet, well that is exactly what John Webster gave me to work from, plus only seven weeks to build it, but we accomplished it by doubling the seven into fourteen weeks by adding a night shift.

I also had a great opportunity of showing our appreciation to John Cleese for all the great fun his work gave us. When Cleese came to the studio he really loved the robot and when I heard after the shoot that Cleese had become a proud father, this gave me the perfect opportunity to build a one meter tall wooden representation of the full size robot; and this is what the Evening Standard in London wrote about it.

Following the arrival of John Cleese’s new baby BMP agency which thought up the Sony commercials featuring a robot version of Cleese, has presented him with a baby robot It hasn’t occurred to the agency to include a baby in the robot family on television yet. The gesture was made by Tony Dyson of Star Wars fame, who also constructs the Sony robots.

Fans can see a new commercial in the series which started last night showing the robot. Cleese vainly trying to swat a wasp and literally losing his head, which rolls on to the floor still talking about Sony tapes.

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BOBBY BARE THE PANDA

Designed and built a life size animatronics panda, which I took to an exhibition of Leisure Equipment in Peking, China.

Bobby was also part of a much larger contract with the Chinese government because I was commissioned as a consultant for the development of robotics for fourteen theme park on the main land of China.

But bobby has not always looked the same, when he appeared at the Chinese leisure exhibition in Peking, he was happily eating bamboo shoots and there was no sign of his hidden talents as a country and western singer. This came about when he was touring Hong Kong and a friend told me if I want to see a panda I go to the zoo.

That gave me an idea because I had heard of a singer called Bobby Bare, so when we returned to the UK with a little creative programming and a change of wardrobe Bobby became a country and western singer and a smash hit with kids all around the world raising thousands of Dollars for charity.

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JIM DAVIDSON - AN ENGLISH COMEDIAN

Designed and built a larger than life size but very life like robotic fox to star with Jim Davidson in his Christmas pantomime in Oxford England.

Snooty the fox was great fun to build, even though it took many man hours to reproduce the facial hair plus the two hours of scripting to interact with the actor on stage but it was the perfect opportunity for me to realize a childhood dream.

When I was a boy my parents would take my sister and I to the Christmas pantomime and my favorite was Peter Pan but my sister loved Cinderella and Snow White. If you are not familiar with what a pantomime is, they originated in Italy as a satire by Goldoni and the whole idea was transported to the UK. In pantomime tradition the leading Man is played by a woman and the ugly sisters would be played by men, so you can see it is very light entertainment.

It had been my dream to be on the Oxford stage as a child and that is exactly what happened, at the end of the show each night the star Jim Davidson would call me on stage to take a bow for Snooty. This is just one of the reasons I chose this robot as one of my favorites projects.

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KUWAIT STORE

Designed and built a customized robot for a”Harrods” style department store in Kuwait. The commission seemed simple enough until the robot was in the store, when religious protocol came into play; the robot was unrobed so we had to clothe him.

The second problem was that visitors to the store totally believed the reality of this robot, I suppose that was a compliment and in the first week of operation they had over a dozen potential orders, the store was to embarrass too explain the difference between a real and a show robot.

This is not the first time this has happened, in fact its happened all over the world, because this is the aim of a good show robot. Just like a magician our job is to amaze the public, the difference in this situation was that any projected price for such a marvel was not the problem, the problem was we did not have the technology at that time to make this fantasy into a reality.

It was left to me to break the news to some very upset and influential clients, in affect we learned some valuable lessons and continued the promotion by openly walking along side the robot with the remote controller in full view.

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TOSHIBA U.K LTD

I was commissioned to build the “TOSHIBA BLUE PRINT MAN”. “TOSH” which starred in three T.V. commercials.

It never ceases to amaze me how many fascinating coincidences happen in life, the Toshiba robot is such a one, for example this robot was based on the same technology which we developed for the Philip’s android, nothing new there, plus I entered into a contract to take the android on tour round the UK just like the Philip’s android .

But what was particularly unusual was that the TV commercials were already completed using a animated figure but the most amazing thing was the voice they used for the sound track.

To make the connection in my story we need to go back to when I was building R2-D2 in that period we had many all night shifts so we could complete the work in time and in the UK the number one radio station was pirate radio Luxemburg which always seemed to be able forecast with uncanny accuracy the next big hit.

One of the most popular records for my team was “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” by Ian Drury and the Block Heads a long time before it was a hit in the UK charts, the strange thing was it became our lucky song, every time we heard it over the next couple of years, you could guarantee we would have a fascinating new project just round the corner and with the Toshiba robot we came full circle because that was the voice of Ian Drury saying, “Hello Tosh got a Toshiba”.