Elsie
n., wheeled machine.W. Grey Walter, United Kingdom, 1949. One of the first electronic tortoises, seeking light with two vacuum tubes for a brain. Retired.
Grey Walter's tortoises Elmer and Elsie, built in 1949 Bristol with two vacuum tubes each, sought light and recharged themselves, demonstrating that lifelike behaviour needs almost no brain, a founding insight of behavioural robotics.