80-year-old Gakutensoku robot revived (w/video)

[David Morris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb7Ai8j_rx8

New life has been breathed into Asia's oldest "modern" robot, an
80-year-old golden-skinned humanoid from Osaka. Gakutensoku, a 3.2
meter (10 ft 6 in) tall automaton powered by compressed air, can tilt
its head, move its eyes, smile, and puff up its cheeks and chest as
instructed — just as it did 80 years ago — thanks to a 20-million-yen
($200,000) computer-controlled pneumatic servo system that replaces
its original system of inflatable rubber tubes.

Built in 1928 by biologist Makoto Nishimura, Gakutensoku was first
exhibited in Kyoto as part of the formal celebration of the Showa
Emperor's ascension to the throne. The robot traveled to a number of
expos and wowed onlookers with its mad calligraphy skills before going
missing in Germany. After a long disappearance, Gakutensoku was
located and later repatriated to Osaka.