Name: DC-2: The Story of the First Robot Ever 'Arrested'
Uploaded: 2020-03-06T17:20:34.000Z
Duration: 12 min 13 s
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The year is 1982. And the robot revolution has arrived.

In the wake of movies like Star Wars, androids and robotic companions had captured the public’s

As a result there were dozens of entrepreneurs and start-ups attempting to capitalize on

this high-tech obsession, with one of the forerunners being the Android Amusement Corporation.

Their electro-mechanical creations were conceived as fun entertainment devices, built to dazzle

the public at trade shows and get-togethers.

But by 1982, one of their bots known as the DC-2 was making headlines for everything from

participating in legal protests, to serving drinks in the Playboy Mansion, to being apprehended

by the Beverly Hills Police Department in what was likely the first robot “arrest” ever.

This is LGR Tech Tales, where we take a look at noteworthy stories of technological inspiration,

This episode tells the tale of the Android Amusement DC-2: Robotic Outlaw.

Our story begins in 1978 with the Android Amusement Corporation of Arcadia, California.

Previously known as Games People Play, Android Amusement was the brainchild of Mr. Gene Beley,

a 38-year-old journalist who’d become fascinated with the world of electronics after covering

a speech by science fiction author Ray Bradbury.

Previously this company focused on maintaining video arcade cabinets and pinball machines,

but on becoming the west coast representative of Quasar Industries Incorporated, who built

having the word “android” in the new company name seemed fitting.

“Amusement” was a key part of the name as well, emerging from Mr. Beley’s personal

And that was they were amusement devices, show robots,

which he called “mobile entertainment centers.”

Several companies with promises of autonomous android servants and domestic robots had failed

to meet expectations already, and Beley wasn’t keen on misleading anyone.

The first bot they sold was Quasar Industry’s Klatu, a 240 pound, five foot four inch tall

machine that was available to rent for trade shows, parties, county fairs, and anyone who

had between $700 and $2000 a day to spare.

Klatu could be outfitted in various bodies depending on the venue, but the idea remained

the same: it was a remote-operated machine that could be rolled around to talk with patrons

But it wasn’t long before Android Amusement severed ties with Quasar and began development

Initially this was done with the help of Mr. Ray Raymond, a designer of restaurant equipment

who’d contacted Beley after reading an article he’d written about robotics.

Their first bot was one they named Argon: a 300 pound, five foot tall machine that initially

cost about $50,000 in parts to produce in 1979.

Much like Klatu before it, Argon wasn’t a “robot” in the strictest definition,

seeing as it wasn’t autonomous, but was rather a remote-controlled entertainment machine.

Argon was packed with electronics to let it move around, turns its head, move its arms,

and play computer games on a small CRT TV in its chest.

The whole setup was controlled remotely by an operator just out of sight, and the voice

that came from it was spoken by the operator through an inconspicuous wireless mic and

Still, this was one amusing android indeed, captivating audiences young and old at everything

from business openings, to industry conferences, to local bars.

“People may write him off as a space age Mickey Mouse now,

but he’s the wave of the future,” said Beley in 1979.

“It’s like the Wright brothers building the first airplane.

The possibilities are limitless with robots.”

And they certainly didn’t limit their robots to looking like robots either, as another

early offering from his company was a pair of motorized mannequins

Ray Raymond had left the company by the time these launched, but the core electronics were

quite similar in functionality to his Argon creation.

The idea was to make Adam and Andrea more humanoid, ideal for parties and discos.

For example, an operator would wheel either of the $10,000 androids over to various party-goers,

offer them their hand, and bring them over to the dance floor, all while transmitting

"Those two androids were basically novelties," said Beley in later years.

"We felt that the next logical step was a robot that served a useful purpose."

What resulted in the latter half of 1980 was The Drink Caddy 1, or DC-1, which did exactly

as the name suggests: it was a caddy for drinks.

Built on top of a motorized wheelchair base and controlled using 72MHz RC aircraft components,

DC-1 cost around $5,000 and stood four and a half feet tall.

It held a tray for delivering 10-ounce mixed drinks, stored bottles and canned beverages

inside its body, had metallic arms made from Sweetheart cup dispensers, played music from

an AM/FM radio in its chest, and kept chilled ice cubes under a removable plastic head.

And while it never sold in great numbers, only being stocked in a single Beverly Hills

boutique, the revenue from selling and renting out the DC-1 was enough to create a successor.

Finally, Android Amusement’s ultimate show bot was released: the DC-2.

Priced between $9,000 and $20,000 and standing at four and a half feet tall, the Drink Caddy

2 was a culmination of the best tech available in 1981.

It still had a tray for carrying drinks, but now you could swap out the booze for an 8-bit

microcomputer system, with an Atari 400 and a Commodore VIC-20 as the most common options.

These ran through a 5 or 9 inch color CRT TV in its chest, handy for both playing games

and displaying promotional material from the computer or a VHS player.

And like every bot going back to Klatu it had a speaker system for broadcasting the

voice of a remote operator, AM/FM radio, as well as optional dual 8-track cassette players

for playing music, sound effects, and pre-recorded speech.

And on top of its sleek fiberglass body was a bulbous transparent head containing an integrated

video camera, which when output through a TV would show the DC-2’s point of view.

And even though it was only being produced at 6 units a month, demand was high relative

to previous bots, with exports to Japan, England, Australia, South Africa, and West Germany.

For a while the DC-2 was seemingly popping up everywhere.

It was on the cover of National Geographic World.

It was a headline feature of retail promotion events at Dayton’s Department Stores in Minnesota.

It hosted student tours through the facilities of computer storage company, Verbatim.

It was the robot mascot for Fromex One Hour Photo Systems.

It showed up in the May 1981 issue of Playboy magazine after a specially-built DC-2 was

purchased for Hugh Hefner and gifted to him for Christmas with the help of Bob Keeshan,

A DC-2 even ended up picketing in front of the San Mateo County Public Courthouse, hired

and blasting the song “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” by Jerry Reed.

"This must be the most unusual assignment we've had yet.

I think it's the first time a robot ever picketed anywhere.”

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DC-2: The Story of the First Robot Ever 'Arrested'

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