Sparko the Robot Dog by Joseph 'Barney' Barnett and Don Lee Hadley (1940). Sparko was the faithful companion of "Elektro the mechanical man" created for the New York World's Fair from 1939-40, and was modelled after Hadley's own Scotty dog. One motor drives the walking action, which also wags its tail. The legs are synchronised by a chain, and a crank lifts each leg up and forward. The slots visible in the underside of Sparko's body allow its legs freedom to move back and forth. A separate 'sit down' motor activates a sitting mechanism that brings both rear legs forward, and turns its head. Sparko shares Elektro's voice control circuitry, which turns spoken words into a sequence of light impulses: Sparko stands at the rear of the stage. The command circuits now connected to him and not Elektro. He is activated with the usual start up sequence, 3-1-2, "Hey - Spar - ko ... it's ... your - turn." The dog walked forward about five steps and stopped. The operator then said, "Now - Spar - ko ... do ... your - tricks." Again the same 3-1-2 sequence to activate the next command. The dog barked, sat down, sat up and begged, turned his head, returned to sit, then turned his head and barked once, as if to say "How did I do, Master?"
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