How a 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics

Described as a “robot-like arm to aid young masterminds in scientific and laboratory experiments,” it was the rare toy that lived up to the hype printed on the front of the box. This was a legit robotic arm. You could rotate the arm to spin around its base, tilt it up and down, bend it at the “elbow” joint, rotate the “wrist,” and open and close the bright-­orange articulated hand in elegant chords of movement, all using only the twistable twin joysticks.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/17/1114456/toy-armatron-modern-robotics-ai-nostalgia/