Museum displays 500 years of robots

Why do humans build machines that resemble them, and what does that say about us? To find out, a London exhibition that opened on Tuesday surveys 500 years of simple to sophisticated robots.

Take, for instance, a walking and praying monk from the 16th century or a cartoonlike humanoid avatar that helps children with autism today. They and 100 other robots on display at the Science Museum chart an evolution of machines that fascinate and terrify.

"One of the big issues with doing a show like this is people's preconceptions that robots come in, they destroy the world and they enslave us all," lead curator Ben Russell said.