Mark Tilden

Mark W. Tilden is a robotics physicist who produces complex robotic movements from simple analog logic circuits, often with discrete electronic components, and usually without a microprocessor. He is controversial because of his libertarian Tilden's Laws of Robotics, and is known for his invention of BEAM robotics and the WowWee Robosapien humanoid robot.

Born in the UK in 1961, raised in Canada, Tilden started at the University of Waterloo then moved on to the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he developed simple robots such as the SATbot which instinctively aligned itself to the magnetic field of the earth, de-mining insectoids, "Nervous Network" theory and applications, interplanetary explorers, and behavioral research into many solar-powered "Living Machines" of his own design.

Tilden later referred to his early robots as "wimpy" for the results of their programming using Isaac Asimov's Three Rules of Robotics. He accordingly promulgated another set of three rules for what he called "wild" robots, essentially survivalists.

Having left government service and moved to Hong Kong, Tilden currently works as a freelance robotics designer, consultant and lecturer. His commercial products are marketed through WowWee Toys.Biomorphic robot-based items include B.I.O. Bugs (2001), Constructobots (2002), G.I Joe Hoverstrike (2003), RoboSapien (2004), Robosapien v2 (2005), Roboraptor (2005), Robopet (2005), Roboreptile (2006), RS Media (2006, co-developed with Davin Sufer and Maxwell Bogue), Roboquad (2007), Roboboa (2007), the humanform Femisapien (2008), Joebot (2009), and the Roomscooper floor-cleaning robot (2010).

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