PCB Train’s Top Movie Robots

PCB In Movie Robots

Printed circuit boards are used in just about every electronic appliance that you have in your home such as computers, TVs, digital clocks, microwaves and mobile phones. Since technology is always being improved, printed circuits will evolve even further in the future. Because of this and the fact that it’s a Friday – we thought we’d take a fun look at our top five movie robots that are probably made up of hundreds if not thousands of wires, circuits and boards.

C-3PO and R2-D2

One a protocol droid designed to serve humans, the other an astromech droid, these famous robots from the Star Wars saga are two of the most instantly recognisable robots from film. During the production of the six movies, the character of R2-D2 was portrayed by both an actor in a suit and also remote controlled versions. C-3PO was played by an actor in a suit for the original trilogy and then a skeletal model was puppeteered for the newer films. This technology could be extremely useful in modern scenarios, so we’re on board for this one!

Wall-E

The cute robot from the animated film by Pixar is a simple looking robot with the sole purpose being to clean up the planet. Compared to the other high-tech robot EVE from the film, who looks like she was designed by Apple, Wall-E is a very ‘old-school’ looking robot with simple robotic parts.

Optimus Prime

From the world of the Transformers, Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots, a group of robots that came to Earth from another universe and adopt the disguises of various Earth vehicles and machines to protect it against the evil Decepticons. The ability to transform into different objects earned the Transformers the nickname of ‘robots in disguise’ but the ability for circuit boards technology to transform into other objects is an interesting concept. In 2016 this actually became a reality where a company called Letvision created a robot that can turn into a BMW 3 series. It’s worth bearing in mind they’re robots in disguise so they could be out there!

Johnny 5

“Johnny 5 is alive!” The living robot from the two Short Circuit movies, and the upcoming remake, adopted the name Johnny, although his real name is Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transport (SAINT) 5. Conceived as a real life robot, the look of Johnny 5 is the one with the most exposed circuit boards and wiring. This doesn’t stop him being a great robot though and the film is still enjoyable to watch even 25 years after its release.

Terminator

The Terminator from the film of the same name is the most lifelike on the list, being a humanoid autonomous robot. The circuit boards used to create the CPUs used in the Terminators are described as superconducting artificial neural networks with the ability to learn. There have been various models throughout the film series including the original T-800, the liquid metal T-1000 and the shape shifting T-X. With technology and AI constantly improving, hopefully they never turn on us!