Retro 1920s robot may get a second chance at life: Eric to be resurrected to chart 500-year history of our obsession with droids

Throughout history, artists and scientists have sought to understand what it means to be human and create machines in our own image. Soon, an important member of the the remarkable 500-year history of humanoid robots could be brought back to life. London's Science Museum has launched its first Kickstarter campaign, which aims to raise funds to rebuild Eric – the UK's first robot. The Science Museum hopes a lost robot named Eric will be part of the exhibition (pictured here before it disappeared). It was the UK's first humanoid and toured the world wowing audiences The forthcoming show at London's Science Museum will include a collection of more than 100 robots from a 16th-century mechanical monk to robots from science fiction and modern-day research lab.