HERO (robot)

The Heath Educational Robot, commonly known as HERO, was a series of programmable mobile robots sold by the Heath Company (a division of Zenith Electronics) in the early to mid-1980s. Marketed towards hobbyists and educational institutions, the HERO robots were designed to teach robotics, programming, and electronics.

The original HERO 1 robot was a self-contained, battery-powered robot equipped with a Motorola 6808 microprocessor, ultrasonic sensor, light sensor, and a sound synthesizer. It could be programmed in machine language or a simplified BASIC-like language. Features included speech synthesis, allowing it to "speak" pre-programmed phrases.

HERO Jr., released later, was a smaller and more consumer-oriented version. It was marketed as a personal robot capable of performing tasks like waking its owner, reminding them of appointments, and playing games. HERO Jr. also had voice recognition capabilities and could be controlled remotely.

While relatively expensive for the time, the HERO robots played a significant role in introducing many people to the field of robotics and microcomputing. Their comprehensive documentation and expandable design made them valuable platforms for experimentation and learning. The HERO line was discontinued when Zenith was acquired by a different company, but its influence can still be seen in the development of educational robotics platforms today.