What's that robot doing on Main Street?
I wondered that too until I read the October 5, 1983 edition of The Romeo Observer. In the article titled, "Robot is RHS students' 'Hero,' Hero - the robot in question - arrived at the Romeo High School "in the form of several boxes of parts and gadgetry" in the spring of that year.
He was assembled by a small group of computer and electronics students. However, when they soldered the last wire and put in the final crucuit, Hero didn't work. As a result, he was taken back by Ed West - the director of the Northern Macomb Vocational Educational program - to the Health Corporation's Benton Harbor factory. The Health techinicians found that the robot had a faulty circuit and worked their magic to get him up and running.
Hero had three wheels in his base, a single arm with a mechanical hand of sorts, and a pair of sonar eyes that allows him to "sense light and track it by swiveling his head and following the light source."
According to the article, Hero was supposed to teach robotics to "the Romeo data processing students beginning in January." This was an unique situation since Romeo High was one of the first high schools to offer robotics training at that time. Greg Walters - computer instructor and quality control supervisor on the projec - explained that Hero can be used to study speech, computers, electronics, future trends, and motion.
The last part brings us back the picture above. Taken by Karen Hamilton, students Heidi Schuneman and Julie Muller walk along side Hero as they stroll along Main Street. There's no doubt that this elicited some strange looks by various people.
Considering that Hero came to the Romeo High School in the same year that Return of the Jedi was released to movie theaters certainly makes it clear of the interest that students had in robotics. Hero was certainly a great way to teach people about the computer age at a time when it was all so new.
Source: The Romeo Observer, October 5, 1983, p.16-17