The secret history of Robot: the innovative 35mm rapid-fire camera of the 1930s became a bank surveillance tool

In 1920, Czech playwright Karel Čapek introduced the term "robot" to the world in his play R.U.R., which meant "automatic worker." This term aptly described the Robot camera, designed by Heinz Kilfitt, son of a German watchmaker, who sought to create a camera that could rapidly and reliably take multiple photographs. Despite Kodak and Agfa rejecting his proposals, entrepreneur Hans Berning founded Otto Berning & Co. to manufacture Kilfitt's design.

The Robot camera's innovations included a spring-motor film advance allowing shots at 4 photos per second, a rotary shutter, and a focal-plane shutter that accepted interchangeable lenses. In 1938, the Robot II refined the design with better film transport, flash synchronization, and a larger body for easier handling. During World War Two, the Robot camera was repurposed as Luftwaffe gun cameras and for reconnaissance and bomb-damage assessment due to its robust spring drive requiring no batteries.

Post-war, Berning introduced the Robot IIa compatible with Kodak's 35mm film cartridges, followed by the Robot Star with an improved finder and automatic film rewind, becoming the classic post-war Robot. However, the Royal 34 and Royal 36 models, featuring coupled rangefinders and speeds approaching six frames per second, were intended as premium professional cameras that struggled commercially.

Nevertheless, thousands of Robot cameras were sold for bank surveillance, industrial inspection, scientific recording, and traffic enforcement, with modified versions being used in the 1960s through the 1990s. The Robot name later became part of the Jenoptik group, now focusing on industrial imaging systems. Despite being a specialist product, the Robot cameras remain an interesting part of 20th-century camera history, introducing many features that are now commonplace. Approximately 110,000 to 130,000 consumer Robot cameras were built between 1934 and 1996.