Heathkit HERO Jr.

A robot with a personality

HERO Jr., model RT-1, brought Heathkit’s robotics into the home with preprogrammed activities rather than requiring its owner to begin by writing software. It could explore, play games, announce the time and perform a robot variety show.

Its built-in Votrax SC-01-family phoneme synthesizer supplied speech and singing. The familiar robotic accent became part of its personality, including its playful “Roblish” chatter. Plug-in cartridges expanded its activities.