Claus Christian Scholz-Nauendorff

Claus Christian Scholz-Nauendorff (1915–1992) was an Austrian cyberneticist, engineer and professor based in Vienna. He is best known for designing and building a series of humanoid robots, the Maschinenmenschen (MM) series, between 1957 and 1973, for which he was nicknamed "the Viennese father of robots" in the Austrian press. In his later career he directed the research institute of the Gesellschaft für Psycho-Elektronik und Kybernetik (Society for Psycho-Electronics and Cybernetics) in Vienna, where he developed an experimental framework for motivated artificial intelligence he called the CCSN System.

The Maschinenmensch (MM) robot series

Scholz-Nauendorff constructed his robots in his private apartment in Vienna's Landstraße district. His stated ambition was to create humanoid robots equipped with artificial intelligence capable of interacting autonomously with their environment, a goal he did not achieve. MM8 "Contina" (c. 1964): Rolled on rigid legs and was faster than MM7. The head was modified in a later upgrade. Held by the Wiener Bezirksmuseum Landstraße.

Selected publications

Scholz-Nauendorff, C. C. (1982). "System with automated exploring of problems for intelligent data processes by ergonomic dialog". Scholz-Nauendorff, C. C. (1987). "Kreative Künstliche Intelligenz - Systeme und ihre sozialen und gesellschaftlichen Einflüsse". In Mikroelektronik 87. Vienna: Springer. Scholz-Nauendorff, C. C. (1988). "Motivated Artificial Intelligence, the Precondition to Creativity". Wessex Institute of Technology, Southampton, UK. Scholz-Nauendorff, C. C. (1990). "Kreative Künstliche Intelligenzsysteme und ihre sozialen und gesellschaftlichen Einflüsse". Paper presented at the 9th International Congress "Data Processing in Europe".

Legacy

Scholz-Nauendorff's surviving robots are held by the Technisches Museum Wien (MM6, MM7) and the Wiener Bezirksmuseum Landstraße (MM8). They have been featured in major Austrian exhibitions, including Roboter. Maschine und Mensch? (2012–13) and Künstliche Intelligenz? (2020) at the Technisches Museum Wien. Curator Christian Stadelmann, who rediscovered MM6 during research for the 2012–13 exhibition, has described the robot as occupying a "rather bizarre status" within the museum, reflecting both the ambition of Scholz-Nauendorff's project and the simplicity of its technical solutions.