Elvis the robocat
by Barb Dybwad 
posted Aug 16th 2005 at 8:00AM
You just gotta see it to believe it. Carlo Bertocchini's cat, Elvis, was involved in a truck accident that left him
without use of his rear legs. Carlo built little Elvis a moving platform to regain some of his lost mobility, which the
cat actually pilots by depressing two control buttons. We're impressed that cats be trained to do such things but more
importantly, we can't stop laughing over this video.
Video [Quicktime]
[Thanks, gslax]
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Ah yes. The cat was in "control". I just really wanted to keep spinning in a clockwise direction!
Francois @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I really have a doubt that the cat is actually controlling it .. "I taught him to come to me..."
come on ! we can't see the one with the remote control hidden behind the camera.
Shall we start a poll ?
scott @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
boingboing reports this may be a comedy central clip..
B-Sabre @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I first saw this several years ago, on "Battlebots" - the cat's owner, Carlo Bertocchini, was one of the contestants - you see his robot "flipper" there in the first second or so of the clip. And yes, since "Battlebots" was shown on Comedy Central, this is where that clip came from, but it wasn't necessarily a "comedy" clip itself.
That said, I have my own doubts about the cat actually controlling the buggy - the movements seemed too sure...and the phrase "herding cats" is used to describe a chaotic situation with good reason!
ixalon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
And the traditional way of sticking a brace on the back with wheels wouldn't give it more control without needing to seal it in a box on wheels? The poor beast.
Angeko @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Amazing!
B-Sabre @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Follow up: Here's Carlo and his robot from Battlebots:
http://www.battlebots.com/bnc_tips_cbertocchini_01.asp
tino @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Why does it look like a DHL package?
Meow!
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Hahah! I don't care if it's real or not because it's hilarious!
badle @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I laughed til it hurt
Cyberwhore @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
The cat was involved in a truck accident? It must have been driving the truck that caused the accident judging by what I saw.
What a stupid idea. Why not put the cat in a box, strap it to a skateboard and push it into traffic. That would be more fun to watch.
Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
That's Jeen-yus.
The cat is obviously spinning in circles because it's trying to chase it's tail. Err, antenna.
And plus, it gets to think outside of the box.
Niklas @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
This is a hoax, people! Learn to check your sources before hailing: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/08/15/partially_paralyzed_.html
B08 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
it's an old april fool prank...
as you can read on this forum here: http://advancedrobotcombat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10803&sid=4eaad709be8b6b2946b6a791170539fd
Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
First a four button mouse, now a two button cat!
Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
"Depressing" is right!
Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I've been looking for a way to bling out my cat with some gadgety goodness. I almost want to send him out into traffic right now.
yem @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Just because it's on comedy central, that doesn't mean it's not real. Battlebots wasn't fictional, people actually built these things and fought against each other with them. Comedy Central was the only network willing to pick up such a risky (read: nerdy) series.
Now the video of the guy getting pulled over for drunk driving and dancing with the lady cop is widely reported as real all over the internet, but that one is in fact a comedy piece from Comedy Central's own Reno 911...
I BELIEVE IN THE ROBOT CAT!!!
Gromit @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Toonces!
Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Jack - Your comment is way too good to go unnoticed!
jc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
They should have named the cat Homer, because it loves dough-nuts so much.
Nige @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Just happens to have appeared appeared on the annerversary of Elvis' death.
Strange that.
Gotta be a fake.
Question Answerer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Our cats have full control of their legs and they still don't come on command...
Jan-Paul Bultmann @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
If this is no fake it is " cruelty to animals " a crime (or at lest in many countrys)!
There are other ways to help cats or animals which lost the control of one pair of their legs. There are even whelchairs out there, but puting a cat into a box thats moving around is... well stupid, because it does NOT recognize what's hapening and it does NOT know that there are other ways to move. A cat need's to touch it's inviroment, and for this cat the inviroment is thee box because it is not even opened.
J. Willis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
The true innovation here is that he was able to stuff a cat in a box and then trot it around on a remote control car without it leaping out and tearing his face off. That cat must be duct taped into the box, just look at his face. One unhappy cat.
Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
"Bertocchini is know by many Comedy Central viewers as the guy who built an electric wheelchair for his crippled cat. April fools! The TV segment featuring the wheelchair-bound feline was fake; Carlo's cat is just fine. 'Comedy Central wanted to do something funny,' says Bertocchini, "and I came up with the Catbot for them. I intended it to come across as an obvious joke, but they did such a good job editing it together that a lot of people thought it was real.'
rj @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
My cat Cosmo loves to spin endlessly in a computer chair. I've sometimes considered making him an electric-motored platform with some sort of control he can manipulate. I bet he'd spend some days doing nothing else.
wtfunkymonkey @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
#23
your response is either very funny or very sad. i'm not entirely sure which.
Cullen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
i think everyone would be better off had the truck hit the front half of said cats body.
and my pussy comes on command, too.
ohh that was bad.
B-Sabre @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I wonder if the cat's name is Schrodinger?
Google Nazi @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
#25
So your saying that this thing is not real? hmm... In that case *runs to pattent office* I will be back later!
ps. are you guys getting those darn "error cannot connect to...." messages on main page?
Jackson West @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Carlo emailed me:
"Sorry to disappoint but that was a hoax I dreamed up for the BattleBots show on Comedy Central."
http://www.sfist.com/archives/2005/08/16/mobility_device_for_disabled_cats_or_hoax.php
Zookmann @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I saw this segment on battlebots years ago. the video is real, and was on tv... but i think this guy fooled the producers to think his cat was really crippled, or that that cat could control the car.
granny down east @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
They should have named the cat Homer, because it loves dough-nuts so much.
Ya gotta love it. Robert McCloskey rulz!
Auri @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
It looks like there's an outline of a remote control in the hand of the person standing next to who's videotaping... Of course, I may be wrong and the guy really is a genius engineer *and* pet trainer. :) (either way, very cool hehehe)
Cale @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
I, for one, welcome our new feline robotic overlords.
(sorry guys, it just had to be done)
t4ykun @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
# 12m so true!
Does it crap out bolts too?
JoN @ Dec 19th 2005 1:24AM
Y is a cat driving a truck in the first place!