In 1989 while living in Nashville, Tennessee, Russ developed a fondness for building robots in his spare time.  He built a voice-controlled "Smart Robot" with a TV for a head and wires dangling every-which-way that could move about upon command. He sold that robot to the Cumberland Science Museum and moved to Florida to accept a job offer as an electrical estimator/project manager.
 

After many trips to New Smyrna Beach, he decided to create a six wheel, drink-serving robot that was capable of following him in the sand while serving cold beverages from an on-board cooler/tank via an arm mounted dispenser. It proved to be very popular and a local carpet cleaning company owner bought it right out of his living room closet! He continued with his unique inventions, designing a word-making bubble machine that he took to a local businessman, who nixed that idea and bought Russ’ life-size Pepsi can dancing robot instead.

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The robot idea caught on and Russ' first company Florida Robotics was born. Nearly 25 years and several hundred robots later, he continues to design innovative and fun robotic products. Russ has a lengthy list of prestigious clients such as Disney World, Sea World, NASA, Ripleys, Universal Studios, Westinghouse and many others, and his robots can be found in 32 countries worldwide.

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Russ has perfected a new intuitive control system for his mobile robots that is simple yet very reliable and flexible for different venues and operating requirements. No more bulky hobby controller, now you can control your robot’s movements and speak into a wireless mic all contained in a small cup. The operator can easily blend into the crowd and no-one is the wiser who is controlling the robot. All of the robots to be released by Island Robots this year are extremely durable, require little or no maintenance and can be used indoors or out, even in bad weather.

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2016 is going to be an exciting and fun year at Island Robots of Florida with lots of new, creative robots and animatronics just around the corner.