Everything you always wanted to know about the Radicon Robot

This video will tell and show you how the vintage Radicon robot operates using a spark gap transmitter and a coherer detector.
the sequence is

1 you trigger the spark gap transmitter

2 The coherer tube detects the radio waves and conducts a current path that turns on the "meter relay". The coherer tube will stay in a conducting way until it is reset by thumping it.

3. The meter relay contacts turn ON the sequence motor and the green light in the chest.

4 The sequence motor advances a 6 position sequence cam, the cam controls the steering. From the OFF position #1 that would be straight, position #2 LEFT, position #3 straight, position #4 right, postion #5 position is straight. The sequence cam also operates a electric switch that turn's the Drive motor in the robot ON in all positions except for postion #1 that is OFF. The sequence motor also rotates a 1/2 gear that drives the spring loaded hammer arm that will be used to hit the spring hung base that the coherer tube is mounted too. So as the sequence motor is advancing the steering cam to the next position and advancing the power switch for the drive motor it is also lifting the hammer. At the end of one sequence the hammer falls and rests the coherer tube so the meter relay can open its circuit and turn off power to the green light in the chest and the sequence motor.

5 The drive motor drives the wheels on the robot and the arms back and forth and uses a flex shaft to drive the rotating antennas in the head with a series of gears. The flashing eye lights are powered the same time the drive motor gets power and a switch on the drive motor makes the eye lights flash.

6 Now since any spark or radio wave has can set off the coherer tube too a conducting state the sequence motor does not require any sort of choke or capacitor by passing as any RF generated by the sequence motor would only help to ensure that the sequence motor keeps running until it complets a sequence. But the drive motor brushes would also make RF has that could trigger the coherer tube and keep coherer tube conducting when it should not be , so they have placed a choke on each of the motor wires and .2uf caps to ground as well. As the motors get old and the grease on the brushes starts to dry out then the arcing and sparking get worse and this can cause the robot to advance to the next sequence even when the transmitter has not be used. cleaning the brushes will help, but running the robot sometimes helps the most as the brushes wear threw the grease things seem to settle down.