Alpha 1 (pictured here in front of my parents' garage) was built around 1979, and was primarily a "show" robot.  He never had any real "brains" (unless you count the mass of pink-spraypainted styrofoam peanuts in the dome), but was remote-controlled by a set of switches at the end of a 20 foot cable.  He stood over 6 feet tall, and was entirely exo-skeletal, with no internal supports.  He was built almost entirely of sheet aluminum, with a plywood base.  He was powered by two "gel-cell" marine batteries stacked vertically in his lower torso, which could be disconnected at the "waist" for transport.  Two heavy-duty motorized wheels provided movement.   From the control panel, the operator could run either wheel forward or backward, steering like a tank.  He could also raise and lower both arms, open and close the hands, and extend and retract the two power car antennas on the sides of the head.   Lights on the "face" came from car dashboard indicators and turn signals, and were flashed and sequenced by some simple electronics.  The arms were operated by electric car-window motors and gear-boxes, and the hands were made from bicycle brake calipers and steel extrusions actuated by 12volt "linear actuators", and were capable of crushing pop cans flat (steel, back then - not aluminum!) and cracking nuts.   Alpha could also grab a rope or chain suspended from the ceiling and actually lift himself off the ground with one hand.  Not bad, considering he weighed in at over 150 lbs!  He once made a trip to a demo at the 1987 Nebraska State Fair, riding "standing up" in the passenger's seat of my tiny Fiat X1/9.  With the car's removable top off, "Alphie's" head stuck up over 4 feet above the windshield.   I seat-belted him in, turned on his lights, and enjoyed the dropping jaws of other motorists.  I think we nearly caused some accidents that day...