Man behind the machines (From Stroud News and Journal)

Man behind the machines

Dr Mark Tilden, the inventor of the smash hit toy Robosapien was born in Stroud. The former NASA physicist left the Five Valleys with his family for the USA when he was just two years old but reporter David Gibbs tracked him down to deepest China where while riding in a bumpy van on the way to the production factory he answered some burning questions from his mobile phone and attributed some of his creativity to his Gloucestershire roots.

Q What part did Stroud have to play in giving you your creative mindset?

A Well I was concieved and born there, so I guess... it's something in the waters?

Q How did your parents come to be in Stroud?

A Dad got a job working for a company called BTR. My parents moved there from Letchworth shortly after they were married. There they built a one-up-two-down baby farm and had me and my sister.

Q What is your family background?

A Tilden's have been popping about the isles (and even America) for quite a few centuries according to the family tree. Alas nothing exciting aside from an Olympic tennis champion early last century. No Mad Dukes, beheadings, world conquest, or anything, dammit.

Q What links do you still retain with the Five Valleys and England?

A Most of the family clan are UK side. I hear occasional murmurings that they're doing ok. Some even bought my robot. As for Golden Valley (where I was hatched) I just keep secret the family treasure buried in the local churchyard, and its terrible "Da Vinchi Code" style atrocities foretold by the sacred locket my grandfather sold me on his deathbed.

Q How did you come up with the idea for the Robosapien?

A I built my first when I was three (only a year after leaving Stroud), but where I got the idea I can't remember.

Q What was the most difficult aspect of its invention?

A Inventing the physics. Many think it's all software but that's not the case or there'd be dozens of different humanoid robots about. RS is based on an idea called "biomorphics" which looks at principles, not examples, of living things.

It took me 17 years to perfect, but now Robosapien and his brothers are now available and affordable.

Q How prepared were you for the success it has subsequently become?

A No chance to enjoy it yet.

Q Who are your heroes?

A Mostly dead people. Thinkers who knew the answer years before anyone could even see it, and had the foresight to write it down.

Q What is next on the invention list?

A We've recently extended the robot's family to include a real-working dino, an interactive sci-fi dog, and the Robosapien's big brother the RS2. Next year will be bigger and stranger. That's hush-hush though.

Q What would be your advice to young would-be inventors?

A Learn your trade, but more importantly, learn how to speak and promote yourself to people in groups.

Q Are you planning a return visit to your birthplace?

A I'll be touring the UK this July to promote our new robot lines. The Valleys aren't on the schedule alas. Maybe next time I take my centenial vacation.

- How much do you miss England?

Quite a bit. Most of my family is still there, along with most every food and girl I fancy. Getting good British licorice abroad is tough.

Q What does a typical day entail for you?

A Right now we're on production deadline, so for me it's up at the crack of dawn to grab the train to China from my 20th floor hotel room overlooking Hong Kong harbour. Then a long and scary escorted car ride to one of our factories where I fight over engineering details until lunch. After a detailed reminder that there are some fish that are just too ugly to eat (and rice), back to the factory to wrestle with politics, mecanical, software, and email issues until late. Following a midnight run for the border, I eventually get back to my small hotel bed where I collapse on my face, drooling into my hat. Sometimes I remember to take my boots off. But in a few hours it's back out the door again to a different factory. James Bond robot-building villains had it easy. They just had to worry about pesky MI5 spys, whereas I have to coax terracotta technology into plastic reality. It's cool though.