# The secret history of Robot: the innovative 35mm rapid-fire camera of the 1930s became a bank surveillance tool

> How a 1930s camera design revolutionized bank security and traffic enforcement for decades.
- Title: The secret history of Robot: the innovative 35mm rapid-fire…
- Summary: How a 1930s camera design revolutionized bank security and traffic enforcement for decades. The Robot camera, invented in the 1930s, became widely used for…
- Keywords: robot camera, 35mm film, bank surveillance, traffic enforcement, focal-plane shutter, spring motor, kodak, agfa, heinz kilfitt, hans berning, otto berning co, dusseldorf
- Source: Digital Camera World — https://digitalcameraworld.com/cameras/film-cameras/the-secret-history-of-robot-the-innovative-35mm-rapid-fire-camera-of-the-1930s-became-a-bank-surveillance-tool
- Published: 2026-10-18T06:45:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: robot camera, 35mm film, bank surveillance, traffic enforcement, focal-plane shutter, spring motor, kodak, agfa, heinz kilfitt, hans berning, otto berning co, dusseldorf
## Robot's origins
The Czech playwright Karel Čapek introduced the word 'robot' in 1920 through his play R.U.R.
## Heinz Kilfitt's design
Heinz Kilfitt, a German watchmaker's son, designed a clockwork spring motor for rapid-fire photography in the early 1930s.
## Kodak and Agfa rejection
Kodak and Agfa rejected Kilfitt's camera design proposals despite its innovative spring motor film advance.
## Otto Berning & Co. founded
Hans Berning founded Otto Berning & Co. in Düsseldorf to manufacture Kilfitt's design after its rejection.
## Robot's key innovations
The Robot featured a spring-motor film advance for 4 photos per second, a rotary shutter, and interchangeable lenses.
## 24x24mm film format
The Robot used a 24x24mm negative for 50 exposures on a 36-exposure roll, reducing film costs significantly.
## World War Two use
The Robot was adapted for Luftwaffe gun cameras and bomber reconnaissance during World War Two.
## Post-war civilian production
After the war, Berning produced the Robot IIa compatible with Kodak's standardized 35mm film cartridges.
## Robot's commercial success
Robot cameras were sold for bank surveillance, industrial inspection, and traffic enforcement systems globally.
## Robot's legacy
The Robot name became part of Jenoptik and continued in industrial imaging systems until the 1990s.
## Key takeaway

The Robot camera, invented in the 1930s, became widely used for bank surveillance and traffic enforcement systems until the 1990s.