Video: Eight foot tall humanoid robot from the 1950s comes up for auction Originally, Cygan, designed by Dr Ing Fiorito, an aeromodeller from Turin, Italy, could walk forwards or backwards, turn right or left, raise its arms and could lift items. It was an extremely advanced model for the time, with a capacity to respond to spoken commands, signals and light rays. It could shift its enormous weight of 1,000 lbs at a rate of 10 feet per minute. Cygan is to be put up for sale with an estimate of £6,000 - £8,000 at Christie's Out of the Ordinary auction starting on August 5.