London's Science Museum has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the rebuilding of one of the first robots

Eric, as it was called, was originally built in 1928, and was the UK's first humanoid robot, impressing audiences with his movement and speech. He travelled the globe as a showcase for futuristic technology - but disappeared in the 1930s. Now, the museum is trying to raise £35,000 to rebuild him and has received more than £6,000 in four days. Eric was created by British duo Captain William H Richards and Alan Reffell. Made mostly from aluminium and weighing 45kg, he could stand, move his limbs and rotate his head.

"Eric holds a unique place in our history. He was everything we now imagine a robot to be - a talking, moving mechanical person," Museum curator Ben Russell said.The team behind the project tracked down relatives of Eric's inventor to collect as many documents as possible, including photographs, drawings and technical diagrams. Working with robotics artist Giles Walker, the plan is to reconstruct Eric as faithfully as possible using modern components.

"It's one of our human instincts to anthropomorphise; we've built machines that look like us," Russell said in an interview with Wired Magazine. "Robots are almost like mirrors, they reflect back on ourselves, tell us who we are and how we are and what we think is important. When you take that long view you realise the places where you tend to find robots say a lot about the time and why they were important."The mechanical man proved a hit with audiences and Eric went on tour to technology exhibitions across the world, from Germany to New York. Some time in the 1930s, however, he disappeared without explanation: lost, dumped, or possibly recycled.

If the museum's project is completed, Eric will form the centrepiece of a new robotic exhibition, which is due to run from February to September 2017.

The exhibition will showcase the evolution of modern robotics from a 1582 iron manikin to the toy robots of the 1950s.