Wu Yulu sits on rickshaw robot Wu No.32 in his village in east Beijing (SHI GANG)

Romanticism and escapism are typical features shared by people born under the Pisces Zodiac sign, whose birthdays fall between February 19 and March 20. Wu Yulu, a Beijing peasant who was born on March 17, 1962, might know little about Western astrology, but his crazy love for making robots comes from his Pisces tendencies.

Since 1986, Wu has created 33 robots in his tiny yard in Mawu Village, Huoxian County, in east Beijing's Tongzhou District. He named each robot in numerical order with the surname Wu.

"All my robot children have different functions. For example, Wu No.5 can assist in doing daily chores; Wu No.22 can turn somersaults; Wu No.33 can help turn over paralyzed patients; Wu No.34, which is half finished, can play a chess game," Wu told Beijing Review as he sat on Wu No.32, a rickshaw. "I received an invitation to an exhibition in Shijiazhuang, capital city of nearby Hebei Province, this Friday. My robots will be on display together with the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft. It is a great honor for me, a normal peasant."

An unconventional way

Wu made his first robot when he was less than 12 years old. "A guy was walking past my house in a hurry, and I was curious to know how things worked. So I became determined to make a machine that could 'walk' like a man," Wu recalled. Since he had little money, most of his materials came from the recycling center.

"I dropped out after finishing elementary school because I was sick of studying. But I was deeply attracted by machines and toys, and I love to research mechanical theory," said Wu, who in addition to robots makes tools for farming.

Livestock and manpower were the main forces behind agricultural production in China in the early 1980s due to the lack of machines; the Wu family was no exception. "I preferred making robots to farming, but my father asked me to help at seeding time. I worked less than a day and made a multifunctional bicycle seeder three days later," Wu recalled.

Wu's effort paid off. The machine controlled by one person was able to finish the work of four people. The news spread quickly and neighbors came to borrow it. "I was happy to see that my creation worked and helped others," Wu said. "It also increased my confidence in making robots."

Wu worked at a local cement factory to finance his robot dream. His first robot son, Wu No.1, didn't come out until 1986.

"Hello, I am a rickshaw robot. Wu Yulu is my father. I'm taking him for a walk around. Thank you," says life-size Wu No.32 (the message was recorded by Wu Yulu) (SHI GANG)

Algebra and geometry are crucial in making robots. Unfortunately, Wu didn't know much about angles or sizes in design. "What I did followed what I felt, which meant spending more time, energy and money. For example, it took five drafts in six years to design the bionic legs for my rickshaw robot, Wu No.32. I am proud of my persistence, but I truly regret my early dropout," he said.

"I would figure out how things worked before each design; I have a clear mind in mechanical theory," Wu said. "My brain became smarter and the production time became shorter thanks to the experience I gained from two decades of practice."

Wu and his robots first received media coverage in late 2002, when an acquaintance revealed the story to a newspaper.

Side effect of fame

Love is the only reason Wu makes robots. He did not realize he could make money from his hobby until 2003, when he was invited to appear on an invention TV show in central Hunan Province. His robots won him first prize and 10,000 yuan (about $1,200).