Heath Robinson

code-breaking machine

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July 21, 2026

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The term "Heath Robinson" refers to a style of drawing or a device that achieves a simple task in an unnecessarily complex and elaborate way. This style is named after British cartoonist William Heath Robinson, who was famous for his humorous illustrations of fantastic and impractical machinery.12

During World War II, a code-breaking machine used to decipher the German Tunny cipher was named "Heath Robinson." This machine was an early attempt at breaking the Tunny code but was eventually superseded by a more advanced electronic computer called Colossus. While William Heath Robinson himself was known for his whimsical contraptions, the code-breaking machine named after him was a real, albeit complex, piece of wartime technology.3

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Colossus
How Colossus was designed
…Newmanry’s first analytic machine, “Heath Robinson,” employed photoelectric technology to read two punched paper tapes simultaneously, at a rate of 1,000–2,000 characters per second. One tape contained the message to be broken, and the other contained possible sequences of key letters (in teleprinter code). Named after a famous British…
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…Newmanry’s first analytic machine, “Heath Robinson,” employed photoelectric technology to read two punched paper tapes simultaneously, at a rate of 1,000–2,000 characters per second. One tape contained the message to be broken, and the other contained possible sequences of key letters (in teleprinter code). Named after a famous British…
Read More