Origins of "robot" and"robotics"
The word "robot" conjuresup a variety of images, from R2D2 and C3PO of Star Wars fame; tohuman-like machines that exist to serve their creators (perhaps in theform of the cooking and cleaning Rosie in the popular
cartoonseries the Jetsons); to the Rover Sojourner, which explored theMartian landscape as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission. Some peoplemay alternatively perceive robots as dangerous technological ventures thatwill someday lead to the demise of the human race, either by outsmartingor outmuscling us and taking over the world, or by turning us into completelytechnology-dependent beings who passively sit by and program robots todo all of our work. In fact, the first use of the word "robot" occurredin a play about mechanical men that are built to work on factory assemblylines and that rebel against their human masters. These machinesin R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), written by Czech playwrightKarl Capek in 1921, got their name from the Czech word for slave.The word "robotics"was also coined by a writer. Russian-born American science-fictionwriter Isaac Asimov first used the word in 1942 in his short story "Runabout."Asimov had a much brighter and more optimistic opinion of the robot's rolein human society than did Capek. He generally characterized the robotsin his short stories as helpful servants of man and viewed robots as "abetter, cleaner race." Asimov also proposed three "Laws of Robotics"that his robots, as well as sci-fi robotic characters of many other stories,followed:
Law One
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a humanbeing to come to harm.
- Law Two
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where suchorders would conflict with the First Law.
Law Three
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection doesnot conflict with the First or Second Law.
Definitions of "robot"
So what exactly is a robot? This actually turns out to be a ratherdifficult question. Several definitions exist, including the following:"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulatordesigned to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices throughvarious programmed motions for the performance of a variety of task."Robot Institute of America, 1979
"An automatic device that performs functionsnormally ascribed to humans or a machine in the form of a human."Webster's Dictionary
"a reprogrammable manipulator device"British Department of Industry
"Robotics is that field concerned with the intelligentconnection of perception to action."Mike Brady
Early Conceptions ofRobots
One of the first instances of a mechanical device built to regularly carryout a particular physical task occurred around 3000 B.C.: Egyptianwater clocks used human figurines to strike the hour bells. In 400B.C., Archytus of Taremtum, inventor of the pulley and the screw, alsoinvented a wooden pigeon that could fly. Hydraulically-operated statuesthat could speak, gesture, and prophecy were commonly constructed in HellenicEgypt during the second century B.C.In the first century A.D., Petronius Arbiter made a doll that could movelike a human being. Giovanni Torriani created a wooden robot thatcould fetch the Emperor's daily bread from the store in 1557. Roboticinventions reached a relative peak (before the 20th century) in the 1700s;countless ingenius, yet impractical, automata (i.e. robots) were createdduring this time period. The 19th century was also filled with newrobotic creations, such as a talking doll by Edison and a steam-poweredrobot by Canadians. Although these inventions throughout historymay have planted the first seeds of inspiration for the modern robot, thescientific progress made in the 20th century in the field of robotics surpassprevious advancements a thousandfold.
The first modern robots
The earliest robots as we know them were created in the early 1950s byGeorge C. Devol, an inventor from Louisville, Kentucky. He inventedand patented a reprogrammable manipulator called "Unimate," from "UniversalAutomation." For the next decade, he attempted to sell his productin the industry, but did not succeed. In the late 1960s, businessman/engineerJoseph Engleberger acquired Devol's robot patent and was able to modifyit into an industrial robot and form a company called Unimation to produceand market the robots. For his efforts and successes, Englebergeris known in the industry as "the Father of Robotics."Academia also made much progress in the creation new robots. In 1958at the Stanford Research Institute, Charles Rosen led a research team indeveloping a robot called "Shakey." Shakey was far more advancedthan the original Unimate, which was designed for specialized, industrialapplications. Shakey could wheel around the room, observe the scenewith his television "eyes," move across unfamiliar surroundings, and toa certain degree, respond to his environment. He was given his namebecause of his wobbly and clattering movements.
