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Robotics: A Brief History

Origins of "robot" and "robotics"

The word "robot" conjures up a variety of images, from R2D2 and C3PO of
Star Wars fame; to human-like machines that exist to serve their creators
(perhaps in the form of the cooking and cleaning Rosie in the popular cartoon
series the Jetsons); to the Rover Sojourner, which explored the Martian
landscape as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission.

Isaac Asimov first used the word Robot in 1942 in his short story
"Runabout."
Definitions of "robot"
"A reprogrammable, multifunctional device and manipulator designed to
move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various
programmed motions for the performance of a variety of task."

"Robotics is that field concerned with the intelligent connection of perception

to action."

The first modern robots:

George C. Devol invented and patented a reprogrammable manipulator

called "Unimate," from "Universal Automation." For the next decade, he
attempted to sell his product in the industry, but did not succeed.

In 1958 at the Stanford Research Institute, Charles Rosen led a research

team in developing a robot called "Shakey." Shakey was far more advanced
than the original Unimate, which was designed for specialized, industrial
applications. Shakey could wheel around the room, observe the scene with
his television "eyes," move across unfamiliar surroundings, and to a certain
degree, respond to his environment.

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In the late 1960s, businessman/engineer Joseph Engleberger (later known as

the Father of Robotics) acquired Devol's robot patent and modified it into an
industrial robot. His company Unimation started to produce and market the
robots.

Robotics:

1. The first Robot is said to have been constructed by the Greek

mathematician Archytas in 400BC called "THE PIGEON" it flew 200
meters and was powered by Steam.

2. The word "ROBOT" was coined in 1920, coming from the czech word
ROBOTA which means "COMPULSORY LABOR. It first appeared in a
play in which Robots destroy the human race.

3. The first computer controlled hand was developed at MIT in 1961.18

years later; a worker at a ford plant was struck and killed by a Robot
arm, marking the first time a human is killed by a Robot.

4. The American government spent $570 million on Robots for

manufacturing in 2009. About as much as the Navy spends annually to
power its fleet. The total value of the world industrial Robot sales is
about $6.2 billion a year, more than service Robots reached $11 billion.
Together, service and industrial Robots are bigger than porn in
America.

5. There are 20,000 Service Robots in the defense industry. Some of these
include surveillance birds, stealth insects and the ever-creepy bigdog;
a quadruped infantry Robot that can carry up to 400LBS of gear.The
next most common model are made to milk cows.

6. Of the 1 million service Robots in use around the world 1/4 of Robots
are in Japan. Japan hopes to replace 3.5 million workers with Robots by
2025. The fact the Japanese really love Robots.

HONDA'S ASIMO, one of the most advanced humanoid Robots ever

built, costs about $1 million. It's able to greet people and embarrass its
creators by falling down stairs repeatedly.

KOREANS love their Robots almost as much as star craft, they just
opened up ROBOT LAND cost $600 million to build Robot aquarium full

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of fish you can control, Robot battle stadium, Cyber Zoo, 360' tall Robot
statue, taller than the statue of Liberty.

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