Robots are the magnificent machines that fascinate and some times even scare many humans. Lets as learn more about them by studying their origins.
The term "Robot" was first use in 1920 play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Capek. The word originated from Czech word "Robota" which means "Servitude".
Image Source : wikipedia (A scene from the play, showing three robots)
The irony to be mention is that in the play, the robots are synthetic humans created to serve humans but eventually rebel against their creators (you can wonder who wins).
My dear Miss Glory, Robots are not people. They are mechanically more perfect than we are, they have an astounding intellectual capacity, but they have no soul. ― Karel Čapek, R.U.R.
The concept of artificial beings can be found in ancient mythologies and cultures. For instance, in Greek mythology, Hephaestus, the god of craftsmen, was said to have created mechanical servants. Similarly, in Jewish folklore, the golem was a creature made from clay and animated to serve its creator.
Image Source: https://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GiganteTalos.html
The Greek engineer Archytas of Tarentum is said to have created a wooden pigeon powered by steam, considered one of the earliest examples of a mechanical device resembling a bird.
In the year 1495, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a Humanoid robot which is now referred as Leonardo's Robot, a machine envisioned as Knight capable of performing various movements.
Image source:Leonardo Davinci's robot sketches, circa 1495. Renderings from Florence Institute and Museum of the History of Science
The first Industrial robots was developed by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger in 1954, it was called Unimate. Installed in General Motors plant in New Jersey it was capable of performing repetitive task like die casting and welding. This gave George Devol a Fame as "Father of Robotics" and marked the beginning of robotic era.
Devol, Engelberger and their colleagues working on the development of the Unimate.
The beginning of this era was followed by the development of first robotic arm : the Stanford Arm and PUMA robot by Victor Scheinman
Sector of Space also join this age when in 1997 NASA's Sojourner rover lands on Mars as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission, becoming the first successful rover on another planet.
Source: NASA
The 21st century saw many new advancement as the robots such as ASIMO by Honda, the Sony QRIO, spot by Bostan Dynamics, Da Vinci surgical systems, autonomous drones etc were develop, showcasing advancements in bipedal locomotion, automation, AI and human-robot interaction.
Source: from left ASIMO by Honda, Sony's QRIO, Da vinci surgical system
Soon Subfields of robotics such as humanoids, bionics, industrial robotics, medical robotics, aerial robotics, autonomous vehicle, nanobots, cobots and many more where born. we will discuss about all in other parts of this series
With the current advancement in Artificial Intelligence the robots are becoming more and more similar to humans and self dependent. It might be not wrong to say that the robots that we enjoy in fiction in childhood wont be fiction in near future
Sources
"R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)" by Karel Čapek (Play)
"The History of Robotics" by IEEE Spectrum
"A Brief History of Robotics" by Robotic Industries Association (RIA)
"The Rise of the Industrial Robot" by The Atlantic
"A Brief History of Robotics" by NASA
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