History of Robots

By Nikhil Singh

Origin of robots
The term robot was created by Karel Capek to
describe humanoid machines for his play called
Rossums Universal Robots, which like any robot
play focused on robots betraying and killing
humans.

The First Robot

Robots are an ancient concept that have been around
for the last 2000 years.
The first known robot was a steam powered pigeon
created by Greek mathematician Archytas around 400
to 350 BCE
He used this robot to study birds in flight.

Early History (before 1900s)

Around 1495 Leonardo da
Vinci sketched plans for a
humanoid robot.
Many life-sized automatons
were created between 1700
and 1900 including a
famous mechanical duck
made by Jacques de
Vaucanson that could crane
its neck, flap its wings, and
even swallow food.

Robot Toys
The first robotic toy, called
the Lilliput was made in
Japan in 1932.
Liliput was a simple wind
up toy made from
tinplate and stood just 15
cm tall.

The 3 Robotic Laws

In 1941, Isaac Asimov wrote the
short story Liar! in which he
describes the Three Laws of
Robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a
human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being to come to
harm.
2) A robot must obey any orders
given to it by human beings,
except where such orders would
conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own
existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with
the First or Second Law.

Isaac Asimov:

The Origin of Robotic Arms

In 1954, George Devol
and Joe Engleberger
design the first
programmable robot
arm.
This design was later used
for dangerous tasks at
General Motors in 1962.

Robots in Space
In 1957, the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik, the first
artificial orbiting satellite.
Sputnik took about 98
minutes to orbit the Earth
on its elliptical path.
In 1969, the USA
successfully landed Neil
Armstrong on the moon
using various robotic and
computer technology.

Robot Stars
In 1968, Stanley Kubrick
makes Arthur C. Clark's,
2001: A Space Odyssey into
a movie, which features a
sentient computer called
Hal.
In 1977, the first Star Wars
movie is released, which
shows a universe where
robots coexist with humans
such as R2-D2 and C-3PO

Robots in Sports
In 1997, an IBM computer
called Deep Blue beat world
chess champion Gary Kasparov.
This inspired many people to
create robots that competed
with humans or other robots in
various other competitions (like
jeopardy)
In 1997, the first Robocup
tournament is held in Japan.
The goal of Robocup is to have
robots beat the worlds best
human soccer team by 2050.

The Future
No one truly knows what the future holds, but robots are
likely to become a big part of it. They already make
major contributions in society.
Robotic cars drive on highways, adapting to injuries,
helping the elderly, and learning to mimic human
language and facial expressions.
In spite of the grim future told by science fiction, robots
hold the potential to improve the world and lives of
every human on the planet.

Citations
https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/
http://makezine.com/2015/08/28/robot-history-class/
http://www.livescience.com/55690-dancing-robots-break-wor
ld-record.html
http://weburbanist.com/2011/12/05/revolutionary-robots-16cool-crazy-creations/
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/20-things-you-didntknow-about-robots/
http://prime.jsc.nasa.gov/ROV/history.html
http://www.robotshop.com/media/files/PDF/timeline.pdf
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/technology/histor
yofrobotics.html