Robots: Past, Present, and Future

Robots: Past,

Present, and Future

First, what IS a robot?

According to the dictionary, a robot is any machine or mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill. When we think of robots, do we think of water clocks, "The Pigeon", C-3PO, or something else equally helpful and strange? Throughout history, since the invention of the first "robot" (which is a lot earlier than you might think) we have marveled the complexity and wonder that is the modern robot.

One of our earliest examples of a robot is "The Pigeon". Invented by Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum, it was a mechanical bird propelled by steam. It wasn't much, but in 350 B.C., it is one of history's earliest studies of flight.

Here's a new concept: Computers! Okay, actual computers won't come along for a while, but Joseph Jacquard, 1801, built a computerized loom that was comtrolled by punch cards, just like 20th century computers to come much later.

Charles Babbage, 1822, had a realization: We can use Joseph Jacquard's punch card idea for more than a stupid loom! He worked towards "The Analytical Engine", which he never finished, but his research still was a huge bound to modern computers. He is considered the Father of the Computer.

The term "robot" is used for the first time in the 1921 play Rossuum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.), written by Karel Capek.

Shortly after robots appeared in plays, they hit the big screen! The 1926 movie "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang, staring Maria the female robot, is the first movie with a robot in it.

Alan Turing published "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" in 1950. In this document was a test, later to be known as the "Turing Test", which determines whether or not a machine has gained the power to think for itself. This test would probably be a lot more useful if there were actually robots around at the time.

In 1956, the Logic Theorist, invented by Alan Newell and Herbert Simon, is the first "Expert System". It is used to help solve difficult math problems. So, in other words, a fancy calculator. Whoop de doo.

Heinrich Ernst, 1961, invents a computer operated hand, or MH-1. A year later, the first indutrial arm-the Unimate-is introduced for use on the assembly line.

In 1986, Arthur C. Clark's 2001: A Space Odyssey is made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. This movie features HAL, a computer controlling the ship that decides it doesn't need the humans onboard any longer.

In the same year Star Wars debuts, the deep space explorers Voyagers 1 and 2 launch from the Kennedy Space Flight Center.

Marc Thorpe has the idea to start a robot combat event in 1992. Surprisingly enough, he got the idea while trying to invent a remote controlled vacuum cleaner. Ths first "Robot Wars" is in 1994 in San Francsico, California

Honda debuts another humaniod robot, named ASIMO, in 2000.

This robot has the honor of ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange two years later.

To complete their missions, the Mars Rovers have a variety of tools. They have a Panoramic Camera, or Pancam, to determine the mineralology, texture, and structure of their surroundings.

Another camera, the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectometer, or Mini-TES, can identify rocks more closely and the processes that formed them. It can also provide temperature profiles of the atmosphere. The Mossbauer Spectrometer, or MB, can analyze the abundance of elements in rocks and soils.They also use magnets to collect dust particles.

The Microscopic Imager, or MI, can take close-up, high resolution images of rocks and soils. Finally, the Rock Abrasion Tool, or RAT, can remove dusty and weathered rock surfaces to get at fresh material.

I think everyone can agree that the Mars Rovers are a big success in the robot world. They've lasted over three years on Mars with solar panels as their only source of energy. While their mission was designed to last only 90 days, they're still operating on Mars to this day.

Robots and Animals

More Humanoid Robots

Now, what's coming up in the world of robots? Unless you're a scientist working in a labratory somewhere, upcoming technology is confidential. However, we do know that new things are being invented every day, and we can look forward to things we wouldn't believe possible. Keep watch for new things, and open your mind to the possibilities! The human spirit has a thirst for the new and unusual, and we have no boundaries. Anything is possible!!!

The End!

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Besides EveR-1, there are many more humanoid robots available today.

One example is the USC Robota Dolls. They may look frightening, but they are very useful in helping autistic and handicapped children.

Robovox is perhaps less benefical and more entertaining. Robovox is an eight-meter-tall robot transported to various locations around the world. You can send text messages to it using your cell phone, and the robot will read your message out loud for all to hear.

The WR-07 is a real, self-fuctioning Transformer. It can, just like in the movies, turn from a car into a humanoid robot. Really more of a toy, but certainly a very interesting one.

Another robot worth mentioning is the Waseda University Flutist Robot. This is Waseda's fourth flute-playing robot, and even though there has already been a flute-playing robot, which was mentioned earlier, this one is much more techologically advanced. It can play a perfect "Flight of the Bumble Bee" with mecha-lips and mecha-lungs.

Finally, T-Rot, the robot bartender. It can recognize speech and get things that you ask for. It has synthetic skin to pick up delicate items and can detect different pressures and adjust its grip accordingly.

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Shortly after Furby came AIBO, a robot pet from SONY

Furby, 1998

An "animatronic pet" that can react to its enviroment using sensors and speak in its own lanugage, "Furbish".

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MINDSTORMS Ultimate Builder's set

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Droid Developer Kit

P3, 1996

A humanoid robot built by Honda after a decade of effort and research

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Lego also made many contributions to the robot world

MINDSTORMS 2.0

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Robotics Discovery Set

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There are many examples of robots combined with animals in our world today. One is the Big Dog from Boston Dynamics, a gas-powered hydraulic which acts surprisingly like a real dog. It can adapt to its surroundings like any real animal and repond to outside influences, like icy pavement or someone kicking it. It behaves like an ordinary dog would.

There's also the Artificial Mouse, or AMouse. It has real mouse's whiskers, which it can use to navigate around like a mouse. These computerized rodents will be used in the future for repair work in tight spaces, detecting hazardous gases, and exploring confined surroundings.

Now we come to the Cockroach-Controlled Robot, which is pretty self-explanatory. You hook a cockroach up to this machine and let it run loose. I'm not really sure how this is beneficial to mankind, but man, does it look cool!..and sort of scary.

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A similar machine, the Rat Brain-Powered Robot. Again, self explanatory, a robot that runs on live rat brain cells. Researchers can tamper with the memories of the brain cells to simulate Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. This can help researchers see how the brain deals with these disruptions.

EveR-1 is a new robot from Korea. It is capable of upper-body and face movement. It can make facial expressions and even look into your eyes while it talks to you! Its skin is designed to feel like human skin, and it is designed to look like a woman in her early 20's. Korea's goal is to have a domestic robot like EveR-1 in every home.

Robotics Invention System (later named MINDSTORMS) 1.0

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MINDSTORMS 1.5

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RoboTuna, 1996

Robot fish used to study the way fish swim

The main purpose of the Mars Rovers is to find rocks and soils on Mars which could hold clues to past water activity. Both rovers landed on different sides of Mars, one at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake, and one at Meridiani Plaunum, which holds mineral deposits that suggest Mars once had a wet past.

science.howstuffworks.com

EveR-1 Humanoid Robot

So, we've made our way up to the point where robot toys are being developed. So, what's new in the world of robots now? Here are a few examples of robots that are making a splash in the technical world today.

Sources

Each rover's mission is to drive up to 40 meters a day, and a total of 1 kilometer, but they've gone a lot farther than that!

Dictionary.com

Modern Robots

http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

nasa.gov

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/

In 1940, Issac Asimov starts writing short stories about robots for Super Science Stories magazine. In 1950, he writes more stories which he compiles into a book titled "I, Robot". He is also credited with the term "Robotics", which appeared in one of his stories. His most important contribution to the world of robots is perhaps coming up with 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 the orders given 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.

The Zeroth Law, added later, is that a robot must not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

NASA's robot geologists Spirit and Opportunity have been bringing us groundbreaking information since they were launched. Spirit was the first one, and was launched on June 10, 2003. Opportunity, Spirit's younger sister, was launched a month later on July 7. Spirit landed on Mars on January 3,2004 and Opportunity on January 24.

The Mars Rovers!

http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/04/ever-1-is-the-new-face-of-korean-robotics/

The purpose of the rovers is categorized in four goals:

Goal 1: Determine whether life ever arose on Mars.

The rovers haven't found hard proof of life, but they've found proof of water. On Earth, microbial communities thrive in acidic water, and the rovers have found evidence of acidic water, so life is very likely to have once occured.

Goal 2: Characterize the climate of Mars.

Now Mars is too cold and the atmospheric pressure too low for water, but there is proof Mars was once a very wet place. There have been sightings of clouds and frost on Mars. Whether Mars was once warm or cold is still undecided.

Goal 3: Characterize the geology of Mars.

The rovers give us the impression that Mars was once a wet, sulfate-rich planet that was prone to meteorite impacts and volcanoes. They've also found many rock formations and samples of elements found on Mars.

Goal 4: Prepare for human exploration.

The rovers' success shows that it is possible to land safely and operate sophisticated equiptment on Mars. They have both survived a complete change of seasons and kept track of the temperature and solar radiation they are exposed to. Thanks to the Mars Rovers, humans may one day visit Mars.

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Dante, 1993

An 8-legged walking robot

http://weburbanist.com/2008/11/18/10-of-the-worlds-weirdest-craziest-and-most-useful-robots/

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cosmosmagazine.com

"If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that benefits it...Then there would be no need for either apprentices for the master workers or slaves for the lord."

-Aristotle, Greek philosohper,

322 B.C.

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Cyberknife, 1992

Uses X-Rays to find tumors

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Much farther down the road: 1738

Jacques de Vaucanson builds lots of robots, or "automata", as they were then called.

One automaton, or robot, was a flute player that could perform twelve songs. Another could play a flute and a drum or a tamborine. His last was his most famous and popular invention: a duck! (Which did not play ANY instruments). It acted just like a real duck: It moved, quacked, flapped its wings, and ate and "digested" food.

In 1770, just a while later, Pierre Jaquet-Droz and his son Henri-Louis invent three similar robots: a doll that can write, one that can play music, and one that can draw pictures.

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A year later, Stanford University produces the Stanford Cart. It is designed to follow a set program, but it can also be controlled via a radio link from a computer.

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1977-Star Wars is released. Among many, many others, this movie features the ever popular R2-D2 and C-3PO. These robots create a strong image of future robots and inspires a new generation of researchers.

This is "Leonardo's Robot". As you can guess, these machines were invented by Leonardo DaVinci. They were built by many other inventors as well.

thetech.org

A very important invention was the water clock, invented in 299 B.C. Instead of hourglasses, which had to be turned over every hour and weren't very accurate, the water clock measured time using the force of steadily falling water.

Stanford University produced the Stanford Arm in 1969. This arm becomes a standard and influences robot arms today.

These contraptions were very popular back in 1495 when they were invented. Can you guess why these mechanical knights were invented? Sorry, no violence here. They were invented to amuse royalty. Though they were a great technological advancment, they were not built to fight.

1898: Nikola Tesla builds a

remote controlled boat! Sure, it's not much, but it was a great day for novelty children's toys.

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The Stanford Research Institute, later SRI Technology, invents Shakey, the first mobile robot to know and react to its own actions, 1966. SRI also helped create modern day laundry detergent-Tide.

In the same year, an artificial intelligence program, ELIZA, which manipulates its user's statements to form questions, like a robot psychologist. ELIZA was invented by Joseph Weizenbaum.

A year later, 1967, Richard Greenblatt writes MacHack, a program that play chess. This program is successful and is the foundation for many future chess programs.