What is the history of robots?

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The progression of computer systems has been instrumental in the progression of robots as well. After all, robots are computers!

• 1921: The Czech author Karel Kapeck wrote a play called R.U.R ( Rossum’s Universal Robots ). “Robot” originates from the Czech word “robota” meaning “tedious labor” and it became synonymous with the concept of robotic beings.
• 1926: Filmmaker Fritz Lang released the film Metropolis ; it was the first time a robot appeared on film. The robot was built in the form of its creator’s wife.
• 1927: The world’s first “robot,” a humanoid voice called Televox , operated through the telephone system.
• 1928: Japan produced its first robot, Gakutensoku . The name means “learning from natural law.” The robot was painted gold, stood 7’8” and could open and close its eyes, puff out its cheeks and smile.
• 1936: The concept for a computer is first introduced by Alan Turning, who calls it a “turning machine.”
• 1939: The world’s first programmable spray paint machine was invented by William Pollard and Harold Roselund. No longer was a human required when someone went in to have their car painted; it was done automatically, with a robotic arm.
• 1939: The robot ELEKTRO visited the 1939 World’s Fair and was a huge hit. The robot resembled a human being with a head, arms, and legs.
• 1942: Isaac Asimov produces a series of stories about robots for a science fiction magazine. The series revolve around a robot and its affection for a child it was built to protect. It was eventually compiled into a volume called “ I, Robot ” in 1950. The series also introduced the “ Three Laws of Robotics ,” a concept that has been included in nearly every other robot story, TV show, and movie to date. He also introduced a “zeroth law”.
• 1948: MIT Professor Norbert Wiener publishes a book called Cybernetics, which details the concept of control and communication of a mechanical system (like a robot.)
• 1951: Raymond Goertz designs a mechanical arm for the Automic Energy Commission that could be controlled by someone some distance away.
• 1954: George Devol invents the term Universal Automation and designs the first programmable robot.
• 1956: An engineer named Joseph Engelberger joins Devol in forming the world’s first robot company.   They call it Unimation.
• 1959: At MIT, the researchers showcased a system of manufacturing that was assisted by computers.
• 1959: A company called Planet Corporation manufactured the first robot sold commercially.
• 1960s: John Hopkins creates “the beast.” It was able to find charging outlets on its own when its batteries got low and was controlled by hundreds of transistors.
• 1960: A machine known as the The General Electric Walking Truck is invented by Ralph Moser. It could move at a speed of four miles an hour, had four legs and weighed around 30,000 pounds.
• 1960: Condec Corporation purchases Unimation and the company begins to develop Unimate Robot Systems.
• 1960: A robot named Versatran , built by American Machine and Foundry, is constructed.
• 1961: The first industrial robot goes online in a General Motors factory in New Jersey. The robot, Devol and Engelberger’s UNIMATE , was designed for spot welding and extracting die castings.
• 1963: A robotic arm known as the Rancho Arm was designed. It was the first robotic arm to be controlled not by a human but entirely by a computer and was built to help the handicapped.
• 1964: MIT, Stanford Research Institute and the University of Edinburgh all open artificial intelligence research labs.
• 1965: DENDRAL is launched. It was a project in artificial intelligence that produced the first program that “executed accumulated knowledge” meaning it used what it knew to make decisions.
• 1968: Marvin Minsky develops an octopus-like robot called the Tentacle Arm.
• 1970: Shakey , the first robot controlled by artificial intelligence, is invented. Basically a box on wheels, it used memory to navigate courses and to solve problems.
• 1970: At Stanford University, a robotic arm is developed. It becomes standard for all research projects and is named the Stanford Arm .
• 1970: The Freddy Robot is invented at the Edinburgh University.
• 1974: The Silver Arm , a robotic arm designed to perform small parts assembly using feedback from touch, is invented by David Silver at MIT.
• 1976: Two space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2 , use robotic arms when they to go Mars.
• 1983; A robot called the “Remote Reconnaissance Vehicle” is sent into the basement of a nuclear plant known as Three Mile Island , where a nuclear accident occurred. It spent four years surveying and cleaning up.
• 1984: The Terregator , the first autonomous outdoor robot, is invented.
• 1997: The NASA PathFinder lands on Mars and with its partner, the Sojourner, they capture images. The robots can be controlled from Earth.
• 2000: There was a showcase of robots: humanoid ones, the Honda Asimo and Sony Dream Robots.
• 2004: Robosapien , a humanoid robot, is invented by US physicist Dr. Mark W Tilden.  

Robotics can only advance from here. It won’t be long before we have fully-functional robots available to the general public!

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Get more facts and information about robotics from A Dictionary of Computing at Encyclopedia.com.