Term of the Moment
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Definition: robot
A stand-alone hybrid computer system that performs physical and computational activities. Capable of performing many tasks, a robot is a multiple-motion device with one or more arms and joints. Robots increasingly use AI to recognize objects and speech. Although robots can be similar in form to a human, industrial robots do not resemble people at all (see robo sapien).
From a Czech Play
The robot word comes from the Czech "robota," meaning "forced labor," which was used in Karel Capek's 1920 science fiction play "Rossum's Universal Robots." In 1927, robots appeared in Fritz Lang's classic silent movie "Metropolis," and the term has been with us ever since.
A Wide Variety of Applications
In manufacturing, robots are used for welding, riveting and painting. They are also deployed for demolition, fire fighting, bomb disposal, nuclear site inspection, industrial cleaning and medical surgery (see telepresence surgery). Using machine vision, robots can select items in a pile and assemble them into a unit. Increasingly, robots are being designed as household helpers (see Tesla Bot). See social robot and autonomous logistics.
Analog and Digital
Robots use analog sensors for recognizing real-world objects and digital computers for direction. Analog to digital converters convert temperature, motion, pressure, sound and images into binary code for the robot's computer, which directs the actions of the arms and joints by pulsing their motors. See AIBO.
Shakey the Robot
Forty-Four Years Later
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Inspect Pipes from the Inside
Computers Making Computers
Sophia - A More Realistic Android
How Small Can They Get?
Where's the Pasta... Oh Hello!
It's Happening More and More
From a Czech Play
The robot word comes from the Czech "robota," meaning "forced labor," which was used in Karel Capek's 1920 science fiction play "Rossum's Universal Robots." In 1927, robots appeared in Fritz Lang's classic silent movie "Metropolis," and the term has been with us ever since.
A Wide Variety of Applications
In manufacturing, robots are used for welding, riveting and painting. They are also deployed for demolition, fire fighting, bomb disposal, nuclear site inspection, industrial cleaning and medical surgery (see telepresence surgery). Using machine vision, robots can select items in a pile and assemble them into a unit. Increasingly, robots are being designed as household helpers (see Tesla Bot). See social robot and autonomous logistics.
Analog and Digital
Robots use analog sensors for recognizing real-world objects and digital computers for direction. Analog to digital converters convert temperature, motion, pressure, sound and images into binary code for the robot's computer, which directs the actions of the arms and joints by pulsing their motors. See AIBO.
Developed in 1969 by the Stanford Research Institute, Shakey was the first fully mobile robot with artificial intelligence. Seven feet tall, Shakey was named after its unstable movements. (Image courtesy of The Computer History Museum.)
Boston Dynamics' 400-pound, 6'2" Atlas was designed for emergency rescue. Built in 2013, Atlas initially stumbled a bit; however, teams of engineers taught Atlas to become very steady. (Image courtesy of Boston Dynamics.)
At the turn of the century, these robots were applying sealant to cars at Ford's Wayne, Michigan plant. Named after Donald Duck's nephews, Huey (top) sealed the drip rails while Dewey (right) sealed the interior weld seams. Louie is outside the view of this photo. (Image courtesy of Ford Motor Company.)
Developed years ago by SRI for Osaka Gas in Japan, this Magnetically Attached General Purpose Inspection Engine (MAGPIE) traveled inside gas pipes to look for leaks. MAGPIE served as the prototype for multicar models that perform temporary repairs. (Image courtesy of SRI International.)
Robots, whose brains are nothing but chips, are making chips in this TI fabrication plant. (Image courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.)
Hanson Robotics designed Sophia to look like British actress Audrey Hepburn. Debutting in 2015, her flesh-rubber skin is very realistic, and her answers to questions (using the cloud) are very clever. On the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2017, she played rock paper scissors and won. (Image courtesy of Hanson Robotics.)
Rutgers University scientists believe that nano-sized robots injected into the bloodstream will eventually administer drugs to infected cells. This carbon nanotube body uses a biomolecular motor for propulsion and peptide limbs for orientation. (Image courtesy of the Rutgers Bio-Nano Robotics team: Constantinos Mavroidis, Martin L. Yarmush, Atul Dubey, Angela Thornton, Kevin Nikitczuk, Silvina Tomassone, Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos and Bernie Yurke.)
By 2020, robots were no longer only in warehouses and assembly lines. Turn the aisle in the local Giant supermarket, and Marty the robot might be staring at you. Marty roams the aisles looking for spills and debris and alerts the manager when a hazard is found.
This 2016 issue of PC Magazine highlighted the fact that every year more robots are replacing humans in the workplace. As more jobs are lost to automation, society will have to find new ways of dealing with this phenomenon. (Image courtesy of PCMag.com.)