Ever since The Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot, robots and robotics have fascinated me. Over time, robotics crept into our everyday world. Stunning advances loom making robots and artificial intelligence and androids less and less a science fiction trope. Robots and robotics and artificial intelligence will challenge our humanity.
The First Robotics
Rudimentary robots have been amongst us for a very long time.
The Greek mathematician, Archytas, invented the first known robotic device in 350 BC. A steam powered flying pigeon may not be your idea of a robot, but it was the first autonomous machine. It only vaguely looked like a pigeon. Look.
Egyptians used the constant, controlled flow of water to power their clocks (clepsydra) that struck the hour. Learn more about Egyptian water clocks.
The First Automata
In the 17th century, a French artist and inventor built three automata. An automata is a moving mechanical device made in imitation of a living creature. He created a flute player that played twelve songs. A second musical automata played flute, drum, or tambourine. And he created a mechanical duck that acted like a duck. Read more about Jacques de Vaucanson and his inventions.
In 1810, Friedrich Kauffman from Dresden, German created a mechanical soldier that could blow a trumpet.
The Birth of Modern Robotics
In1932, Japan produced a wind-up robot toy, “Lilliput.”
But programmable computers developed in the 1940s allowed real robots to take shape.
George Devol invented and patented a re-programmable manipulator called Unimate in the 1950s. He couldn’t sell it.
The Father of Robotics
Joseph Engelberger bought the patent to Unimate in the 1960s. He modified it into an industrial robotic arm and called it Unimation. Seven years later, General Motors installed the programmable robotic arm on an assembly line in New Jersey. Successful, Engelberger became identified as “the Father of Robotics.”
Modern Robotics
Today robots assist in our work, our play, on the ground, in the air, and on other planets. Below are a few of the robotic devices you might see in your daily life.
Robots in Movies
Robots for Play
Robot Games (Battlebots)
Robotic Floor Cleaners
Robotic Lawn Mowers
Industrial robots
Bomb Disposal Robots
Robots in Space
Robots Making Life Better
Robotics is also making a huge difference in the lives of amputees. Here’s an example:
Even more bionic is this man’s prosthetic. Be aware that he discusses his horrific work accident and his depression after and during his recovery. He also shares some humor and an upbeat message.
What’s Next?
They make more and more advances in robotics every day. Watch this:
True, the above robot is tiny but what an achievement!
What’s next for robotics? I don’t know, but I expect that there will be refinements in flexibility and usability. Some refinements will make them more appealing to humans. And they will be cheaper to make and use. Perhaps we’ll have a new, improved Rosie the Robot in our homes someday. But if we do, will she follow Isaac Asimov’s three rules?
Asimov’s Laws of Robotics
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Robots Challenge Our Humanity
In the video below, Rob Miles (a British AI researcher and YouTuber) discusses why the Laws of Robotics won’t work. The simple question of what is “human” becomes a complex philosophical and ethical discussion.
Miles asks is an unborn fetus a human? Is a person in a vegetative state a human? How do dolphins and chimpanzees fit into the definition, or do they?
We have created artificial limbs. What if we provide people with crippling diseases (think Stephen Hawking) a way to function in a bionic body? Would they still be human?
In Conclusion
The problem of robots is simple as long as the robots remain simple. But as they become more and more complex, so does the question of what is human. Instead of what’s next for robotics, we need to clarify some definitions. What is human? Intelligence? Humanity? How interesting that robotics will challenge our humanity.