However, the term "robot" wasn't used until when Karel Capek, a Czech writer, coined the word to describe automata in fiction. The complementary term "robotics" would later be made famous by writer Isaac Asimov in After the World Wars, Isaac Asimov's robots didn't just capture the popular imagination of Post-War America; they kickstarted a new era in robotics history.
Also in , George Devol would invent Unimate , the first industrial robot. Unimate could transport die castings and weld them into automobiles.
Similar to modern automation in manufacturing and other industrial fields, these industrial robots would be programmed for a specific function as a means of replacing unskilled labor. Unimate was one of the most important milestones in the history of robots. The s and s were the decades of arm-like automatons. Shakey , the Stanford Arm , and the Silver Arm gave rise to Puma and CyberKnife , which both served as innovative robotic technology in the medical field.
In fact, these arm-like automatons resemble much of modern robotics. A product of AiTreat, a Singaporean startup, Emma is a one-armed robot engineered to provide massage therapy to human patients. The automated side of robotics are well-known by many Americans even if they haven't been given a name. How often have you noticed automated machines during the three hours you've been sucked into watching How It's Made? These automated machines replace repetitive manual labor to give humans the ability to learn new skills in the same field.
For instance, in the shipping industry it takes 15 seconds for the average employee to assemble a complete box including bubble wrap, tape, and barcode for shipping. To assemble a box in that time requires familiarity, technique, and speed.
Yet such a job doesn't pay a high salary. Robotics that replace manual labor such as box assembly create higher-level job openings in the industry. These positions require greater skill and pay higher wages. Further advancements in technologies since the s have led to more advanced automation and artificial intelligence. Automated machines are programmed to perform one action over and over and are used today in manufacturing, maritime exploration, space exploration, military, and commercialized agriculture.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is programmed to assess an environment and take action to succeed at a programmed goal. Recent advancements in this field have led to software capable of preventing identity theft, producing relevant search queries for search engines , and cracking ciphers for the FBI.
As we look to the future history of robotics, AI will likely play a major role. Video-on-demand websites such as Netflix and Hulu already use predictive analytics to recommend genres and shows to viewers. Algorithms that cluster recommendations based on show similarities improve customer satisfaction. Businesses are also prone to use sentiment analysis software to get an in-depth look into public opinions on products and services.
This helps businesses market better to consumers. It also keeps them in the know regarding negative feedback so they can respond swiftly to minimize damage.
The future of robotics is difficult to gauge because of the rate of innovation. However, it's predicted that robots will most likely play a greater role in the home and in the business world.
Smart Homes have also been gaining traction because of their convenience and ability to save on utility bills, increase comfort, and improve security. Other information: Okude was born in , and he joined Takara in the early s.
In the early s, Hasbro approached Takara to combine their two most popular toys "Mircoman" and "Diaclone". Nobuyuki noted the potential for a new line of toys based on their existing Diaclone car robot to develop the Transformers that the s and s' generation have come to adore.
Their contribution to robotics: David Barrett's RoboTuna was one of the first fully functional robotic fish ever built. It was designed to mimic the shape and motion of a real fish and was controlled by six servo motors. The idea of the project was to investigate the plausibility of designing and building a robotic submarine that could swim like a fish and, therefore, devise a superior form of propulsion for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUV's.
RoboTuna proved to be highly successful and showed that it was more maneuverable and used less energy than other robotic submarines. They unveiled their prototype in with the first consumer model released in around May of Sony released new models right up to around with most being of a dog-like design.
AIBO was capable of limited interaction with humans and, incredibly, sold out in less than 20 minutes when it was initially released for sale in Japan.
This groundbreaking robot was officially recognized for its contributions to robotics when it was added to the Carnegie Mellon University Robot Hall of Fame in Other information: Doi was born in who would train as an electrical engineer and would go on to play an important role in the digital audio revolution.
He received a degree in electrical engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in , and a Ph. Doi joined Sony in and immediately begin to produce the first digital audio project for the company. He would drive the development of the PCM adaptor and was a prominent member of the group that eventually designed and created the CD. In , Doi's team created the Qrio , a running humanoid robot. ASIMO was one of the first robots to successfully mimic human gait and has become an android icon over the past 21 years.
The project began in the mid to late s with the goal of producing the world's first bipedal robot. Initially designated the E-series, early walking robots were developed by Honda between 1 and There were superseded by their P-series developed up until The later additions to the ASIMO series are able to run and walk on uneven slopes and surfaces, can turn smoothly, climb stairs and even reach and grasp objects.
They were even able to understand based voice commands and had facial recognition abilities. Their contribution to robotics: The Sojourner robot used on the Mars Pathfinder mission was the first-ever robot to be deployed to the planet Mars.
It was deployed on the planet's surface on the 4th July and was only supposed to last 7 days, but it ended up staying operational over 83 days. This humble little six-wheeled, solar-powered robot pushed the limits of human understanding of robotics and communications of the time. Despite its epic journey from Earth to the Red Planet, it traveled no more than ft mt by the time communications were lost. Sojourner was a six-wheeled robotic probe that was semi-autonomous capable of being controlled by a human operator on Earth.
Commands had a lag time of around 10 minutes , given the distance from Earth, which also meant feedback took a further ten minutes to receive back on Terra Firma. The robotic rover's main objective was to explore the surface of Mars and gather information on the soil and geology of the planet.
The robot had three cameras, two monochrome to the front and one color to the rear. Although the mission was relatively short-lived, the information it gathered has been poured over to help improve and refine the designs of future robot probes. Their contribution to robotics: Roomba , the famous home cleaning robot, was first released in by iRobot.
It was one of, if not the, first commercially successful home cleaning robot in history. It featured a series of sensors that let the robot navigate a space to perform its programmed cleaning activities. These sensors enabled the robot to detect obstacles, dirty spots on the floor, or steep inclines and stairs. A rotating, 3-prong spinner brush can sweep debris from square corners to the cleaning head. You could build a robot that could clean your floors.
He initially experimented by building prototype floor cleaning droids using Lego. A few years later, whilst working at Denning Mobile Robotics, he, and mechanical engineer Jack Shimek, designed a proof of concept for what would become Roomba.
The two were fired soon after pitching the idea and subsequently hired by iRobot a few months later. The rest, as they say, is history. Roomba would go through a series of improvements over time with many having interchangeable parts to enable retrofit of older models. Their contribution to robotics: Marc Raibert and his MIT spinoff company Boston Dynamics are famed for their development of the quadrupedal robot, BigDog, and an acrobatic humanoid robot.
BigDog was been initially developed for the U. Military with funding from DARPA but was later discontinued as it was too loud for combat situations. In George Devol invented the first digitally operated and a programmable robot called the Unimate. In , Devol and his partner Joseph Engelberger formed the world's first robot company. In , the first industrial robot, Unimate, went online in a General Motors automobile factory in New Jersey. With the rise of the computer industry, the technology of computers and robotics came together to form artificial intelligence; robots that could learn.
The timeline of those developments follows:. Commercial and industrial robots are now in widespread use performing jobs more cheaply or with greater accuracy and reliability than humans. Robots are used for jobs which are too dirty, dangerous or dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly and packing, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research and mass production of consumer and industrial goods.
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