Robotics: the Past, Present and Future

Here is the brief history of robotics:

-350 B.C.

A mechanical bird is built and powered by steam. It is the first robot to be around. The mathematician Archytas invented this. It was a robot, but a very crude one since the technology back then was not as advanced.
-1495
Leonardo DaVinci designed a mechanical device that looked like an armored knight. The mechanism inside "
Leonardo'srobot" was designed to make the knight move as if there was a real person inside. In fact the robot was controlled by sets of levers and pulleys
-1770
Swiss clock makers and inventors of the modern wristwatch,
Pierre Jaquet-Droz and later joined by his son Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz started making automata for European royalty in 1770. They created three dolls, each with a different function. One can write, another plays music, and the third draws pictures.
-1801
Joseph Jacquard built an automated loom that was controlled with punched cards. Punch cards are later used as an input method for some of the 20th century’s earliest computers.
1822Charles Babbage creates a prototype of a computer and his work lives on as the foundation for the binary numbering system that is the basis of modern computers. He is called the father of computers.
-1898
Nikola Tesla builds and demonstrates a remote controlled robot boat at Madison Square Garden.
-1950
Issac Assimov, the inventor of the term robotics, created four laws of robotics. They are:
Zeroth law: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm

First law:
 robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second law:
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third law:
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
-1946
George Devol made a remote control for controlling machines.

-1959
John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky started the
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
-1961
Heinrich Ernst developed the MH-1; a computer operated mechanical hand at MIT.
-1962
The first industrial arm robot - the Unimate - was introduced. It is designed to complete repetitive or dangerous tasks, such as shaping the hull on a General Motors assembly line.
-1974
Victor Scheinman formed his own company and started marketing the
Silver Arm. It is capable of assembling small parts together using touch sensors

-1977Star Wars was released. George Lucas' movie about a universe governed by the force introduced watchers to R2-D2 and C-3PO. The movie created the strongest image of a human future with robots since the 1960's and inspired a generation of researchers.This is perhaps one of the most renowned events in the history of robotics.
-1977Deep space explorers Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched from the Kennedy Space Flight Center in the USA.
-1981
Takeo Kanade built the direct drive arm. It was the first arm to have motors installed directly into the joints of the arm. This change makes it faster and much more accurate than previous robotic arms.
-1986
Honda began a robot research program that started with the premise that the robot "should coexist and cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person cannot do and by cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately benefit society."
-1992
Attempting to build a radio controlled vacuum cleaner
Marc Thorpe had the idea to start a robot combat event.
-1994
Marc Thorpe starts
Robot Wars at Fort Mason center in San Francsico, California.
-1996
Honda debuted the P3, the fruit of its decade long effort to build a humanoid robot.
-1997
robotic arm designed by Canadian company MD Robotics, specially suited to space missions.
-1997
The
Pathfinder Mission landed on Mars. Its robotic roverSojourner rolled onto Mars’s soil. It is the first robot to land on Mars.
-2000
Honda debuts new humanoid robot
ASIMO. It can do work!
-2001
Halo Combat evolved is made and released. The game depicts the future as being in close alliance with robotics and AI: Artificial Intelligence.
-2002
Honda's
ASIMO robot rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This proves that it can do pretty mych anything a human can do.
-2010
The world of robotics is becoming more and more broad. Nanotechnology is created by robots, therefore it is creating the future.

The Future of robotics
The future of robotics is unclear like the future of housework. The invention of nanotechnology is here and in realality. Einstein's prediction, looks like it is going to be surpassed easily. His prediction is that in 2050 everyone will have their own robot by their side and at their disposal. Will robotics be the future? Will it be AI? or will it be droids? Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see.
















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