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Definition of a 'Robot' |
First use of the word 'Robot' |
First use of the word 'Robotics' |
Three Laws of Robotics |
The First Robot 'Unimate' |
Modern Industrial Robots |
Benefits of Robots |
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Definition of a 'Robot' |
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According to the Robot Institute of America
(1979) a robot is:
"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move
material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various
programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks".
A more inspiring definition can be found in Webster. According to
Webster a robot is:
"An automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to
humans or a machine in the form of a human." |
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First use of the word 'Robot'
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 The
acclaimed Czech playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938) made the first
use of the word �robot�, from the Czech word for forced labor or
serf. Capek was reportedly several times a candidate for the Nobel
prize for his works and very influential and prolific as a writer
and playwright.
The use of the word Robot was introduced into his play R.U.R. (Rossum's
Universal Robots) which opened in Prague in January 1921.
In R.U.R., Capek poses a paradise, where the machines initially
bring so many benefits but in the end bring an equal amount of
blight in the form of unemployment and social unrest.
The play was an enormous success and productions soon opened
throughout Europe and the U.S. R.U.R's theme, in part, was the
dehumanization of man in a technological civilization.
You may find it surprising that the robots were not mechanical in
nature but were created through chemical means. In fact, in an
essay written in 1935, Capek strongly fought that this idea was at
all possible and, writing in the third person, said:
"It is with horror, frankly, that he rejects all responsibility
for the idea that metal contraptions could ever replace human
beings, and that by means of wires they could awaken something
like life, love, or rebellion. He would deem this dark prospect to
be either an overestimation of machines, or a grave offence
against life."
[The Author of Robots Defends Himself -
Karl Capek, Lidove noviny, June 9, 1935, translation: Bean Comrada]
There is some evidence that the word robot was actually coined by
Karl's brother Josef, a writer in his own right. In a short
letter, Capek writes that he asked Josef what he should call the
artificial workers in his new play.
Karel suggests Labori, which he thinks too 'bookish' and his
brother mutters "then call them Robots" and turns back to his
work, and so from a curt response we have the word robot. |
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First use of the word 'Robotics'
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 The
word 'robotics' was first used in Runaround, a short story
published in 1942, by Isaac Asimov (born Jan. 2, 1920, died Apr.
6, 1992). I, Robot, a collection of several of these stories, was
published in 1950.
One of the first robots Asimov wrote about was a robotherapist. A
modern counterpart to Asimov's fictional character is
Eliza. Eliza was born in 1966 by a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Professor Joseph Weizenbaum who wrote Eliza -- a
computer program for the study of natural language communication
between man and machine.
She was initially programmed with 240 lines of code to simulate a
psychotherapist by answering questions with questions. |
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Three Laws of Robotics
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Asimov also proposed his three "Laws of Robotics", and he
later added a 'zeroth law'.
Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through
inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through
inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would
violate a higher order law.
Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings,
except where such orders would conflict with a higher order law.
Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long
as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.
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The First Robot: 'Unimate'
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 After
the technology explosion during World War II, in 1956, a historic
meeting occurs between George C. Devol, a successful inventor and
entrepreneur, and engineer Joseph F. Engelberger, over cocktails
the two discuss the writings of Isaac Asimov.
Together they made a serious and commercially successful effort to
develop a real, working robot. They persuaded Norman Schafler of
Condec Corporation in Danbury that they had the basis of a
commercial success.
Engelberger started a manufacturing company 'Unimation' which
stood for universal automation and so the first commercial company
to make robots was formed. Devol wrote the necessary patents.
Their first robot nicknamed the 'Unimate'. As a result,
Engelberger has been called the 'father of robotics.'
The first Unimate was installed at a General Motors plant to work
with heated die-casting machines. In fact most Unimates were sold
to extract die castings from die casting machines and to perform
spot welding on auto bodies, both tasks being particularly hateful
jobs for people.
Both applications were commercially successful, i.e., the robots
worked reliably and saved money by replacing people. An industry
was spawned and a variety of other tasks were also performed by
robots, such as loading and unloading machine tools.
Ultimately Westinghouse acquired Unimation and the entrepreneurs'
dream of wealth was achieved. Unimation is still in production
today, with robots for sale.
The robot idea was hyped to the skies and became high fashion in
the Boardroom. Presidents of large corporations bought them, for
about $100,000 each, just to put into laboratories to "see what
they could do;" in fact these sales constituted a large part of
the robot market. Some companies even reduced their ROI (Return On
Investment criteria for investment) for robots to encourage their
use. |
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Modern Industrial
Robots |
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 The
image of the "electronic brain" as the principal part of the robot
was pervasive. Computer scientists were put in charge of robot
departments of robot customers and of factories of robot makers.
Many of these people knew little about machinery or manufacturing
but assumed that they did.
(There is a common delusion of electrical engineers that
mechanical phenomena are simple because they are visible. Variable
friction, the effects of burrs, minimum and redundant constraints,
nonlinearities, variations in work pieces, accommodation to hostile
environments and hostile people, etc. are like the "Purloined
Letter" in Poe's story, right in front of the eye, yet unseen.)
They also had little training in the industrial engineer's realm
of material handling, manufacturing processes, manufacturing
economics and human behavior in factories.
As a result, many of the experimental tasks in those laboratories
were made to fit their robot's capabilities but had little to do
with the real tasks of the factory.
Modern industrial arms have increased in capability and
performance through controller and language development, improved
mechanisms, sensing, and drive systems. In the early to mid 80's
the robot industry grew very fast primarily due to large
investments by the automotive industry.
The quick leap into the factory of the future turned into a plunge
when the integration and economic viability of these efforts
proved disastrous. The robot industry has only recently recovered
to mid-80's revenue levels.
In the meantime there has been an enormous shakeout in the robot
industry. In the US, for example, only one US company, Adept,
remains in the production industrial robot arm business. Most of
the rest went under, consolidated, or were sold to European and
Japanese companies.
In the research community the first automata were probably Grey
Walter's machina (1940's) and the John's Hopkins beast.
Teleoperated or remote controlled devices had been built even
earlier with at least the first radio controlled vehicles built by
Nikola Tesla in the 1890's.
Tesla is better known as the inventor of the induction motor, AC
power transmission, and numerous other electrical devices. Tesla
had also envisioned smart mechanisms that were as capable as
humans.
An excellent biography of Tesla is Margaret Cheney's Tesla, Man
Out of Time, Published by Prentice-Hall, c1981.
SRI's Shakey navigated highly structured indoor environments in
the late 60's and Moravec's Stanford Cart was the first to attempt
natural outdoor scenes in the late 70's.
From that time there has been a proliferation of work in
autonomous driving machines that cruise at highway speeds and
navigate outdoor terrains in commercial applications.
Fully functioning androids (robots that look like human beings)
are many years away due to the many problems that must be solved.
However, real, working, sophisticated robots are in use today and
they are revolutionizing the workplace.
These robots do not resemble the romantic android concept of
robots. They are industrial manipulators and are really computer
controlled "arms and hands". Industrial robots are so different to
the popular image that it would be easy for the average person not
to recognize one. |
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Benefits
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Robots offer specific benefits to workers,
industries and countries. If introduced correctly, industrial
robots can improve the quality of life by freeing workers from
dirty, boring, dangerous and heavy labor. it is true that robots
can cause unemployment by replacing human workers but robots also
create jobs: robot technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers
and supervisors.
The benefits of robots to industry include improved management
control and productivity and consistently high quality products.
Industrial robots can work tirelessly night and day on an assembly
line without an loss in performance.
Consequently, they can greatly reduce the costs of manufactured
goods. As a result of these industrial benefits, countries that
effectively use robots in their industries will have an economic
advantage on world market. |
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Sources: General Internet Inc., Lawrence
Kamm's website, CMU website, UW at Madison website, RRG
documentations and several other websites. |
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