History of robots

The history of robots date at least as far back as the ancient legends.

Robotics in Antiquity

Likely fictional, the Iliad illustrates the concept of robotics by stating that the god Hephaestus made talking mechanical handmaidens out of gold. cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h5tKJvApybsC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=hephaestus+handmaidens&source=web&ots=AmE4CYagER&sig=qoE-R-FGa3CRe9fKPjBKCdk24C4|title=Ancient Greek Ideas on Speech, Language, and Civilization|author=Deborah Levine Gera|accessdate=2007-12-31] Around 400 BC, Archytas of Tarentum is reputed to have built a mechanical pigeon, possibly powered by steam, capable of flying. Not only representing one of the earliest works in the field of robotics, the wooden pigeon was also an early study of flight.cite web |url=http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html |title=MegaGiantRobotics |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/arkwright_richard.shtml |title=Sir Richard Arkwright (1732 - 1792) |accessdate=2008-03-18 |publisher=BBC ] Philosophers (notably Aristotle in 322 BC) have also dreamed of automatons and tools capable of working independently of people as an idea of bringing about equality.

In ancient China, a curious account on automata is found in the "Lie Zi" text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it there is a description of a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical 'handiwork' (Wade-Giles spelling):

Early water clocks, or clepsydra, are sometimes grouped in with the beginning of robotics. It was common to attempt to make such clocks automatic (such as a clepsydra by Ctesibius), [cite web |url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/preservation/science/moments/chpt5.htm |title=Great Moments in Science |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] or to decorate them with complicated astrological designs (popular in the Eastern world). [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa071401a.htm |title=The History of Sun Clocks and Water Clocks - Obelisks |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] Of particular interest in China, these astrological clocks led to extremely complex works such as Su Song's clock tower in 1088 AD, which featured moving mannequins, among other devices. [cite web |url=http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/China/SongClock.html |title=Su Song's Clock: 1088 |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=]

Robotics in the Middle Ages

In the 8th century, the Muslim alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), included recipes for constructing artificial snakes, scorpions, and humans which would be subject to their creator's control in his coded "Book of Stones". In 827, Caliph al-Mamun had a silver and golden tree in his palace in Baghdad, which had the features of an automatic machine. There were metal birds that sang automatically on the swinging branches of this tree built by Muslim inventors and engineers at the time.Arslan Terzioglu (2007), [http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/Rocket_Technology_in_Turkish_history1.pdf The First Attempts of Flight, Automatic Machines, Submarines and Rocket Technology in Turkish History] , in H. C. Guzel (ed.), "The Turks", pp. 804-10] [Ismail b. Ali Ebu'l Feda history, Weltgeschichte, hrsg. von Fleischer and Reiske 1789-94, 1831.] The Abbasid Caliph al-Muktadir also had a golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 915, with birds on it flapping their wings and singing. [A. Marigny (1760). "Histoire de Arabes". Paris, Bd. 3, S.206.] In the 9th century, the Banū Mūsā brothers invented an automatic flute player which appears to have been the first programmable machine, and which they described in their "Book of Ingenious Devices".Teun Koetsier (2001). "On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators", "Mechanism and Machine theory" 36, p. 590-591.]

Al-Jazari is credited with creating the earliest forms of a programmable humanoid robot in 1206. Al-Jazari's automaton was originally a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operated the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns if the pegs were moved around. [ [http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html A 13th Century Programmable Robot] , University of Sheffield] According to Charles B. Fowler, the automata were a "robot band" which performed "more than fifty facial and body actions during each musical selection." [citation|title=The Museum of Music: A History of Mechanical Instruments|first=CharlesB.|last=Fowler|journal=Music Educators Journal|volume=54|issue=2|date=October 1967|pages=45-49]

Al-Jazari also invented a hand washing automaton first employing the flush mechanism now used in modern flush toilets. It features a female automaton standing by a basin filled with water. When the user pulls the lever, the water drains and the female automaton refills the basin. [citation|title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics|first=Mark E.|last=Rosheim|year=1994|publisher=Wiley-IEEE|isbn=0471026220|pages=9-10] His "peacock fountain" was another more sophisticated hand washing device featuring humanoid automata as servants which offer soap and towels. Mark E. Rosheim describes it as follows: "Pulling a plug on the peacock's tail releases water out of the beak; as the dirty water from the basin fills the hollow base a float rises and actuates a linkage which makes a servant figure appear from behind a door under the peacock and offer soap. When more water is used, a second float at a higher level trips and causes the appearance of a second servant figure — with a towel!"citation|title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics|first=Mark E.|last=Rosheim|year=1994|publisher=Wiley-IEEE|isbn=0471026220|page=9] Al-Jazari thus appears to have been the first inventor to display an interest in creating human-like machines for practical purposes such as manipulating the environment for human comfort. [citation|title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics|first=Mark E.|last=Rosheim|year=1994|publisher=Wiley-IEEE|isbn=0471026220|page=36]

1400 to 1800

Interest in automata was either mostly non-existent in medieval Europe, or unrecorded.cite web |url=http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0298.html |title=KurzweilAI.net |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] Leonardo Da Vinci designed a humanoid automaton in knight's armor (see Leonardo's robot) in 1495 to entertain, but it is not known if the design was ever built.

Between 1500 and 1800, many automatons were built including ones capable of acting, drawing, flying, and playing music; several mechanical calculators were also built in this time period, some of the most famous ones are Wilhelm Schickard's “Calculating Clock”, Blaise Pascal's “Pascaline”, and the “Liebniz Stepped Drum”, by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. [cite web |url=http://www.xnumber.com/xnumber/mechanical1.htm |title=History of Mechanical Calculators - Part I |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] In 1533, Johannes Müller von Königsberg created an automaton eagle and fly made of iron; both could fly. John Dee is also famous for creating a wooden beetle, capable of flying.

Some of the most famous works of the period were created by Jacques de Vaucanson in 1737, including an automaton flute player, tambourine player, and his most famous work, “The Digesting Duck”. Vaucanson's duck was capable of imitating a real duck by flapping its wings (over 400 parts were in each of the wings alone), eat grain, digest it, and defecate; the duck was powered by weights. [cite web |url=http://music.calarts.edu/~sroberts/articles/DeVaucanson.duck.html |title=Vaucanson's duck |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=]

John Kay invented his “flying shuttle” in 1733, and the “Spinning Jenny” was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves, each radically increasing the speed of production in the weaving and spinning industries respectively. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blflyingshuttle.htm |title=Flying Shuttle - John Kay |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blspinningjenny.htm |title=Spinning Jenny - James Hargreaves |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] . The Spinning Jenny is hand-powered and requires a skilled operator; Samuel Crompton's Spinning Mule first developed in 1779 is a fully automated power driven spinning machine capable of spinning hundreds of threads at once.

Richard Arkwright built a water powered weaving machine, and factory around it in 1781, starting the Industrial Revolution. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blspinningframe.htm |title=Spinning Frame - Richard Arkwright and Samuel Slater |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] By 1800, cloth production was completely automated. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the idea of automata began to be applied to industry, as cost and time saving devices.

1801 to 1900

Improvements in the weaving industry had led to large amounts of automation, and the idea of programmable machines became popular with Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine Babbage conceived his Analytical Engine as a replacement for his uncompleted Difference Engine; this larger, more complex device would be able to perform multiple operations, and would be operated by punch cards. Construction of the Analytical Engine was never completed; work was begun in 1833. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/Charles_Babbage.htm |title=Charles Babbage - Life of Charles Babbage and the Analytical Engine |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] . However, Ada Lovelace's work on the project has resulted in her being credited as the first computer programmer.

George Boole invented a new type of symbolic logic in 1847 instrumental to the creation of computers and robots.

1901 to 1950

The word robot was popularized by Czech author Josef Capek in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). According to Karel, his brother Josef was the actual inventor of the word “robot”, creating the word from the Czech word “robota”, meaning servitude. [cite web |url=http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/RUR/index.html |title=R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] In 1926, Fritz Lang's Metropolis was released; Maria (a main character) was the first robot seen on film. The world's first robot, a humanoid named Televox operated through the telephone system, was constructed in the United States in 1927. In 1928, Makoto Nishimura produced Japan's first robot, Gakutensoku. [ [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/20080515TDY20001.htm Japan's first-ever robot, version 2.0 : Science & Nature : Features : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri) ] ]

Vannevar Bush created the first differential analyzer at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT). Known as the Differential Analyzer, the computer could solve differential equations. [cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html |title=Vannevar Bush |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] 1940 brought about the creation of two electrical computers, John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry's Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC).

Ultimately, ideas from ABC were stolen for ENIAC. [cite web |url=http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/do_Atanasoff.html |title=John Vincent Atanasoff |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=]

In the UK, the Robinson machine was designed for the British war effort in cracking Enigma messages. This was done at the British code-breaking establishment at Bletchley Park; Ultra is the name for the intelligence so received. [cite web |url=http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/do_Atanasoff.html |title=John Vincent Atanasoff |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] cite web |url=http://www.ellsbury.com/ultrafirstcomputers.htm |title=The Effect of the First Computers on History |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Robinson was superseded by Colossus, which was built in 1943 to decode FISH messages by the British group Ultra; it was designed by Tommy Flowers and was 100 to 1000 times faster than Robinson, and was the first fully electronic computer. [cite web |url=http://www.ellsbury.com/ultrafirstcomputers.htm |title=The Effect of the First Computers on History |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] . The Bletchley machines were kept secret for decades, and so do not appear in histories of computing written until recently. After the war, Tommy Flowers joined the team that built the early Manchester computers.

In Germany, Konrad Zuse built the first fully programmable digital computer in the world (the Z3) in 1941; it would later be destroyed in 1944.cite web |url=http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Zuse.html |title=Konrad Zuse |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] Zuse was also known for building the first binary computer from 1936 to 1938, called the Z1; he also built the Z4, his only machine to survive World War II.

The first American programmable computer was completed in 1944 by Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper. The Mark I (as it was called) ran computations for the US Navy until 1959. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa052198.htm |title=Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper - Inventors of the Mark I Computer |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] ENIAC was built in 1946 and gained fame because of its reliability, speed, and versatility. John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly spent 3 years building ENIAC, which weighed over 60,000 lbs. [cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/mauchly-eckert.html |title=Inventor of the Week: Archive |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] The first Turtles (Elmo and Elsie) are created by pioneer roboticist William Grey Walter in 1949. In 1950, UNIVAC I (also by Eckert and Mauchley) handled the US Census results; it was the third commercially marketed computer that worked on delivery (in December 1951). [cite web |url=http://www.thocp.net/hardware/univac.htm |title=UNIVAC |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] .

The first working digital computer to be sold was Zuse's Z4 in Germany; the fully electronic US BINAC was sold twelve months earlier in September 1949 but it never worked reliably at the customer's site due to mishandling in transit. Second was the UK's Ferranti Mark 1 delivered in February 1951, the first software programmable digital electronic computer to be sold that worked upon delivery. It was based on the world's first software programmable digital electronic computer, Manchester's SSME of 1948.

Also in 1951, LEO became operational in the UK. It was built by Lyons for its own use: this was the world's first software programmable digital electronic computer for commercial applications, exploiting the US development of mercury delay line memory, and built with the support of the Cambridge EDSAC project. LEO was used for commercial work running business application programs, the first of which was rolled out 17 November 1951.

1951 to 2000

After 1950, computers (and robotics), began to rapidly increase in both complexity and numbers as the technology needed to make the devices became easier to produce.

1951 to 1960

Eckert and Mauchly completed EDVAC in 1951. An improvement on ENIAC and UNIVAC, EDVAC used mercury delay lines to store data, making it the USA's first software stored program computer. [cite web |url=http://www.eingang.org/Lecture/edvac.html |title=History of Computing Science: EDVAC |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] In 1952, the television network CBS correctly predicted the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as president using UNIVAC. In 1952 IBM announced its 701 model computer, marketed towards scientific use, it was designed by Nathaniel Rochester. [cite web |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_intro.html |title=IBM Archives: IBM 701 |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] Stanislaw Ulam and physicist Paul Stein converted MANIAC I (used for solving calculations involved in creating the hydrogen bomb) to play a modified game of chess in 1956; it was the first computer to beat a human in a game of chess. [cite web |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1996/jun/silicongambit791 |title=Silicon Gambit | Computers | DISCOVER Magazine |accessdate=2007-08-26 |format= |work=] The term “Artificial Intelligence was created at a conference held at Dartmouth College in 1956. [cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/07/13/dartmouth_marks_50th_anniversary_of_artificial_intelligence/ |title=Dartmouth marks 50th anniversary of "artificial intelligence" - Boston.com |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Alan Newell, J. C. Shaw, and Herbert Simon pioneered the newly created artificial intelligence field with the (Logic Theory Machine (1956), and the General Problem Solver in 1957. [cite web |url=http://awards.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=5633017&srt=all&aw=140&ao=AMTURING |title=ACM: Fellows Award / Herbert�A.�Simon |accessdate=2007-08-27 |format= |work=] In 1958, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky started the MIT Artificial Intelligence lab with $50,000. [cite web |url=http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2001/AILab.pdf |title="A Marriage of Convenience: The Founding of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory |accessdate=2007-08-27 |format= |work=] John McCarthy also created LISP in the summer of 1958, a programming language still important in artificial intelligence research. [cite web |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/lisp.html |title=History of Lisp |accessdate=2007-08-27 |format= |work=] Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce invented the integrated circuit or “chip” in 1959; the inventors worked independent of each other. This development eventually revolutionized computers by affecting both the size and speed. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa080498.htm |title=The Invention of the Microchip - Integrated Circuit |accessdate=2007-08-27 |format= |work=]

1961 to 1970

Unimate, the first industrial robot ever created began work on the General Motors assembly line in 1961; conceived of in 1954 by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger over lunch; Unimate was made by the company Unimation. Unimate is remembered as the first industrial robot. [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/unimate.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : Unimate |accessdate=2007-08-28 |format= |work=] In 1962 John McCarthy founded the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford University. [cite web |url=http://soe.stanford.edu/AR04-05/profiles_mccarthy.html |title=Stanford Engineering Annual Report 2004-2005 |accessdate=2007-08-28 |format= |work=] The Rancho Arm was developed as a robotic arm to help handicapped patients at the Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, California; this computer controlled arm was bought by Stanford University in 1963.cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=rai |title=Computer History Museum - Timeline of Computer History |accessdate=2007-08-30 |format= |work=] IBM announced its IBM System/360 in 1964. The system was heralded as being more powerful, faster, and more capable than its predecessors. [cite web |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PR360.html |title=IBM Archives: System/360 Announcement |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] In 1965, Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel in 1968, develops what will become known as Moore's Law; the idea that the number of components capable of being built onto a chip will double every two years. [cite web |url=http://www.intel.com/technology/mooreslaw/index.htm |title=Moore's Law, The Future - Technology & Research at Intel |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] The same year, doctoral student Edward Feigenbaum, geneticist and biochemist Joshua Lederberg, and Bruce Buchanan (who held a degree in philosophy) begin work on the DENDRAL, an expert system designed to work in the field of organic chemistry. [cite web |url=http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/far/ch9_b3.html |title=Box 9.3: Pioneering Expert Systems | 9: Developments in Artificial Intelligence | Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] Feigenbaum also founded the Heuristic Programming Project in 1965, it later became the Stanford Knowledge Systems Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The programMac Hack was also written in 1966; it beat artificial intelligence critic Hubert Dreyfus in a game of chess. The program was created by Richard Greenblatt. [cite web |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/TheCompMusRep/TCMR-V20.html |title=Computer History |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] Seymour Papert created the Logo programming language in 1967. It was designed as an educational programming language. [cite web |url=http://el.media.mit.edu/Logo-foundation/logo/index.html |title=What is Logo? |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] The film was released in 1968; the movie prominently features HAL 9000, a malevolent artificial intelligence unit which controls a spacecraft. [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/hal.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : HAL 9000 |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=] Marvin Minsky created the Tentacle Arm in 1968; the arm was computer controlled and its 12 joints were powered by hydraulics. Mechanical Engineering student Victor Scheinman created the Stanford Arm in 1969; the Stanford Arm is recognized as the first electronic computer controlled robotic arm (Unimate's instructions were stored on a magnetic drum). The first floppy disc was released in 1970; it was eight inches in diameter and read-only. [cite web |url=http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1970.htm |title=History of Computing� Industrial Era� 1970 - 1971 |accessdate=2007-08-30 |format= |work=] The first mobile robot capable of reasoning about its surroundings, Shakey was built in 1970 by the Stanford Research Institute. Shakey combined multiple sensor inputs, including TV cameras, laser rangefinders, and “bump sensors” to navigate.

1971 to 1980

The first microprocessor, called the 4004 was created by Ted Hoff at Intel in 1971. Measuring 1/8th of an inch by 1/16th of an inch, the chip itself was more powerful than ENIAC. [cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/micropinv.html |title=Invention of the Microprocessor |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Artificial intelligence critic Hubert Dreyfuss published his influential book “What Computers Can't Do” in 1972. [cite web |url=http://www.thocp.net/reference/artificial_intelligence/ai.htm |title=Artificial Intelligence |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Douglas Trumbull's “Silent Running” was released in 1972; the movie was notable for the three robot co-stars, named Huey, Dewey, and Louie. [cite web |url=http://www.scifimoviepage.com/silent.html |title=SILENT RUNNING |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Released in 1973 was the logic based programming language PROLOG; this logic based language becomes important in the field of artificial intelligence. [cite web |url=http://www.lim.univ-mrs.fr/~colmer/ArchivesPublications/HistoireProlog/19november92.pdf |title=The Birth of Prolog |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Freddy and Freddy II, both built in the United Kingdom, were robots capable of assembling wooden blocks in a period of several hours. [cite web |url=http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/freddy/ |title=Edinburgh Freddy Robot |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] German based company KUKA built the world's first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes, known as FAMULUS. [cite web |url=http://www.kuka.com/en/company/group/milestones/1973.htm |title=first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes KUKA's FAMULUS |accessdate=2008-05-17 |format= |work=] In 1974, David Silver designed The Silver Arm; the Silver Arm was capable of fine movements replicating human hands. Feedback was provided by touch and pressure sensors and analyzed by a computer. MYCIN, an expert system developed to study decisions and prescriptions relating to blood infections. MYCIN was written in Lisp. [cite web |url=http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~alison/ai3notes/section2_5_5.html |title=MYCIN: A Quick Case Study |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Marvin Minsky published his landmark paper “A Framework for Representing Knowledge” on artificial intelligence. [cite web |url=http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA011168 |title=A Framework for Representing Knowledge, |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] By 1975, four expert systems relating to medicine had been created; PIP, MYCIN, CASNET, and Internist. 1975: more than 5,000 computers were sold in the United States, and the first personal computer was introduced. The Kurzweil Reading Machine (invented by Raymond Kurzweil), intended to help the blind, was released in 1976. Capable of recognizing characters, the machine formulated pronunciation based on programmed rules. [cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/kurzweil.html |title=Inventor of the Week: Archive |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Based on studies of flexible objects in nature (such as elephant trunks and the vertebrae of snakes), Shigeo Hirose designed the Soft Gripper in 1976 the gripper was capable of conforming to the object it was grasping. The knowledge based system Automated Mathematician was presented by Douglas Lenat in 1976 as part of his doctoral dissertation. Automated Mathematician began with a knowledge of 110 concepts and rediscovered many mathematical principles; Automated Mathematician was written in Lisp. [cite web |url=http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/efurse/Abstracts/Why-did-AM-halt.html |title=Why did AM run out of steam? |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Joseph Weizenbaum (creator of ELIZA, a program capable of simulating a Rogerian physcotherapist) published Computer Power and Human Reason, presenting an argument against the creation of artificial intelligence. [cite web |url=http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/reviews/amy.htm |title=Book review of Computer Power and Human Reason |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak created the Apple Computer in 1977, and released the Apple II. [cite web |url=http://oldcomputers.net/appleii.html |title=Apple II computer |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] George Lucas' movie Star Wars was also released in 1977. Star Wars featured two robots; an android named C-3PO and R2-D2, both of which become extremely iconic as robots. [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/04inductees/c3po.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : C-3PO |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/r2d2.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : R2-D2 |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched in 1977 to explore the solar system. The 30 year old robotic space probes continue to transmit data back to earth and are approaching the heliopause and interstellar space. [cite web |url=http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/mission.html |title=Voyager - Mission - Overview |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] The SCARA, Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm, was created in 1978 as an efficient, 4-axis robotic arm. Best used for picking up parts and placing them in another location, the SCARA was introduced to assembly lines in 1981. [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/06inductees/scara.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : AIBO |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] XCON, an expert system designed to customize orders for industrial use, was released in 1979. [cite web |url=http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/bp/app/alter/student/useful/ch12dec.html |title=Information Systems - Useful Cases |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] The Stanford Cart successfully crossed a room full of chairs in 1979. The Stanford Cart relied primarily on stereo vision to navigate and determine distances.The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University was founded in 1979 by Raj Reddy. [cite web |url=http://www.ri.cmu.edu/general/about.html#facts |title=Robotics Institute: About the Robotics Institute |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=]

1981 to 1990

Takeo Kanade created the first “direct drive arm” in 1981. The first of its kind, the arm's motors were contained within the robot itself, eliminating long transmissions. [cite web |url=http://diva.library.cmu.edu/Kanade/kanadearm.html |title=Takeo Kanade Collection: Envisioning Robotics: Direct Drive Robotic Arms |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] IBM released its first personal computer (PC) in 1981; the name of the computer was responsible for popularizing the term “personal computer”. [cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa031599.htm |title=The IBM PC - History |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Prospector a “computer-based consultation program for mineral exploration”, [cite web |url=http://www.ai.sri.com/pub_list/full.php?id=739 |title=Publication Search Results |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] created in 1976, discovered an unknown deposit of molybdenum in Washington state. The expert system had been updated annually since its creation. [cite web |url=http://www.ai.sri.com/timeline/ |title=AIC Timeline |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] The Fifth Generation Computer Systems Project (FGCS) was started in 1982. Its goals were knowledge based information processing and massive parallelism in a supercomputer, artificial intelligence like system. [cite web |url=http://www.icot.or.jp/ARCHIVE/Museum/ICOT/FGCS-E.html |title=What is FGCS Technologies |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] Cyc, a project to create a database of common sense for artificial intelligence, was started in 1984 by Douglas Leant. The program attempts to deal with ambiguity in language, and is still underway. [cite web |url=http://www.cyc.com/company |title=Cycorp, Inc. |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] The first program to publish a book, the expert system Racter, programmed by William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter, wrote the book “The Policeman's Beard is Half-Constructed” in 1983. It is now thought that a system of complex templates were used. [cite web |url=http://www.robotwisdom.com/ai/racterfaq.html |title=Racter FAQ |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] In 1984 Wabot-2 was revealed; capable of playing the organ, Wabot-2 had 10 fingers and two feet. Wabot-2 was able to read a score of music and accompany a person. [cite web |url=http://www.uc3m.es/uc3m/dpto/IN/dpin04/2historygroupwabo2.html |title=2history |accessdate=2007-08-31 |format= |work=] In 1985, Kawasaki Heavy Industries' license agreement with Unimation was terminated; Kawasaki began to produce its own robots. Their first robot was released one year later. [cite web |url=http://www.kawasakirobotics.com/aboutUs/?page=history |title=Kawasaki Robotics - History |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] By 1986, artificial intelligence revenue was about $1 billion US dollars. Chess playing programs HiTech and Deep Thought defeated chess masters in 1989. Both were developed by Carnegie Mellon University; Deep Thought development paved the way for the Deep Blue. [cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/about/press_relations/media_kit/chess/5_chess_exhibit_text_Endgame.pdf |title=Chess: Checkmate |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] In 1986, Honda began its humanoid research and development program to create robots capable of interacting successfully with humans. [cite web |url=http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/P3/ |title=Honda Worldwide | P3 |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Artificial intelligence related technologies, not including robots, now produce a revenue of $1.4 billion US dollars. In 1988, Stäubli Group purchased Unimation. The Connection Machine was built in 1988 by Daniel Hillis; the supercomputer used 64,000 processors simultaneously. [cite web |url=http://www.longnow.org/views/essays/articles/ArtFeynman.php |title=Long Now: Views: Essays |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] A hexapodal robot named Genghis was revealed by MIT in 1989. Genghis was famous for being made quickly and cheaply due to construction methods; Genghis used 4 microprocessors, 22 sensors, and 12 servo motors. [cite web |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/14531 |title=Genghis, a six legged autonomous walking robot |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Rodney Brooks and Anita M. Flynn published “Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: A Robot Invasion of The Solar System”. The paper advocated creating smaller cheaper robots in greater numbers to increase production time and decrease the difficulty of launching robots into space. [cite web |url=http://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/papers/fast-cheap.pdf |title=Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: A Robot Invasion of The Solar System |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=]

1991 to 2000

While competing in a 1993 NASA sponsored competition, Carnegie Mellon University's eight legged robot Dante failed to collect gases from Mt. Erebus because of a broken fiber optic cable. Dante was designed to scale slopes and harvest gases near the surface of the magma; however, the failure in the cable did not permit the robot to enter the active volcano. [cite web |url=http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n2_v143/ai_13324354 |title=Kinked cable crimps Dante's Erebus debut - Brief Article Science News|accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] In 1994, Dante II entered Mt. Spurr and successfully sampled the gases within the volcano. [cite web |url=http://www.ri.cmu.edu/projects/project_163.html |title=Robotics Institute: Dante II |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] The biometric robot RoboTuna was built by doctoral student David Barrett at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996 to study how fish swim in water. RoboTuna is designed to swim and resemble a blue fin tuna. [cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2000/august/robofish.php |title=Something's Fishy about this Robot |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Invented by Dr. John Adler, in 1994, the Cyberknife (a stereotactic radiosurgery performing robot) represented a faster method of performing surgery with equivalent accuracy to one done by human doctors. [cite web |url=http://www.stanfordhospital.com/clinicsmedServices/COE/cyberknife/default |title=Stanford CyberKnife - Stanford University Medical Center |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Honda's P2 humanoid robot was first shown in 1996. Standing for “Prototype Model 2”, P2 was an integral part of Honda's humanoid development project; over 6 feet tall, P2 was smaller than its predecessors and appeared to be more human like in its motions. [cite web |url=http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/history/p1_p2_p3.html |title=Honda Worldwide | ASIMO | History |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Expected to only operate for seven days, the Sojourner rover finally shuts down after 83 days of operation in 1997. This small robot (only weighing 23 lbs) performed semi-autonomous operations on the surface of Mars as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission; equipped with an obstacle avoidance program, Sojourner was capable of planning and navigating routes to study the surface of the planet. Sojourner's ability to navigate with little data about its environment and nearby surroundings allowed the robot to react to unplanned events and objects. [cite web |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/mars.html |title=The Robot Hall of Fame : Mars Pathfinder Sojourner Rover |accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work=] Also in 1997, IBM's chess playing program Deep Blue beat the then current World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov playing at the “Grandmaster” level. The super computer was a specialized version of a framework produced by IBM, and was capable of processing twice as many moves per second as it had during the first match (which Deep Blue had lost), reportedly 200,000,000 moves per second. The event was broadcast live over the internet and received over 74 million hits. [cite web |url=http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/meet/html/d.3.shtml |title=IBM Research | Deep Blue | Overview |accessdate=2007-09-10 |format= |work=] The P3 humanoid robot was revealed by Honda in 1998 as a part of the company's continuing humanoid project. [cite web |url=http://www.honda-robots.com/english/html/p3/frameset2.html |title=The Honda Humanoid Robots |accessdate=2007-09-10 |format= |work=] In 1999, Sony introduced the AIBO, a robotic dog capable of interacting with humans, the first models released in Japan sold out in 20 minutes. [cite web |url=http://www.aiboaddict.com/AboutAIBO.html |title=AIBOaddict! About |accessdate=2007-09-10 |format= |work=] Honda revealed the most advanced result of their humanoid project in 2000, named ASIMO. ASIMO is capable of running, walking, communication with humans, facial and environmental recognition, voice and posture recognition, and interacting with its environment. [cite web |url=http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/technology/intelligence.html |title=Honda Worldwide | ASIMO | Technology |accessdate=2007-09-10 |format= |work=] Sony also revealed its Sony Dream Robots, small humanoid robots in development for entertainment. [cite web |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/11/22/sdr3.idg/ |title=CNN.com - Technology - Sony unveils prototype humanoid robot - November 22, 2000 |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] In October 2000, the United Nations estimated that there were 742,500 industrial robots in the world, with more than half of the robots being used in Japan.

2001 to the present

In April 2001, the Canadarm2 was launched into orbit and attached to the International Space Station. The Canadarm2 is a larger, more capable version of the arm used by the Space Shuttle and is hailed as being “smarter.” [cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mss.html |title=NASA - Canadarm2 and the Mobile Servicing System |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] Also in April, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Global Hawk made the first autonomous non-stop flight over the Pacific Ocean from Edwards Air Force Base in California to RAAF Base Edinburgh in Southern Australia. The flight was made in 22 hours. [cite web |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01d.html |title=Global Hawk Flies Unmanned Across Pacific |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] The popular Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, was first released in 2002 by the company iRobot. [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/roomba/ |title=TIME.com: Maid to Order |accessdate=2007-09-15 |format= |work=] In 2004, Cornell University revealed a robot capable of self-replication; a set of cubes capable of attaching and detaching, the first robot capable of building copies of itself. [cite web |url=http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/research/selfrep/ |title=Cornell CCSL: Self replication |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] On January 3rd and 24th the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity land on the surface of Mars. Launched in 2003, the two robots will drive many times the distance originally expected, and are still operating. [cite web |url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/ |title=Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Overview |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] All 15 teams competing in the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge failed to complete the course, with no robot successfully navigating more than five percent of the 150 mile off road course, leaving the $1 million dollar prize unclaimed. [cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/03/14/darpa.race/ |title=CNN.com - Robots fail to complete Grand Challenge - Mar 14, 2004 |accessdate=2007-09-12 |format= |work=] In the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, five teams completed the off-road course; Stanford University's Stanley won first place and the $2 million dollar prize. [cite web |url=http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge05/ |title=Grand Challenge Home |accessdate=2007-09-15 |format= |work=] Also in 2005, Honda revealed a new version of its ASIMO robot, updated with new behaviors and capabilities. [cite web |url=http://world.honda.com/news/2005/c051213.html |title=Honda Worldwide | December 13, 2005 "Honda Debuts New ASIMO" |accessdate=2007-09-15 |format= |work=] In 2006, Cornell University revealed its “Starfish” robot, a 4-legged robot capable of self modeling and learning to walk after having been damaged. [cite web |url=http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/research/selfmodels/ |title=Cornell CCSL: Robotics Self Modeling |accessdate=2007-09-15 |format= |work=] In September of 2007, Google announced its Lunar X Prize. The Lunar X Prize offers 30 million dollars to the first private company which lands a rover on the moon and sends images back to earth. [cite web |url=http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/press-release/google-sponsors-lunar-x-prize-to-create-a-space-race-for-a-new-generation |title=Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE to Create a Space Race for a New Generation | X PRIZE Foundation |accessdate=2007-09-15 |format= |work=] . In 2007, TOMY launched the entertainment robot, i-sobot, which is a humanoid bipedal robot that can walk like a human beings and performs kicks and punches and also some entertaining tricks and special actions under "Special Action Mode".

[http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/63f15c55d8]

References