History of Robotics
The first reference to the word robot appeared in a play, Rossum's Universal Robots (RUR), in London in 1921. The Czech playwright Karel Capek wrote the play.
Comes from the Czech word for forced labor or serf. RUR's theme was, in part, the dehumanization of man in a technological civilization.
Capek was a strong opponent of the Nazis - a quote from him.
"It is with horror, frankly, that he rejects all responsibility for the idea that metal
contraptions could ever replace human beings..."
A long, long, time ago: Writings suggest the notion of robots
1830: American Christopher Spencer designs a cam-operated lathe.
1921: First reference to word robot appears in a play in London. Czech Karel Capekwrote play.
1938: American Willard Pollard designs a programmable paint-spraying mechanism for the De Vibliss Company.
1946: George Devol patents a general-purpose playback device for controlling machines.
1948: Norbert Wiener, a professor at MIT, publishes Cybernetics, a book that describes the concept of communications and control in
electronic, mechanical, and biological systems.
1951: Raymond Goertz for the Atomic Energy Commission designs a teleoperator- equipped articulated arm.
1954: George Devol designs first programmable robot.
1959: Planet Corporation markets the first commercially available robot.
1960: Condec Corporation purchases Unimation and development of Unimate Robot Systems begins. AMV Corporation markets a robot, called the
Versatran.
1962: General Motors installs the first industrial robot on a production line.
1964: AIresearch labs are opened at MIT, Stanford Research Institute, Stanford University, and the University of Edinburgh.
1968: SRI builds and tests a mobile robot with vision capability, called Shakey.
1970: At Stanford University, a robot arm is developed which becomes a standard for research projects. The arm is electrically powered
and becomes known as the Stanford Arm.
1973: Richard Hohn for Cincinnati Milacron Corporation develops the first commercially available minicomputer-controlled industrial
robot. the robot is called T3, the tomorrow tool.
1974: Professor Scheinman, the developer of the Stanford Arm, forms Vicarm Inc. to market a version of the arm for industrial
applications.
The new arm is controlled by a minicomputer.
1976: Robot arms are used on Viking 1 and 2 space probes. Vicarm Inc. incorporates a minicomputer into the Vicarm design.
1977: ASEA, a European robot company, offers two sizes of electric powered industrial robots.
1980: The robot industry starts its rapid growth.
In 1950, Alan Turingproposed a test to determine machine intelligence.
The Turing Test goes like this: a human interrogator is in one room, and a computer and another human are in another.
Each room has a terminal in it, through which the interrogator will converse with both the computer and the other human, one at a time.
If the interrogator cannot tell which one he is talking to, then the computer is considered intelligent.
The Loebner prize is the first formal instantiation of a TuringTest.
In 1990 Hugh Loebner agreed with the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies to underwrite a contest designed to implement the Turing Test.
Dr. Loebner pledged a grand prize of $100,000 and a gold medal (pictured above) for the first computer whose responses were indistinguishable from a human's.
Each year an annual prize of $2,000 and a bronze medal is awarded to the most human computer.
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given to him 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 Law.