A Brief History Of Robots

A robot can be defined as a programable, self controlled device consisting of electronic,

electrical, or mechanical units. The notion of robots or robot-like automates can be traced

back to medieval times. Although people of that era didn't have a term to describe what we

would eventually call a robot, they were nevertheless imagining mechanisms that could

perform human like tasks.

As early as 270 BC an ancient engineer named Ctesibus made organs and water clocks with

moveable figures. In medieval times, automatons, human-like figures run by hidden

mechanisms, were used to impress peasant worshipers in church into believing in a higher

power. The automatons, like the "Clock Jack", created the illusion of self-motion (moving

without assistance). The "Clock Jack" was a mechanical figure that could strike time on a

bell with its axe. This technology was virtually unheard of in the 13th century.

By the 18th century, miniature automatons became more popular as toys for the very rich.

They were made to look and move like humans or small animals. Automatons like "The

Pretty Musician", built around 1890, were able to turn their head from side to side while

playing an instrument with their hands and keeping time with their feet. However, it is

literature where human kinds vivid imagination has often reflected our fascination with the

idea of creating artificial life.

In 1818, Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein, a story about the construction of a human-like

creature. For Shelly, a robot looked like man but had the ability to function like a machine. It was built of human components, which could be held together by nuts and bolts. Shelly also

thought that a robot had to be bigger that a regular person and had to have super strength.

In 1921, Karel Capek, a czech playwright came up with an intelligent, artificially created

person, which he called "robot." The word "robot" is czech for worker, slave, servant or

forced labor and was gradually incorporated into the English language without being

translated. Karel's play was entitled "Rossum's Universal Robots." The theme of the play

was robots controlling humans in society. Although he introduced the idea of robots, Karl

Capek was skeptical about how much of an impact robots could have. He rejected all

suggestions that a robot could ever replace a human being, or have feelings such as love or

rebellion.

While the concept of a robot has been around for a very long time, it wasn't until the 1940's

that the modern day robot was born, with the arrival of computers. The term robotics refers to

the study and use of robots; it came about in 1941 and was first adopted by Issac Asimov, a