FREE ESSAY ON ROBOTS:PAST AND FUTURE

ROBOTS:PAST AND FUTURE

ROBOTS: THEIR PAST AND FUTURE
Past: It was approximately 3,000 years ago when the first signs of a robot appeared. The
Iliad mentions a mobile tripod and in the myth Jason and the Argonauts a giant sentinel
by the name of Talos is talked about. These weren't real life robots, so when did the
first robot appear. From what people think robots are today really is a far cry from the
actual first robots. The abacus or bead-adding machine was the first computer and was
used as far back as 1000 B.C.. Then there were Automatons which were scale models of
creatures that moved. One of which used water to move it, it was called Hercules Killing
the Dragon. It was made about 300 B.C. by Hero. William Oughtred in 1621 invented the
rectilinear and circular slide rules which were used up to when the pocket calculator was
invented.
Throughout the 19th century a lot of inventors started to pop up with robotic inventions.
In 1801 Joseph Jacquard made an automated loom which was the first numerically controlled
machine. During the 1880's railroads used automated signals that used electricity. And
then in 1898 Nikola Tesla invented the Radio- controlled boat.
Before the 1900's though nobody had ever used the word robot until it was dubbed by Fritz
Lang in 1926 in the movie Metropolis. In 1940 Issac Asimov first used the robotics. The
first programmable machine was built in 1938 by Pollard and Roseland and was used for
painting. In the late 30's and early 40's the first electronic computers were produced by
John Atanasoff. Then with Howard Aiken's electromagnetic calculator. These computers
weren't mass produced until 1951 when Mauchy and Ecker's UNIVAC I was produced as a
commercial computer. 
In 1956 George Devol designed what would become the first programmable computer and
acquired a U.S. patent for it in'61. The father of robotics, who accompanied Devol was
Joseph Engelerger, they named the first robot Unimate. This was also the first commercial
robot and was marketed that by Planet Corp. in 1959. The unimate was installed in '61 for
a die casting machine. With this brings the start of artificial intelligence labs at MIT,
Stanford, and the University of Edinburgh. Then in '68 a vision capable robot was built
at Stanford. Also in '68 Unimation multirobots are sold to GM. 
The 1970's was the start of the computer age with company's like Intel, Vicarm Inc.,
Tandy Inc., and NASA developing new computer technologies. Intel made the first
microprocessor in 1971. Cincinnati Milacron had the first commercially available
minicomputer-controlled industrial robot. Vicarm was developed to market the Stanford arm
invented in '70. Cray Inc. made the robot arms on the Viking 1 and 2 probes for NASA
which lands on Martian surfaces. Tandy Inc. manufactured the TRS-80 home microcomputer.
Then in the late '70's Unimation bought Vicarm and with GM made PUMA ( programmable
universal machine for assembly). 
The 1980's brought a rise in robotics with a new company being started every month, one
for instance was Transition Research Corp., started by the father of robotics
Engelberger. Transition later develops HelpMate in '91 and changes the name of the
company to HelpMate Robotics, Inc.
With these few names were many more companies and inventors who changed the face of
robotics to what we know today. With almost everything being animated to actual robotic
in some shape or form.
With real life robots being invented and thought up through history also comes the
fictional part of the tale which usually steers people away from what a real robot is to
some kind of emotional feeling android that ends up retaliating against its maker. Movies
have a lot to do with the fictional part to entertain their viewers. Since the early
robots were shaped into this form and became a man's friend instead of a helpful machine
on the assembly line. Though I believe that this sometimes might bring out some good
ideas and goals on the next futuristic robots and what they can do or help with. Since
sometimes what people seen as fiction in movies 30 years ago is now being used everyday
by the average household.