Robotics History

1. Robotics History 1920 The idea of a robot is not new. For thousands of years man has been imagining intelligent mechanized devices that perform human-like tasks. He has built automatic toys and mechanisms and imagined robots in drawings, books, plays and science fiction movies.

2. Robotics History What is the definition of a 'robot'? "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" Robot Institute of America, 1979 In fact, the term "robot" was first used in 1920 in a play called "R.U.R." Or "Rossum's universal robots" by the Czech writer Karel Capek. The plot was simple: man makes robot then robot kills man! Many movies that followed continued to show robots as harmful, menacing machines. Where did the word 'robot' come from?

3. Robotics History Robotics Terminology The term 'robotics' refers to the study and use of robots. The term was coined and first used by the Russian-born American scientist and writer Isaac Asimov (born Jan. 2, 1920, died Apr. 6, 1992). Asimov wrote prodigiously on a wide variety of subjects. He was best known for his many works of science fiction. The most famous include I Robot (1950), The Foundation Trilogy (1951-52), Foundation's Edge (1982), and The Gods Themselves (1972), which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also wrote the three “Laws of Robotics for which he is also famous.

4. Robotics History More recent movies, however, like the 1977 "star wars", portray robots such as "C3PO" and "R2D2" as man's helpers. "Number five" in the movie "short circuit" and C3PO actually take on a human appearance. These robots, which are made to look. human are called "androids".

5. Robotics History However, robots of today are not exactly the walking, talking intelligent machines of of movies, stories and our dreams. Today, we find most robots working for people in factories, warehouses, and laboratories. In the future, robots may show up in other places: our schools, our homes, even our bodies.

6. Robotics History Today fully functioning androids 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".

7. Robotics History Robots have the potential to change our economy, our health, our standard of living, our knowledge and the world in which we live. As the technology progresses, we are finding new ways to use robots. Each new use brings new hope and possibilities, but also potential dangers and risks.

8. Robotics History Benefits of Robots • 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.

9. Robotics History • Robotics for bio-production Many robots for bio-production have been developed in the world and it is predicted that they will be commercialized in the 21st century, since some of them were already commercialized by some companies in Japan and European countries. A tomato and cherry tomato harvesting robot, a cucumber harvesting robot, strawberry harvesting robots, a multi-operation robot to work in grapevine yard, and a chrysanthemum cutting sticking robot.

10. EMT Robotics History HAZBOT III is part of JPL's Emergency Response Robotics Project, a five-year effort begun in 1991 to apply robotics technology to the safe handling of hazardous materials. Robots such as HAZBOT also hold potential for use in mining and law enforcement. "It's almost standard now to have robots on bomb squads in major cities, but it took several years for the idea to catch on," said Richard Welch, task manager of Emergency Response Robotics at JPL.

11. Robotics History And Future Future missions to space will include many robotic vehicles designed to perform specific tasks both autonomous and remote controlled.

12. Robotics History And Future The Mars 2003 Rover Project is designed to have two scientific rovers going to Mars in 2003. Each rover will search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in Mars past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars.

13. Robotics History The planet Saturn, with its famous icy rings, and its enigmatic moon, Titan, are the prime scientific targets of the international Cassini mission, the most ambitious and far-reaching planetary exploration ever mounted. NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully launched on October 15, 1997. It’s robotic rover is expected to land on Saturn in October of 2004.

14. Robotics History Jobs Enter the exciting world of robotics here! Learn here how NASA is using robotics and telerobotics to learn more about Earth and other planets.

15. Robotics History Jobs NASA Programs: • JPL's Robotics Program • Intelligent Mechanisms Group (IMG) • NASA Space Telerobotics Program Other Careers • Automation • Animatronics • Bioscience • Mechanical Engineer

16. Robotics History Robotic Terminology Articulated - Jointed arm. End Effector - Device at the end of a robot arm that is used to grasp or engage objects. Degrees of freedom - Each plane in which a robot can maneuver. Robot - Mechanical device that performs human tasks, either automatically or by remote control. (From the Czech word robota.) Robotics - Study and application of robot technology. Telerobotics - Robot that is operated remotely.

17. Robotics Glossary Au-ton-o-mous adj. • Not controlled by others or by outside forces; independent: an autonomous judiciary; an autonomous division of a corporate conglomerate. • Independent in mind or judgment; self-directed. • Independent of the laws of another state or government; self-governing. • Of or relating to a self-governing entity: an autonomous legislature. • Self-governing with respect to local or internal affairs: an autonomous region of a country. Click here to return to Slide 10

18. Robotics Glossary android \An"droid\ ([a^]n"droid), A machine or automaton in the form of a human being. Possessing human features. n. An automaton that is created from biological materials and resembles a human being. Also called humanoid. Click here to return to Slide 4