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The history of robots and particularly home robots is pretty interesting.
I'll add to these pages as time permits.
| Origins of the Word "Robot" |
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Czech playwright Karel Capek
(pronounced "chop'ek") introduced the word "robot" into his play
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) which opened in Prague in January 1921. "Robotics'
refers to the study and use of robots. The term was coined and first used in 1942 by the
Russian-born American scientist and writer, Isaac Asimov (Jan. 2, 1920 to Apr. 6, 1992). I,
Robot, a collection of several Asimov robot stories, was published in 1950. |
Isaac Asimov proposed the now famous "Three Laws of
Robotics":
Law One:
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to
harm.
Law Two:
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would
conflict with the First Law.
Law Three:
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with
the First or Second Law.
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| The First Home Robots |
One of the first
home robot companies, created in the early 80’s by Pizza Time Theater chairman Nolan
Bushnell, was Androbot, Inc.
Unfortunately, B.O.B., Topo 1, and younger brother F.R.E.D., never
quite caught on with the general public.
Visit HOMEROBOTS.COM for more information. |
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General Robotics has been reasonably successful with their RB5X robot by ignoring the home market and
concentrating on schools and universities. Units have been sold in all fifty states and
several countries around the world.
RB5X (General Robotics)
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The RB5X comes with a sonar sensor, an infrared
sensor, a speech chip, a ring of touch sensors, and a variety of software programs that
let you modify the built-in behaviors. The robot is apparently very
dependable. There are systems that have been in continuous classroom use for more than six
years and they are still going strong. One robot took two flights of stairs all by itself
(the robot said someone tripped it!) but is still being used on a daily basis.
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| The most successful home robot to date, has been Sony’s Aibo, which sold over 5000
units here and in Japan. This little guy is a wonder of technology and artificial
intelligence. The robot is a bit over ten inches tall and weighs about
3.5 pounds. He has a camera in his snout, a pair of stereo microphones in his ears and a
small speaker in his mouth. |
Sony's Aibo
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Aibo’s brain is actually a 100MHz, 64-bit RISC processor with
16MB of memory. The robot has a touch sensor on top of his head, eyes that change color
and flash, and a walking pace of about 6.5 yards per minute.
Aibo incorporates various programs that allow it to behave similar
to a living creature, reacting to external stimuli and acting with its own judgment. In
other words, it pretty much acts like a real dog!
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