Robotics

A robot can be defined as a man-made entity with an intelligent connection between perception and action. Usually, the intelligence is a computer or microcontroller running a program. However, much work has been done on robots with wired intelligence. The action is usually motors or actuators that move an arm or propel the robot. However, web bots are types of robots that exist only in code, and move throughout web pages gathering information.

The above definition is rather loose, as even an air conditioner will satisfy the criteria. Therefore roboticists extend the definition by adding a criterion that robots must be entities that perform more than one action. Therefore, air conditioners and similar single-function entities are reduced to a control problem.

Alternate definition: Robot is the general term for a mechanical man or automaton, but has come to be applied to many machines which directly replace a human or animal.

The word robot comes from the Czech word robota (compare with the Russian rabotatj for "to work") meaning "drudgery", "servitude", or "forced labor", especially the so-called "labor rent" that survived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1848.

The word robot was first used by Karel Capek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (written in 1920; first performed 1921; performed in New York 1922; English edition published 1923). Although Capek's robots were organic artificial humans, the word robot is nearly always used to refer to mechanical humans. The term android can mean either one of these, while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts.

In the general sense of automaton, the biggest robot in the world is said to be the Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Nieuwe Waterweg waterway near Hoek van Holland, Netherlands, which automatically closes when needed.

The idea of artificial people dates at least as far back as the ancient legend of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers; and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life.

In classical mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power.

Hebrew legend tells of the golem, a clay statue animated by Kabbalistic magic.

In the early 1700s, Jacques de Vaucanson[?] created an android that played the flute, as well as a mechanical duck that reportedly ate and defecated. E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1817 short story "The Sandman" features a doll-like mechanical woman, and Edward S. Ellis' 1865 "Steam Man of the Prairies" expresses the American fascination with industrialization. A wave of stories about humanoid automatons culminated with the "Electric Man" by Luis Senarens in 1885.

Once technology advanced to the point where people foresaw mechanical creatures as more than toys, literary responses to the concept of robots reflected fears that humans would be replaced by their own creations. Frankenstein (1818), sometimes called the first science fiction novel, has become synonymous with this theme. When Capek's play RUR introduced the concept of an assembly line run by Robots who try to build still more Robots, the theme took on economic and philosophical overtones, further disseminated by the classic Metropolis, and the popular The Terminator and Blade Runner.

- Continued - Wikipedia

Articles In The News

Smart Robot Learns to Climb Mountains Live Science - July 12, 2007

Robot unravels mystery of walking BBC - July 12, 2007

The Secret to More Useful Robots: Tai Chi Training Live Science - July 11, 2007

New Robot Eyes Humans with Human-Like Eyes Live Science - April 16, 2007

Robot with 'human soul' explores remotely New Scientist - November 22, 2006

Humans Inhabit Body of Experimental Robot Live Science - November 24, 2006

Robot device mimics human touch BBC - June 9, 2006
A device which may pave the way for robotic hands that can replicate the human sense of touch has been unveiled.

Female Android Debuts in S. Korea National Geographic - May 15, 2006