HISTORY OF ROBOTS: FROM THE FIRST TO THE PRESENT - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The history of robots began much earlier than is usually thought; Since ancient Greece, the most renowned philosophers began to emerge the possibility of creating artifacts or gadgets that would replace human labor, specifically in those activities related to cleaning farms and growing food.

The master Leonardo da Vinci had also made theories and treatises on the possibility of the existence of these machines. The first name given to what today is known as robots was "humanoid", because they were inspired by the human form.

Another term necessary to understand the beginning of robots and the robotic discipline is "automaton", which in Greek means "with its own movement" or "spontaneous". This word defines a machine whose purpose is to imitate not only movements, but also the figure of an animated being; This can have similarities with the human form or with another living being.

Da Vinci is considered to have designed two automata during his artistic and inventive career: the first consisted of a kind of soldier made of armor; it had the ability to move and sit on its own. The other automaton, of more complex design, was a kind of lion that was to be used by the king to establish his peace treaties.

Da Vinci's robot model based on his designs

As for the term “robot”, it was coined from the Czechoslovak word robota, which means “forced labor”. The first time this definition appeared was in a novel entitled RUR, written by the Czech writer Karl Capek.

This work was published in 1920, and its plot is developed around the existence of machines that are very similar to man and that have the ability to perform difficult and even dangerous jobs; at the end of the text the robots end up conquering human spaces, also dominating man.

Despite the fact that fiction has been responsible for creating prejudices about machines -be it within literature or in the film industry-, many scientists and scholars opt for robotics, since one of its main objectives is to facilitate human work, especially those that are more alienating and tedious.

The history of robots

From the Greeks to Descartes

Not only the Greeks and the Renaissance were interested in the creation of this type of machines. Personalities like Newton and Descartes also had the idea that, by means of a machine, it would be possible to liberate man from routine and monotonous activities.

These scientists believed that the ideal machine would manage to solve mathematical problems, since they argued that man, being a creative and universal creature, should not have the task of enslaving himself in the repetitive and methodical solution of mathematical problems.

As a consequence, eventually man would be able to better use his intellectual potential, detaching himself from the need to find such solutions.

It is likely that the ideal of these scholars has been the one that has materialized with current computers, since they have the ability to solve mathematical problems of that nature.

The watchmaker's family

Some historians and chroniclers consider that this class of devices arose in the sixteenth century -although others assure that the origins of these machines are much older-, specifically during the court of Louis XV of France.

It is said that at that time a famous watchmaker had lost his entire family, so he made the decision to replace it by creating mechanical dolls that worked thanks to a gear system (like a watch), but much more complicated and elaborate.

These machines caused a great impact in the France of the time, so King Louis XV decided to commission the watchmaker with some of these devices; However, the purpose of these dolls was mere entertainment, so these first robots were only ornamental.

After this, the following historical reference on mechanisms of this type occurred during the Industrial Revolution, when different machines began to appear that completely changed the course of the economy and labor systems.

The first industrial robot

Thanks to the use of gears and steam engines, it was possible to carry out the automation of production activities. You can establish the birth of robots at that time, under an industrial conception.

In fact, one of the first definitions of this type of artifact consisted of a machine that has the ability to repeatedly perform different activities, without having to be supervised by the human eye.

Work restlessness

When industrial machinery emerged there was a strong change in the social sphere, which brought both positive and negative aspects; when man was replaced by machine, hundreds of people lost their jobs, especially in the textile industry.

For this reason, there is still a latent concern regarding the movement of man by the machine. However, these machines required special maintenance, since their systems were very primitive. When they began to break down, industries had to rehire.

This shows that, despite technological advances, human presence will always be essential for the correct development of companies, since the machinery needs constant scanning and several revisions.

Therefore, it is possible that new jobs will be created for humans as new robots appear.

Emergence of computing

With the development of computing it has been possible to implement new systems that improve the quality of robotic discipline. During the 1960s, a space for creation and innovation was opened, which also allowed the expansion of jobs for robots in daily life.

The appearance of mechanical arms

Thanks to the development of technology, it was possible to manufacture a series of machinery with a greater degree of mobility through more complex mechanisms. Therefore, the power range was expanded and energy consumption reduced.

From this moment it was possible to control the robots through the use of computers, which resulted in the appearance of mechanical arms, which operate thanks to electrical impulses that have previously been encoded.

Due to the emergence of this much more complex machinery, a new definition for robots emerged.

At present, a robot can be defined as a union of systems with electronic and mechanical elements that can interact with each other, allowing it to perform a specific task; this activity is assigned and controlled from a computer.

The influence of George Devol

Taking into account these characteristics, it can be established that the first industrial robot proper arose with George Devol, an inventor of American nationality who is credited with creating this first robot.

Devol's goal was to build a machine that could be flexible and adapt to the environment; in addition, it was essential that it be easy to use. In 1948 this inventor patented a programmable manipulator, which was later considered the first industrial robot.

Devol, together with his partner Joseph Engelberger, decided to found the first company to make robots. This was called Consolidated Controls Corporation, and began operations in 1956. Later, the name of the company was changed to Unimation.

George Devol

It was then that the first robotic arm emerged, which they called Unimate. This machine weighed 1800 kg and its function was to lift and conglomerate a pile of huge pieces of hot metal.

Robots today

Currently there is not a single type of robot, but a wide range of machines can be found whose purposes are not only industrial, but also have the objective of improving the quality of human life in the most everyday aspects.

In 1969 the term robot or robotics was extended to mechatronics, which refers to an integration of mechanical engineering with electronic and artificial engineering.

The most relevant invention in robotics is the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence, whose objective is to give machines the ability to respond to different stimuli.

In the next section you can see some of the most advanced robots of today.

Automata with reasoning ability

In our days we can see robots that have the ability to react to the particularities of the environment, as well as having sensors that allow them to interact with their environment and with living beings. This allows the activities performed by the robots to be performed more efficiently.

Similarly, one of the goals of the robotics discipline for this decade is that these machines increasingly resemble human beings in terms of shape, thus taking up the ideas of ancient thinkers about the automaton.

Furthermore, scientists want to implement reasoning and questioning capabilities in such robots.

Images

Robot Pepper, focused on customer service. Photo taken in 2014. Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, from Wikimedia Commons

Humanoid robot Atlas, created by DARPA and Boston Dynamics

Toyota robot. Chris 73, commons.wikimedia.org

Expo 2005, Nagakute (Aichi). Photo by Gnsin, white balance by Edokter, crop by Od1n, via Wikimedia Commons

Topio, designed to play pin pong (Tokyo International Robot Exhibition, Nov 2009). Humanrobo, from Wikimedia Commons

References

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3. Córdova, F. (2002) Robotics, principle and evolution. Retrieved on January 18, 2019 from Polibits: polibits.gelbukh.com
4. Lara, V. (2017) A day in history: the moment when robots were born. Retrieved on January 18, 2019 from Hypertextual: Hypertextual.com
5. Martín, S. (2007) History of robotics: from Archytas of Taranto to the Robot da Vinci. Retrieved on January 18, 2019 from Scielo: scielo.isciii.es