Table of Contents Humans Have Long Dreamed of Creating Robots Da Vinci Provides a Steady Hand Bionic Limbs Help People Move Naturally Again Robot Helps Paralyzed Woman Complete Marathon R2 Takes a Giant Leap for Robo kind Rovers Go Where No Person Has Gone Before Nature Inspires Roboticists Robot Swarm Uses Teamwork to Do Big Things Drones Take to the Skies HUBO Wins Robotics Challenge Modular Robots Shape Shift Social Robot Cracks Jokes Fact Sheet Glossary For More Information Index About the Author
1 Humans Have Long Dreamed of Creating Robots Humans have built devices that of these machines could learn new move or act like people and animals tasks Each device was built to do for hundreds of years In the one thing They were not true robots 1700s inventors built automata or The first robot was invented in the mechanical puppets Automata could 1950s Unimate was an industrial move their arms lips or other body robot It was installed at General parts Some could write Some could Motors in 1961 Unimate had a draw One famous automaton could long arm that stacked hot pieces play 12 songs on a flute But none of metal The robot followed instructions programmed into its control system It used the instructions to make decisions about its job And that is perhaps the Many automata were designed to look and act like humans
2.3 million Estimated number of industrial robots in the world by the end of 2018 People have been trying to build robots for centuries Unimate the first modern robot was created in the 19505 Robots are programmable machines that can make decisions Interacting with the world is still a challenge for robots Industrial robots Until recently work well for robots tended simple repetitive to do one thing tasks each Some welded cars Others vacuumed floors They were able to do these things as long as they were in fixed settings most basic definition of a robot Robots are programmable machines that can interact with the world around them Sensors feed robots with images sounds and other information about their surroundings Control systems tell robots how to react Many robots can handle objects using devices at the ends of their arms These devices are called end effectors Some robots are mobile There are robots that walk roll on wheels or do both The world is an unpredictable place for robots It's full of obstacles uneven ground and people Today's robot makers are creating machines that are more adaptable Builders hope to make robots that can more easily navigate outside the lab travel where we can't go and even socialize with people
