The concept of robots is not only thought about by scientists and tech experts. This has also been fantasized by many fiction writers throughout the years. Of course, this can be expected, as the idea of having a non-organic moving unit that is capable of doing human activities, perhaps even better and more efficient than how a real human does things, is truly remarkable. Some people think that we may have to wait for a couple of decades to see a fully functional robot, straight out of a Hollywood film, being showcased by a scientist for the world to use. Although, chances are you do not have to wait for too long to see that happening. In fact, as I type this paragraph, the rise of robots is already beginning!
How The Idea Of Creating A Robot Crossed The Mind Of A Human
Man had been toying with the idea of somehow building a mechanical version of himself long before the tentative work was started which eventually led to the successful introduction of an industrial robot in the early sixties. Throughout recorded history man has had a preoccupation with sentient machines made, at least partially, in his own image. In the Ancient Greek myths, the God of fire, Hephaestus, was supposed to be accompanied and aided by two pure gold living statues, and he later constructed a brass giant, Talus, to guard Crete against all intruders.
In real life, but still over two thousand years ago, Hero of Alexandria wrote his Treatise on Pneumatics in which he described a large number of automata such as moving figures and singing birds — rather like an Ancient Greek Disneyland. It is remarkable that such sophisticated toys were the only real use ever made of pneumatics for centuries.
The word ‘robotics’ was invented by the master science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in his now classic robot stories which at the time of writing were unusual in that they told of robots which not only did not harm humans but actually helped them!
As can be imagined from the confused usage of the word ‘robot’ since RUR, conceptions vary of what a robot actually consists of. Even when it comes to the comparatively recent concept of the ‘industrial robot’ there is no international agreement about definitions. Even a device that can be used to track an anonymous caller precisely can already be argued to be a robot. It is comparatively arbitrary where the ‘boundaries’ of the term are drawn. Thus, in Japan a pick and place device (a simple mechanical arm whose motions are governed by hitting mechanical end-stops) is termed a robot, whereas in the West, due to the lack of any inherent flexibility in the device (unless someone physically moves the end-stops) it is considered to be a special case of fixed automation, rather than a robot.