Robots that can sense, think, and act for themselves have only been possible since electronic computers were invented about 50 years ago. But long before that, automata were already entertaining and doing work for humans.
As early as 200 BCE, a device that used air pipes and ropes pulled by hand to make mechanical musicians play flutes and stringed instruments entertained the emperor of China. Over 1,600 years later, when the famous Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci was just 12 years old, he designed a mechanical knight. Dressed in a suit of armor, the knight could sit up and move its arms and head. Then, around 1555 CE, an Italian clockmaker named Gianello Torriano, built a wind-up model of a lady that could walk around in a circle while strumming a type of guitar called a lute. You can see the Lute Player Lady in a museum in Vienna, Austria, today.
automata: machines that can move by themselves (singular is automaton).
loom: a machine for weaving thread into cloth.
Soon, inventors started putting automated machines to work. A French silk weaver named Joseph Marie Jacquard built a loom in 1801 that automatically created patterns as it wove thread into cloth.
What does it mean when dates end with the letters BCE or CE? The beginning of the Common Era is marked by the birth of Jesus and begins with the year 1. These years are sometimes followed by the letters CE. Events that happened before the first year of the Common Era are marked as BCE, or Before the Common Era. The years BCE may seem backward, because as time passes the years actually become smaller in number. For example, a child born in 300 BCE would celebrate turning 10 in the year 290 BCE. Think of it as a countdown to the Common Era.
In 1822, English mathematician Charles Babbage used punch cards in his Analytical Engine, a mechanical calculator. His friend Lady Ada Lovelace designed a series of steps to make Babbage’s engine solve certain math problems. Lovelace’s work is considered the world’s first computer program. And in 1898 in New York, the electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla showed off the first remote-control device: a mechanical boat controlled by a radio transmitter.
punch card: a card with holes punched in it that gives directions to a machine or computer.
radio transmitter: the part of a radio that sends signals.
feedback: information about the result of an action that is sent back to the person or machine that performed the action.
communication: sharing information with another person or machine.
Turing test: a series of questions to test whether a computer can think like a human being.
Research into computerized robots began after World War II. In 1948, mathematician Norbert Wiener wrote a book called Cybernetics that compared the way people and machines functioned. He found that people and machines both use feedback, communication, and control to make decisions and take action. In 1950, computer scientist Alan Turing came up with the Turing test to see whether a machine was able to think like a human. To pass the test, a computer had to fool people into thinking they were talking to a person.
The word “robot” was first used by writer Karel Capek in the play R.U.R. in 1921. It comes from the Czech word robota, which means slave labor. R.U.R. is about a company called Rossum’s Universal Robots that creates robot workers. It’s one of the first stories in which robots rebel against their human masters and try to take over the world.
In 1959, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opened a laboratory to study artificial intelligence (AI), which is the ability of a machine to act as if it thinks like a human. MIT is still a leader in robotics research.
Some of the best-known robots appear only in stories. In ancient Greek mythology, Hephaestus, the god of metalwork, built a giant man called Talos out of bronze to guard the island of Crete. Here are some other famous fictional robots:
• Maria: This metallic humanoid appeared in the silent film Metropolis in 1927. It was the first robot movie ever made. Maria was disguised as a real person by the bad guys, who used her to try to stop unhappy factory workers from complaining.
• HAL 9000 Computer: In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL controlled a spaceship and worked with human astronauts. His “body” was the ship itself, and he had glowing round red lights in the spaceship’s walls that served as his eyes. Although he wasn’t evil, HAL later broke down and tried to destroy the crew.
• R2-D2 and C-3PO: These helper droids from the 1977 movie Star Wars may be the most famous robots of all time. R2-D2 looked like a large rolling can and “talked” using only beeps and whistles. C-3PO was a golden-colored metallic man who could speak many languages. Together with Luke Skywalker and his friends, they fought the Empire and the evil Darth Vader.
• WALL-E: This box-like machine was the last working robot on Earth in the 2008 animated film of the same name. Everyone on the planet left aboard a giant spaceship. Only WALL-E remained to clean up the piles of garbage left behind. When a more advanced robot named EVE arrived to search for signs of life, WALL-E found love and adventure.
People build, study, and use robots today in many different ways. At home, people use robots for their everyday tasks. Government robotics researchers develop rugged robots for use in the military and in scientific exploration. Hobbyists and artists get creative with robots they build themselves from kits, parts, and salvaged equipment. And business people work with engineers to make robots less expensive and more useful so that more people and companies will buy them.
A working automaton built by Henri Maillardet around 1810 is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It looks like a boy in a clown’s costume, and can draw and write poetry in French and English. The machine was the inspiration for the drawing automaton in the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick and the movie Hugo.
Robotics in the Home
The Roomba vacuum cleaner appeared in stores in 2002. It was the first popular home robot. Other common household robots include lawn mowers, floor washers, and swimming pool cleaners.
Mobile webcams let you see what is happening in your home or office while you are away. They can be controlled over the Internet with a cell phone or game console.
webcam: a camera attached to a computer that can send photos or video over the Internet.
Internet: a communications network that allows computers around the world to share information.
When the Roomba first came out, fans began hacking the vacuum to see if they could program it themselves. So the company came out with Create, a version designed to be hacked. Now hobbyists can program their Create robots to play laser tag, dance, and even be steered by a hamster in a ball attached to the top!
Bill Gates, the founder of the giant computer company Microsoft, built a smart home near Seattle, Washington, in the 1990s. It could be programmed to turn on lights, adjust the temperature, and play his favorite music when he entered a room.
hacking: using electronics skills to make a device do something it was not designed to do.
smart home: a house in which all electric devices are monitored or controlled by a computer.
prototype: an experimental model.
animatronic: making a puppet or other lifelike figure move on its own with electronics.
Robotics in Toys
Robotics kits and toys aren’t just for kids. Adult hobbyists and researchers use them to build robotic prototypes quickly and easily. One of the first programmable robotics kits was the LEGO Mindstorms Robotic Invention System. The Mindstorms system uses a simple computer program developed at MIT. Robots are built using LEGO bricks, so no tools or wiring are required. Today robotics kits like LEGO Mindstorms and VEX, which use metallic parts that screw together, are also used by students in robotics competitions.
Many interactive toys also qualify as “real” robots. Some are animatronic dolls like Furby, Robosapien, or Elmo Live, which respond to touch or remote control. Others, like Hexbug robotic insects, have sensors that help them move on their own. They were created in 2007 by Innovation First, which makes the Vex Robotics Design System. There’s a fast-moving Ant with rotating legs and bump sensors that make it reverse direction. The Larva uses infrared sensing to crawl around objects in its path. The zippy little Hexbug Nano has no sensors, but hackers have added their own. One hack uses a photoresistor to make the Nano scurry away from light like a cockroach.
Robotics in Art
Artists use robots to create art, and as works of art themselves. The Jackoon Artbot by Oscar D. Torres is a little robotic arm on wheels. It scoots around a sheet of paper, dipping a brush into a cup of paint and dabbing it on the paper. An art piece called “Nervous” by Bjoern Schuelke, looked like just a dangling fluffy orange ball. But the fluff ball would jump, shake, and beep when someone come near it. Inside was a theremin, an electronic musical instrument that responds to people coming near it.
theremin: an electronic musical instrument that plays different notes when you move your hands around it without touching it.
Musicians use robots too. The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) builds self-playing instruments. Their pieces feature robotic guitars, bells, gongs, and instruments made out of kitchen tools and hardware. LEMUR’s robotic instruments can respond to what they hear, which allows them to play with live musicians, including the popular band They Might Be Giants.
The LilyPad Arduino, developed by Leah Buechley of the MIT Media Lab, is a programmable device that can be sewn into clothing. Fashion designer Shannon Henry used it to make her Skirt Full of Stars. The Lilypad makes different colored lights flash when a sensor shows the skirt is in motion.
Robotics in Medicine
In hospitals, robots do everything from run errands to help doctors perform advanced operations. The HelpMate looks like a rolling storage cabinet. It can be programmed to deliver drugs, meals, medical records, and X-rays. It can even take the elevator by itself!
In the operating room, the da Vinci Surgical System helps doctors work with miniature tools. The doctor watches a 3D video magnifier screen and moves the controls. The robot copies each movement of the doctor’s hands with its four mechanical arms.
cochlear implant: an electronic device that is attached to nerves under the skin to help a deaf person detect sounds.
Systems like the da Vinci let doctors make smaller cuts than would normally be possible, so the patient can heal more quickly.
Robotic medical devices also help people in their daily lives. Australian scientist Graeme Clark invented the cochlear implant to help deaf people detect sound. It is inserted under the skin, and sends sounds directly to the person’s brain. Since 1978 almost 200,000 deaf children and adults have had cochlear implant surgery.
Wheelchair-user Amit Goffer of Argo Medical Technologies in Israel developed the ReWalk, a powered exoskeleton that helps paralyzed people stand up and walk. Using motorized braces that are strapped onto the user’s legs, the ReWalk moves when the person leans forward or back.
powered exoskeleton: a “robot suit” that can be worn to give a person added strength.
industrial: used in a factory, or designed to be used under hard work conditions.
Robotics in Industry
Automobile factories and other businesses use robots to do all kinds of dirty, dangerous, boring, or difficult jobs that human workers can’t do, or don’t want to do. The first industrial robot, Unimate, was only a robotic arm. It worked in a General Motors automobile plant in New Jersey in 1961.
Many robotic features can be found in cars today. In 2006, Lexus came out with an Advanced Parking Guidance System that lets the car park itself. Sensors on the wheels use sound waves to tell the car’s computer how much space it has.
The 2010 Toyota Prius is a hybrid car with computers that switch the motor from gas to electrical power. It also has a self-parking feature.
Unimate could move heavy car parts and weld them together. Robotic arms also use plasma torches to cut through sheets of metal. “Pick and place” robots take materials from one spot on an assembly line and move them somewhere else. Unlike people, they can work long hours without getting tired. Robots are also used in factories that make delicate computer parts because they don’t carry dirt or dust into the building’s clean room.
Robotics in the Military
Planes and other aircraft that can be flown by remote control or on their own are called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Predator spy planes are controlled by pilots halfway around the world, using joysticks and computer screens. Mini-UAVs are small enough to fit in a Marine’s backpack.
weld: to connect metal parts by heating them until they soften.
plasma torch: a tool that uses streams of electrified gas to cut through sheets of metal.
assembly line: a way of putting together products in a factory by passing materials from one machine or person to another to do the next step.
clean room: a room in a laboratory or factory where objects that must be kept free of dust or dirt are made.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): planes and other aircraft that can fly without a pilot in control.
autonomous: a robot that can plan its movements and move without human help.
The Dragon Eye is an autonomous spy plane that can be launched by hand or with an elastic bungee cord.
Dean Kamen is famous for inventing the Segway, a two-wheeled motorized scooter that balances electronically. He is also known as the founder of the FIRST robotics competition for students. But most of Kamen’s inventions are designed to help people with medical problems. In 1976, he began making robotic syringes that patients can wear. The devices automatically give them shots of drugs whenever needed. An experimental project called the iBOT was a robotic wheelchair that could roll up and down stairs. In 2007, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, asked Kamen to design a robotic arm to help amputees injured in wars. DARPA sponsors robot research for military purposes. Kamen’s design became the basis of a project to build an arm that can be controlled by the user’s brain. If all goes well, the arm could be available by 2015.
The military also uses many types of portable remote-control robots on the ground. Some look like miniature tanks and can fire machine guns or less harmful weapons like bean bags, smoke, and pepper spray. One robot, the TALON, can climb stairs, go over rock piles and barbed wire, plow through snow, and even travel short distances underwater. Its sensors can detect explosives, poisonous gas, radiation, and weapons.
The military uses robots like the TALON to defuse bombs and check dangerous areas for hazards. It was also used by rescue workers when New York’s World Trade Center buildings collapsed in 2001.
syringe: a medical instrument used to inject fluid into the body or take fluid out.
amputee: a person who is missing an arm or leg.
portable: easily moved around.
Scientists use robots to explore regions where people can’t go. But it’s dangerous work, even for a robot. In 1993, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University accidentally dropped an 8-legged robot called Dante into a volcano in Antarctica. The next year, they had more luck exploring a volcano in Alaska with Dante II.
That robot sent back readings from the volcano before it also disappeared down the crater.
An underwater robot called ABE helped scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to observe the ocean’s depths from 1996 until 2010, when it was lost at sea. ABE could dive down more than 14,000 feet (4,500 meters) without having to be connected to a ship or submarine. That meant ABE could work faster, cheaper, and in more places than other research tools. ABE helped locate, map, and photograph many deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites and volcanoes. It also took magnetic readings that helped scientists understand how the earth’s crust was formed. Woods Hole scientists now use a robot called Sentry, which can go even faster and deeper than ABE.
Robotics in Space
Robots and outer space have always gone together. In 1997, NASA sent the robotic rover Sojourner to Mars on the Pathfinder Mission. The solar-powered robot sent back pictures and analyzed the chemistry of Martian rocks and soil.
The NASA robot rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004. Although they were only expected to last 90 days, Spirit lasted until 2010. As of 2012, Opportunity was still going strong, and a new rover, Curiosity, was on its way to join it on the Martian surface.
The Mars rover Spirit made its greatest discovery because of a broken wheel. In 2007, Spirits broken wheel scraped up some bright white soil. It was made up of a mineral called silica left behind by water in the form of hot springs or steam. To scientists, this is evidence that life could be possible on Mars.
Robots also serve on the International Space Station in orbit around Earth. In 2001, a robotic arm built by the Canadian Space Agency was installed. The Canadarm2 is used to handle large objects, help visiting space vehicles to dock on the station, and help astronauts with repairs and experiments outside the ship. Its pieces can be taken apart and replaced like LEGOs!
Robonaut 2 (R2), the first humanoid robot in space, was activated on the space station in 2011. Developed by NASA and car-maker General Motors, R2 consists of a head, body, and two arms. It can sit on a non-moving base or be attached to wheels, legs, or a rover, depending on its mission. Roboticists hope R2 can also be used in General Motors manufacturing plants on Earth.
ART-MAKING VIBROBOT
A vibrobot isn’t a real robot, but it acts like one. A vibrobot moves by vibrating, shaking, or jiggling along. When it touches a wall, it turns and keeps on going. But a vibrobot doesn’t have a sensor or a controller to tell it what to do—it just vibrates away! A motor spins a weight to make the vibrobot vibrate. By placing the weight a little off-center, the whole vibrobot will be thrown around enough to move.
Your Art-Making Vibrobot will skitter across a piece of paper, drawing as it goes. If you choose to use a hot glue gun, have an adult supervise.
vibrobot: a robot-like toy that moves using a vibrating motor.
1 If your motor doesn’t I have wires attached, use the wire cutter to cut two pieces of wire about 6 inches long (15 centimeters). Remove about “/2 inch of insulation from each end so that the metal inside is exposed (1 centimeter). Attach one wire to each of the metal terminals coming out of the motor so that metal touches metal. Secure with electrical tape. Test the motor by touching the other end of the wires to the ends of a battery. If you have a good connection, the shaft of the motor will start to turn.
2 Turn the cup upside down. Attach the motor to the bottom of the cup with the foam tape so that the wires stick out either side and the motor shaft is sticking up.
3 Line up the batteries so that the top (positive end) of one touches the bottom (negative end) of the other. Secure them together with electrical tape.
4 Put the rubber band around both batteries so that it covers the ends. Wrap more tape around to secure, if needed. Use the foam tape to secure the batteries next to (alongside) the motor.
5 Stick the end of the wires under the rubber band so that the bare wire touches the ends of the batteries. The motor shaft should turn. If not, move the wires around until it does. Turn the motor on and off by taking out one of the wires. You can tape the other wire in place.
6 Make an off-balance weight that will shake the cup by sticking a cork onto the motor shaft. You can hot glue a craft stick onto the cork to make it even more off-balance.
7 Use the electrical tape to # attach the markers as “legs” on the cup. Decorate your robot as desired.
8 To make an arena to test . out your Vibrobot, cover the inside of the box lid with a piece of paper. Take the caps off the markers, place the Vibrobot inside, and start the motor. Your Art-Making Vibrobot will dance around and bounce off the walls, covering the paper with its own designs.
9 If your Vibrobot doesn’t work, or you’re not happy with the way it’s moving, there are a few things you can try
• Make sure the weight on the motor isn’t hitting anything on the robot.
• Try shifting the legs, the weight, or the decorations to change the balance.
• If it’s too heavy it may not move very well. Remove some decoration, or use a 9V battery
