“We’re fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves” —Ken

Goldberg
A robot is a machine designed to carry out one or more tasks quickly and precisely. A
robot can be controlled remotely by a human operator, but there are many different
kinds of robots for different tasks. Robots are used in factories to build things like cars,
in military tactics, to find objects underwater, and for going into buildings where there
might be bombs.
That’s the dictionary definition.
But we all know that when it comes to robots, their ability to carry out tasks quickly
isn’t exactly what fascinates us. Movies, books, and popular culture, in general, don’t
tend to focus on the speed and precision of robots. What we’re interested in, more than
anything, is the ways that they’re almost like us… while still being entirely different.
We’re interested in their mechanical approximations of human behavior.
So as we all continue to wait and watch while more human-like robots are invented
everyday… here’s some facts to tide you over. Below are 41 astounding facts about
these mechanical beings.

41. Origins
The word “robot” comes from the Czech word robota, which means “forced labor.” It
originally referred to peasants, who were obligated to work for their lords under the
Fuedal system.
Today, the term is used to describe any man-made machine that can perform work and
other human tasks.

40. R.U.R.
The first use of the word robot was in the 1920 play R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal
Robots by Czech writer Karel Čapek. In the play, the robots overthrow their human
creators.
Almost 100 years later, and not much as changed. Apparently, we’ve been telling
stories about our future robot-overlords since we first understood what robots were.
Nothing scarier than a bunch of silver-painted guys wearing buckets on their heads.
39. da Vinci’s Car
One of the earliest examples of robotic design dates back to 1478 and Leonardo da
Vinci.
Da Vinci’s car was a spring-driven autonomous system that was probably created, more
than anything, to cause a sensation at court.
Which we have to assume it would have. At a time when most people would have been
impressed by a particularly big horse, imagine showing up to a meeting by driving what
would have looked like a gigantic clock.

38. Human Resemblance

The terms “android” and “robot” tend to be used somewhat interchangeably, but they
actually have very distinct meanings.
A robot that resembles a human is called an android.

37. World’s First Robot Company

The world’s first robot company was founded in 1956 by George Devol and Joseph
Engelberger. The company was called Unimation, and they introduced the first
industrial robot.

36. Mechanical Knight

Around the year 1495, Leonardo da Vinci sketched detailed plans for a mechanical
knight. The knight showed how a machine based on the human structure could be built,
and it was designed to move with fluidity. It was capable of standing, sitting, raising its
visor, and independently moving its jaw, arms, and neck.

35. Vaucanson’s Duck

In the late 1730s, Jacques de Vaucanson created a series of notable automata in
Grenoble, France. His first automaton was a flute player that could play twelve songs.
Shortly after, he created a mechanical duck with over 400 parts in the wings alone and
carefully weighted parts to make it move like a real duck. The duck could even eat,
digest, and excrete food.

34. When Machines Replace Slaves

In Politics, written in 350 BCE, Aristotle predicted that automatons could someday
replace slaves in performing household tasks. He wrote “There is only one condition in
which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing
slaves. This condition would be that each (inanimate) instrument could do its own work,
at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation.” Thousands of years later,
Roombas are the perfect example of his prediction.

33. Accidental Death

The first known case of anyone being killed by a robot occurred in 1981 when a robotic
arm crushed a Japanese Kawasaki factory worker. The worker’s death was ruled an
accident.

32. Steam Powered Pigeon

Archytas was an ancient Greek philosopher who was known for inventing what is
believed to be the first ever self-propelled flying device, known as the “flying pigeon.”
The body of the pigeon was hollow with a cylindrical shape and had wings on either
side. The rear of the pigeon had an opening that was connected to a heated, airtight
boiler, which created more and more steam as it heated, eventually causing the
machine to take flight.

31. Inspiration for NASA

In 2002, roboticist Mark Roshiem built a prototype of da Vinci’s robotic knight that could
talk and wave. He later used da Vinci’s designs as inspiration for robots he developed
for NASA.

30. Practical Robots

The company iRobot was founded in 1990 by MIT roboticists with the goal of making
practical robots a reality. Since its creation, they have sold more than 20 million robots
worldwide, and aside from their home cleaning, they have deployed robots used by the
US Forces in conflict, and brought the first FDA approved remote presence robots to
hospitals.

29. Future War

In 2014, US Marines brought a robot deep into the Hawaiian jungle. The LS3 (Legged
Support System) robot walks on four legs, carries 400 pounds, and moves across
terrain like a mechanical mule. Future maneuvers may come with robotic horses, who
can replace real horses in battle.

28. Spot
Horses aren’t the only robotic animal under development for military use. In 2016, the
Marine Corps tested a four-legged robotic dog that was designed to travel alongside
dismounted units and explore dangerous combat situations. The prototype, named
Spot, was made by Google X’s Boston Dynamics.

27. Autonomous Warfighter

While various military groups have been using drones for several years now, the
Russian military is testing various UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) to see which offers
the most utility. The Nerekhta has tank tread for navigation of challenging conditions,
and can be equipped with large-caliber machine guns, a grenade launcher, and antitank
guided missiles. The goal is to eventually control the vehicles with artificial intelligence,
allowing them to operate without human assistance.

26. Care Robots

One quarter of Japan’s population is over 65, and by 2065, that number is expected to
rise to 40%. This has led to the rapid growth of the nursing-care robot market, and the
government is spending 1/3 of its budget on the development of care robots that will
make life easier for Japan’s elderly.

25. Strong Robot with the Gentle Touch

Robear is a nursing robot touted as a gentle bear that is nonetheless strong enough to
lift an elderly person. Labeled the “strong robot with the gentle touch,” it provides
support as elders sit down and stand up.

24. A Perfect Harvest Every Time

Scientists are developing robot farmers that wait until a crop is perfectly ripe before
harvesting it. These robots will also be able to plant seeds, weed, water, and spray
without a farmer needing to do go into the field. Experts predict that the robots could
be in use as early as 2020.

23. Campaign to Stop Killer Robots

According to Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at Berkeley University,
California, the technology to create killer robots already exists and needs to be banned.
In November 2017, campaigners took their case to the United Nations, asking for a
global prohibition on lethal autonomous weapons systems.

22. Nanobots
A Nano-robot is a microscopic robot designed to fit into extremely small spaces to
perform a function. The hope is that nanobots can eventually be placed in the blood
stream to perform delicate surgical procedures that are too difficult for standard
surgery.

21. Elektro
At the 1939 World’s Fair, audiences were wowed by a walking, talking robot named
Elektro. The robot described himself as a “smart fellow” with a “fine brain,” and it
consisted of 48 electrical relays that worked like a telephone switchboard. He took voice
commands via a telephone handset. The robot was recently pieced back together, and
is now on display at the Mansfield Memorial Museum; it is billed as “the oldest surviving
American robot in the world.”

20. They’re Coming!

The founder of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, Hans Moravec, predicts that robots
will emerge as their own species by 2040, and that they will replace humans in every
essential task.

19. Captain Cyborg

Kevin Warwick is a professor of cybernetics at Reading University, and had a microchip
implanted in his nervous system in 1998. The chip emits a unique identifying signal that
a computer recognizes to operate various electronic devices such as room lights, door
locks, or elevators.

18. Diving in Antarctica

In 2015, a first-of-its kind robotic vehicle dove to never-before-visted depths under the
Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The robot was assembled by a team of scientists and
engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and dove through a 12-inch
diameter hole in the ice and down 500 metres into the sea floor.

17. Student Becomes the Teacher

The Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering has paired a small
humanoid robot with an android tablet, and children can teach it how to play Angry
Birds by dragging their finger on the tablet. The robot mimics their movement and plays
the game. The program was designed for disabled children who need therapy.

16. Robotic Prosthesis

Professor Gil Weinberg of Georgia Tech has created a robot that can be attached to
amputees. His “robotic drumming prosthesis” has motors that power two drumsticks.
The first stick is controlled both by the musician’s arms and electronically using EMG
muscle sensors. The other stick “listens” to the music and improvises.

15. Simon & Curie

Simon and Curie are robots with big eyes and white faces who can talk, listen, learn,
and react. Andrea Thomaz, their creator, specializes in robot-human interaction, and is
working towards getting robots and artificial intelligence to relate to people in human
terms such as speech and gestures.

14. Common Sense Care

After suffering a stroke that left him with limited mobility, Henry Evans teamed up with
Charlie Kemp to develop and test robots that could help him shave, adjust a blanket,
and scratch itches. The trick to this, and other more dangerous jobs that they’ll be
asked to perform, is common sense. Since robots lack the knowledge and experience
that shape common sense, other ways will have to be found to combat that
impediment.

13. Early Adopters

The original market for robots in their early stages of development was the automotive
industry. 70% of robot orders in the 1980s were for use in automotive factories, and
robots performed tasks such as spot welding, painting, and dispensing.

12. Mechanical Monk

Built sometime around the 1560s, the mechanical monk from Spain is 15 inches tall,
and is a self-acting automaton. When wound up, it completes a series of movements
with a trancelike look on his face, and his mouth opens and closes as if he’s chanting.
Legend has it that King Philip of Spain commissioned the mechanical monk to be made
in the likeness of a monk who was believed to have healed his son from a severe
illness.

11. Robot Law

In 1942, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov introduced the three laws of robotics that
governed the behavior of robots. The laws dictated that robots may not injure human
beings, must obey human beings, and must protect their own existence unless it would
violate the first or second law.
10. Cyberlaw
Today, robot laws and ethics have entered the mainstream, and the Stanford Law
website has a section known as “Cyberlaw,” which discusses ethics pertaining to the
use of robots in areas of war, law enforcement, and medicine.

9. Einstein Robot
The sophisticated Einstein robot has 31 artificial muscles, all individually programmed to
enable it to make facial expressions. The robot is now able to learn expressions on its
own, and it recently taught itself to smile and frown.

8. Sprit and Opportunity

In 2004, two robot geologists named Spirt and Opportunity landed on opposite sides of
Mars for an exploration mission. Throughout their mission, the pair have sent hundreds
of thousands of high resolution color images back to NASA, and have amassed
unparalleled information about the chemical and meteorological makeup of the planet.
Neither rover was expected to last more than 90 Martian solar days, but Spirit
continued to transmit until 2010, and Opportunity continues to this day.

7. Faster than the Fastest Human

A team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology created a sprinting robot
inspired not by a big cat but by a velociraptor. The robot, named Raptor, has two
nimble legs and a mechanism similar to a tail. It clocked an impressive 46 km per hour
on a treadmill, which is faster than Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt’s top speed.

6. Shockingly Realistic
BINA48 may be the most realistic robot ever made. She was created and programmed
by David Hanson of the Terasem Movement, and was modelled after a real
woman, Bina Rothblatt (the wife of Terasem’s co-founder). The real Bina’s thoughts,
feelings, memories, and emotions were downloaded into BINA48, and she can now hold
conversations on a number of intellectual topics. BINA48 also has the ability to learn
and grow her vocabulary and memory, and to express over 64 feelings.

5. Writes a Mean Essay

Noriko Arai’s Todai robot was programmed to take the entrance exam to Japan’s most
prestigious university, Tokyo University. While the robot wasn’t able to gain acceptance,
the robot did manage to beat 80% of the students who took the exam, which included
an essay question. Still, maybe we can stave off robot domination a little while longer.

4. Robotic Arm
The most common manufacturing robot is the robotic arm. A typical robotic arm is
made up of seven metal segments joined by six joints. The robot is controlled by a
computer that rotates the individual step motors that are connected to each joint. The
arm moves very precisely, and the robot uses motion sensors to ensure it moves the
right amount.
2. Robophobia
Robophobia is an actual anxiety disorder where the person has an irrational fear of
robots, drones, robot-like mechanics, or artificial intelligence. Sufferers experience panic
attacks triggered by situations such as viewing a robot, being near a robot, or even just
talking about robots. Many famous people including Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and
Elon Musk suffer from this disorder.

1. First Robot Citizen

Sophia the robot was developed by Hanson Robotics and is an evolving genius machine.
Sophia is probably best known for once saying it would “destroy humans,” but at the
fall 2017 Future Investment Initiative held in Saudi Arabia, Sophia spoke about its
desire to live peacefully among humans. As of October 25, 2017, Sophia the robot
acquired Saudi Arabian citizenship.