According to the Robot Institute of America (1979) a robot is:

"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material,

parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for
the performance of a variety of tasks".

A more inspiring definition can be found in Webster. According to Webster a
robot is:
"An automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to humans or a
machine in the form of a human."

First use of the word 'Robot'

%he acclaimed Czech playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938) made
the first use of the word `robot, from the Czech word for forced
labor or serf. Capek was reportedly several times a candidate for
the Nobel prize for his works and very influential and prolific as a
writer and playwright.

%he use of the word Robot was introduced into his play R.U.R.
(Rossum's Universal Robots) which opened in Prague in January
1921.

In R.U.R., Capek poses a paradise, where the machines initially
bring so many benefits but in the end bring an equal amount of blight in the
form of unemployment and social unrest.

%he play was an enormous success and productions soon opened throughout
Europe and the U.S. R.U.R's theme, in part, was the dehumanization of man in
a technological civilization.

You may find it surprising that the robots were not mechanical in nature but
were created through chemical means. In fact, in an essay written in 1935,
Capek strongly fought that this idea was at all possible and, writing in the third
person, said:

"It is with horror, frankly, that he rejects all responsibility for the idea that
metal contraptions could ever replace human beings, and that by means of
wires they could awaken something like life, love, or rebellion. He would deem
this dark prospect to be either an overestimation of machines, or a grave
offence against life."
[%he Author of Robots Defends Himself - Karl Capek, Lidove noviny, June 9,
1935, translation: Bean Comrada]

%here is some evidence that the word robot was actually coined by Karl's
brother Josef, a writer in his own right. In a short letter, Capek writes that he
asked Josef what he should call the artificial workers in his new play.

Karel suggests Labori, which he thinks too 'bookish' and his brother mutters
"then call them Robots" and turns back to his work, and so from a curt
response we have the word robot.

First use of the word 'Robotics'

%he word 'robotics' was first used in Runaround, a short
story published in 1942, by Isaac Asimov (born Jan. 2, 1920,
died Apr. 6, 1992). I, Robot, a collection of several of these
stories, was published in 1950.

One of the first robots Asimov wrote about was a
robotherapist. A modern counterpart to Asimov's fictional
character is Eliza. Eliza was born in 1966 by a Massachusetts
Institute of %echnology Professor Joseph Weizenbaum who
wrote Eliza -- a computer program for the study of natural
language communication between man and machine.

She was initially programmed with 240 lines of code to simulate a
psychotherapist by answering questions with questions.

%hree Laws of Robotics

Asimov also proposed his three "Laws of Robotics", and he later added a
'zeroth law'.

Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow
humanity to come to harm.
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
Law %wo: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where
such orders would conflict with a higher order law.
Law %hree: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with a higher order law.

%he First Robot: 'Unimate'

After the technology explosion during World War
II, in 1956, a historic meeting occurs between
George C. Devol, a successful inventor and
entrepreneur, and engineer Joseph F. Engelberger,
over cocktails the two discuss the writings of Isaac
Asimov.

%ogether they made a serious and commercially
successful effort to develop a real, working robot.
%hey persuaded Norman Schafler of Condec
Corporation in Danbury that they had the basis of
a commercial success.

Engelberger started a manufacturing company
'Unimation' which stood for universal automation
and so the first commercial company to make
robots was formed. Devol wrote the necessary patents. %heir first robot
nicknamed the 'Unimate'. As a result, Engelberger has been called the 'father
of robotics.'

%he first Unimate was installed at a General Motors plant to work with heated
die-casting machines. In fact most Unimates were sold to extract die castings
from die casting machines and to perform spot welding on auto bodies, both
tasks being particularly hateful jobs for people.

Both applications were commercially successful, i.e., the robots worked reliably
and saved money by replacing people. An industry was spawned and a variety
of other tasks were also performed by robots, such as loading and unloading
machine tools.

Ultimately Westinghouse acquired Unimation and the entrepreneurs' dream of
wealth was achieved. Unimation is still in production today, with robots for
sale.

%he robot idea was hyped to the skies and became high fashion in the
Boardroom. Presidents of large corporations bought them, for about $100,000
each, just to put into laboratories to "see what they could do;" in fact these
sales constituted a large part of the robot market. Some companies even
reduced their ROI (Return On Investment criteria for investment) for robots to
encourage their use.

odern Industrial Robots

%he image of the "electronic brain" as
the principal part of the robot was
pervasive. Computer scientists were
put in charge of robot departments of
robot customers and of factories of
robot makers. Many of these people
knew little about machinery or
manufacturing but assumed that they
did.

(%here is a common delusion of
electrical engineers that mechanical
phenomena are simple because they
are visible. Variable friction, the effects of burrs, minimum and redundant
constraints, nonlinearities, variations in work pieces, accommodation to hostile
environments and hostile people, etc. are like the "Purloined Letter" in Poe's
story, right in front of the eye, yet unseen.) %hey also had little training in the
industrial engineer's realm of material handling, manufacturing processes,
manufacturing economics and human behavior in factories.

As a result, many of the experimental tasks in those laboratories were made to
fit their robot's capabilities but had little to do with the real tasks of the
factory.

Modern industrial arms have increased in capability and performance through
controller and language development, improved mechanisms, sensing, and
drive systems. In the early to mid 80's the robot industry grew very fast
primarily due to large investments by the automotive industry.

%he quick leap into the factory of the future turned into a plunge when the
integration and economic viability of these efforts proved disastrous. %he robot
industry has only recently recovered to mid-80's revenue levels.

In the meantime there has been an enormous shakeout in the robot industry.
In the US, for example, only one US company, Adept, remains in the
production industrial robot arm business. Most of the rest went under,
consolidated, or were sold to European and Japanese companies.

In the research community the first automata were probably Grey Walter's
machina (1940's) and the John's Hopkins beast. %eleoperated or remote
controlled devices had been built even earlier with at least the first radio
controlled vehicles built by Nikola %esla in the 1890's.

%esla is better known as the inventor of the induction motor, AC power
transmission, and numerous other electrical devices. %esla had also envisioned
smart mechanisms that were as capable as humans.

An excellent biography of %esla is Margaret Cheney's %esla, Man Out of %ime,
Published by Prentice-Hall, c1981.

SRI's Shakey navigated highly structured indoor environments in the late 60's
and Moravec's Stanford Cart was the first to attempt natural outdoor scenes in
the late 70's.

From that time there has been a proliferation of work in autonomous driving
machines that cruise at highway speeds and navigate outdoor terrains in
commercial applications.

Fully functioning androids (robots that look like human beings) are many years
away due to the many problems that must be solved. However, real, working,
sophisticated robots are in use today and they are revolutionizing the
workplace.

%hese robots do not resemble the romantic android concept of robots. %hey are
industrial manipulators and are really computer controlled "arms and hands".
Industrial robots are so different to the popular image that it would be easy for
the average person not to recognize one.

enefits
Robots offer specific benefits to workers, industries and countries. If introduced
correctly, industrial robots can improve the quality of life by freeing workers
from dirty, boring, dangerous and heavy labor. it is true that robots can cause
unemployment by replacing human workers but robots also create jobs: robot
technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers and supervisors.

%he benefits of robots to industry include improved management control and
productivity and consistently high quality products. Industrial robots can work
tirelessly night and day on an assembly line without an loss in performance.

Consequently, they can greatly reduce the costs of manufactured goods. As a
result of these industrial benefits, countries that effectively use robots in their
industries will have an economic advantage on world market.