"How old are you?" she wanted to know.
"Thirty-two," I said.
"Then you don't remember a world without robots. To you, a robot is a robot. Gears and metal; electricity and positrons. Mind and iron! Human-made! If necessary, human-destroyed! But you haven't worked with them, so you don't know them. They're a cleaner better breed than we are."
"Thirty-two," I said.
"Then you don't remember a world without robots. To you, a robot is a robot. Gears and metal; electricity and positrons. Mind and iron! Human-made! If necessary, human-destroyed! But you haven't worked with them, so you don't know them. They're a cleaner better breed than we are."
-from I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Robot, which is derived from a Czech word meaning "menial labor," got its modern meaning from a 1920 play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), by Czech playwright Karel Capek (1890-1938). The robots in Capek's play develop emotions and overthrow their human masters. A sinister "power struggle" with robots has long been a popular theme in science fiction --- for a change of pace, try Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" stories in which he consciously strove to depict robots as a benefit to society.
Today, robots are used in many ways, from lawn mowing to auto manufacturing. Scientists see practical uses for robots in performing socially undesirable, hazardous or even "impossible" tasks --- trash collection, toxic waste clean-up, desert and space exploration, and more. AI researchers are also interested in robots as a way to understand human (and not just human) intelligence in its primary function -- interacting with the real world.
Today, robots are used in many ways, from lawn mowing to auto manufacturing. Scientists see practical uses for robots in performing socially undesirable, hazardous or even "impossible" tasks --- trash collection, toxic waste clean-up, desert and space exploration, and more. AI researchers are also interested in robots as a way to understand human (and not just human) intelligence in its primary function -- interacting with the real world.
Good Places to Start
Robotics. An In Depth report from CBC.ca News (July 2007). Features include:
What is a robot? No simple definition, experts say (July 16, 2007).
Timeline: Evolving Robots - from fantasy to fact.
Photo Gallery: Robots - from fiction to fact.
Warning! Robots ahead- Are we ready to trust autonomous machines in our daily lives? By Paul Jay (July 16, 2007).
Dream machines - Surveying pop culture’s robotic fixation. By Martin Morrow (July 16, 2007).
Starter bots - Are kids' home-built robots laying the foundation for inspired inventions? By Denise Deveau (July 19, 2007).
A Robot in Every Home - The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics. By Bill Gates. Scientific American (January 2007). "[T]he emergence of the robotics industry, which is developing in much the same way that the computer business did 30 years ago. ... Meanwhile some of the world's best minds are trying to solve the toughest problems of robotics, such as visual recognition, navigation and machine learning. And they are succeeding. ... I can envision a future in which robotic devices will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives. I believe that technologies such as distributed computing, voice and visual recognition, and wireless broadband connectivity will open the door to a new generation of autonomous devices that enable computers to perform tasks in the physical world on our behalf. We may be on the verge of a new era, when the PC will get up off the desktop and allow us to see, hear, touch and manipulate objects in places where we are not physically present. ... Because the new machines will be so specialized and ubiquitous--and look so little like the two-legged automatons of science fiction--we probably will not even call them robots."
Robot Pals. Scientific American Frontiers (April 13, 2005). Alan Alda [host]: "The problem with most robots is that they tend to be, well, robotic. They know nothing they aren't programmed to know, and can do nothing they aren't programmed to do. But for many applications where robots could be useful, they need to be more like humans, able to respond as a cooperative partner rather than a mindless machine. In this program, we'll meet some robots that are learning to figure out for themselves what their human companions have in mind."
Robotics. An In Depth report from CBC.ca News (July 2007). Features include:
What is a robot? No simple definition, experts say (July 16, 2007).
Timeline: Evolving Robots - from fantasy to fact.
Photo Gallery: Robots - from fiction to fact.
Warning! Robots ahead- Are we ready to trust autonomous machines in our daily lives? By Paul Jay (July 16, 2007).
Dream machines - Surveying pop culture’s robotic fixation. By Martin Morrow (July 16, 2007).
Starter bots - Are kids' home-built robots laying the foundation for inspired inventions? By Denise Deveau (July 19, 2007).
A Robot in Every Home - The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics. By Bill Gates. Scientific American (January 2007). "[T]he emergence of the robotics industry, which is developing in much the same way that the computer business did 30 years ago. ... Meanwhile some of the world's best minds are trying to solve the toughest problems of robotics, such as visual recognition, navigation and machine learning. And they are succeeding. ... I can envision a future in which robotic devices will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives. I believe that technologies such as distributed computing, voice and visual recognition, and wireless broadband connectivity will open the door to a new generation of autonomous devices that enable computers to perform tasks in the physical world on our behalf. We may be on the verge of a new era, when the PC will get up off the desktop and allow us to see, hear, touch and manipulate objects in places where we are not physically present. ... Because the new machines will be so specialized and ubiquitous--and look so little like the two-legged automatons of science fiction--we probably will not even call them robots."
Robot Pals. Scientific American Frontiers (April 13, 2005). Alan Alda [host]: "The problem with most robots is that they tend to be, well, robotic. They know nothing they aren't programmed to know, and can do nothing they aren't programmed to do. But for many applications where robots could be useful, they need to be more like humans, able to respond as a cooperative partner rather than a mindless machine. In this program, we'll meet some robots that are learning to figure out for themselves what their human companions have in mind."
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