Robotics

Robotics

The image usually thought of by the word robot is that of a mechanical being, somewhat human in shape. Common in science fiction, robots are generally depicted as working in the service of people, but often escaping the control of the people and doing them harm.

The word robot comes from the Czech writer Karel Capek's 1921 play “

R.U.R.” (which stands for "Rossum's Universal Robots"), in which mechanical beings made to be slaves for humanity rebel and kill their creators. From this, the fictional image of robots is sometimes troubling, expressing the fears that people may have of a robotized world over which they cannot keep control. The history of real robots is rarely as dramatic, but where developments in robotics may lead is beyond our imagination.

Robots exist today. They are used in a relatively small number of factories located in highly industrialized countries such as the United States,

Germany, and Japan. Robots are also being used for scientific research, in military programs, and as educational tools, and they are being developed to aid people who have lost the use of their limbs. These devices, however, are for the most part quite different from the androids, or humanlike robots, and other robots of fiction. They rarely take human form, they perform only a limited number of set tasks, and they do not have minds of their own. In fact, it is often hard to distinguish between devices called robots and other modern automated systems.

Although the term robot did not come into use until the 20th century, the idea of mechanical beings is much older. Ancient myths and tales talked about walking statues and other marvels in human and animal form. Such objects were products of the imagination and nothing more, but some of the mechanized figures also mentioned in early writings could well have been made. Such figures, called automatons, have long been popular.

For several centuries, automatons were as close as people came to constructing true robots. European church towers provide fascinating examples of clockwork figures from medieval times, and automatons were also devised in

China. By the 18th century, a number of extremely clever automatons became famous for a while. Swiss craftsman ...

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Research into developing mobile, autonomous robots is of great value.

It advances robotics, aids the comparative study of mechanical and biological systems, and can be used for such purposes as devising robot aids for the handicapped. As for the thinking androids of the possible future, the well-known science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov has already laid down rules for their behavior. Asimov's first law is that robots may not harm humans either through action or inaction. The second is that they must obey humans except when the commands conflict with the first law. The third is that robots must protect themselves except, again, when this comes into conflict with the first law.

Future androids might have their own opinions about these laws, but these issues must wait their time.

Bibliography

Buckley, Ruth V. "Robot." Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1993. Gibilisco,

Stan. The McGraw-Hill Illustrated Encyclopedia of Robotics and Artificial

Intelligence. McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York, 1994. Warring, R. H. Robots and

Robotology. Tab Books Inc. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. 1984.

And various sites on the internet.