1

Outlines
Introduction to
Robotics

The History of Robotics

The Laws of Robots
The Definition of a Robot
The importance and role of Robots in
manufacturing industry

Outcomes

At the end of this session you should be able to

Describe the history of robotics
State the three laws of robots
State the definitions related to Robotics
Correctly
Explain clearly the importance and role of
Robots in manufacturing industry
Applications
Advantages, and
Limitations

History of the words "ROBOT"

and "ROBOTICS"

The word "Robot" comes from the 1921 play

"R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots) a myth by
the Czech writer Karel Capek (pronounced
"chop'ek").
"Robot" comes from the Czech word "robota",
meaning "forced labor."
Karel Capek died just after the German invasion of
Czechoslovakia in 1938, before the Gestapo (the
German secret police) could get to him.
The play was a great success when it opened in the
U.S.

The word "robotics" also comes from science

fiction - it first appeared in the short story
"Runaround" (1942) by Isaac Asimov.
This story was later included in Asimov's famous book
"I, Robot."
This is a robot from the 1921
The robot stories of Isaac Asimov also introduced the
play "R.U.R." (image from the
idea of a "positronic brain" (used by the character
"Data" in Star Trek) and the "three laws of robotics. Robot Museum web site).

History of Robotics

In the early 1800s mechanical puppets were first

built in Europe, just for entertainment value.
And these were called robots since there parts
were driven by linkage and cams and controlled
by rotating drum selectors.
In 1801 Joseph Maria Jacquard made the next
great change and invented the automatic draw
loom.
The draw loom would punch cards and was
used to control the lifting of thread in fabric
factories.
This was the first to be able to store a program
and control a machine.
After that there were many small changes in
robotics but we were slowly moving forward.
(UK Robot. 2001)

http://www.bsu.edu/web/MAWILLIAMS/history.html

The first industrial robots

Development of modern robots

George Devol Jr, in 1954 developed

the multi-jointed artificial arm which
lead to the modern robots.
But mechanical engineer Victor
Scheinman, developed the truly
flexible arm known as the
Programmable Universal
Manipulation Arm (PUMA).
(MSN Leaning & Research. 2002 )

The first industrial robots were Unimates

developed by George Devol and Joe
Engelberger in the late 50s and early 60s.
The first patents was by Devol but
Engelberger formed Unimation which was
the first market robots.
So Engelberger has been called the father
of robotics.
For a while the economic viability of these
robots proved disastrous and thing slowed
down for robotics.
But the industry recovered and by the mid80s robotics was back on track.
(Dowling, Kevin. 1996 )

The laws for robots

In 1950 Isaac Asimov came up with laws for robots

and these were:
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or
through inaction allow a human being to come
to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by
human beings, except where such orders
would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long
as such protection does not conflict with the
first or second law.
(Robotics Introduction. 2001.)

What is Robotics?

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DEFINITION OF A ROBOT

Brain Storming
In 30 seconds, think of what is the general meaning of
Robotics

Manipulating industrial robot

as defined in ISO 8373
An automatically controlled,
reprogrammable,
multipurpose, manipulator
programmable in three or
more axes, which may be
either fixed in place or mobile
for use in industrial
automation applications.

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Understanding & Explaining

Based on the definition of ROBOTICS, state whether the

Robot A, B and C below satisfy ISO 8373 or otherwise.

Explain why ?

Please discuss with the person next to you in three minute

s
C
B

12

Watch this movie

Listen carefully
Take the important notes

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The End
Thank you
Please submit your team notes
with the members names as
assignment and your attendance
for today