A BRIEF HISTORY OF

ROBOTICS
by Erik Johnson

1400 BCE
Babylonians develop the clepsydra, a clock that measures
time using the flow of water. It is considered one of the first
"robotic" devices in history. For centuries, inventors will
refine the design. Around 270 BC, the Greek inventor
Ctesibius becomes famous for a water clock with moving
figures on it

322 B.C
The Greek philosopher Aristotle imagines the great utility of
robots, writing, "If every tool, when ordered, or even of its
own accord, could do the work that befits it then there
would be no need either of apprentices for the master
workers or of slaves for the lords."

1493
Leonardo da Vinci designs a clockwork knight that will sit
up, wave its arms, and move its head and jaw. It is not
certain whether the robot was ever built, but the design
may constitute the first humanoid robot.
1737
French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson builds a clockwork
duck capable of flapping its wings, quacking, eating and
digesting food.

1801
French silk weaver and inventor Joseph Marie Jacquard
1900 invents an automated loom that is controlled by punch
cards. Within a decade it is being mass-produced, and
L. Frank Baum invents one of the literary world's most beloved thousands are in use across Europe.
robots in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Tin Woodsman, a
robot in search of a heart. The character is seen as a symbol
for the soullessness of mechanized industry

1913
1921 T. Henry Ford’s assembly line revolutionized automotive
Czech playwright Karl Capek popularizes the term "robot" and manufacturing industries — two realms still highly
in a play called "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robot)." The word tapped into the progress of robotics today. For the first
comes from the Czech robota, which means drudgery or time, a Model T could be fully assembled in around 90
forced work. The play ends with robots taking over the earth minutes.
and destroying their makers.

1942 1931
American science fiction author Isaac Asimov publishes the first toy robot was created in Japan, bringing with it the
a short story, "Runaround," that introduces the "Three established rigid, stocky aesthetic they have come to be
Laws of Robotics"--rules that every robot is programmed associated with. The Lilliput was a 15cm tall tin figure with
to obey the ability to walk on a wind-up mechanism.

1942
The Turing test for intelligence in a computer, requiring that
a human being should be unable to distinguish the machine
from another human being by using the replies to questions
put to both. 1966
1997 Shakey becomes one of the defining moments, not only in
robotics, but in artificial intelligence as well. Robotics
Mars Pathfinder’s Sojourner rover was humanity’s first robotic begins to expand beyond industrial manufacture
mission to another celestial body. It landed on Mars.

2000
2005
Sofia the robot has become a global celebrity after being activated The ASIMO offered a 4ft 3 walking and interacting robot
in 2015 and making her first public appearance in 2016. The with the ability to recognize objects, body language, faces,
humanoid robot is the first to receive citizenship to a country and and sounds and autonomous navigation
was named the United Nations Development Programme's first ever
Innovation Champion for Asia and the Pacific in 2017

credits
25 Great Moments In Robotics History - Forbes
The history of the Turing test - ThinkAutomation
5 Most Influential Robots in History - ASME
18 Defining Moments In The History of Robotics | by Reach Robotics | Medium
History of robots - Wikipedia