A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex

series of actions automatically.[2] A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may
be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke human form, but most robots are task-
performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive
aesthetics.

Remotely operated vehicles were demonstrated in the late 19th century in the form of several types of
remotely controlled torpedoes. The early 1870s saw remotely controlled torpedoes by John
Ericsson (pneumatic), John Louis Lay (electric wire guided), and Victor von Scheliha (electric wire
guided).[38]

The Brennan torpedo, invented by Louis Brennan in 1877, was powered by two contra-rotating
propellers that were spun by rapidly pulling out wires from drums wound inside the torpedo. Differential
speed on the wires connected to the shore station allowed the torpedo to be guided to its target, making
it "the world's first practical guided missile".[39] In 1897 the British inventor Ernest Wilson was granted a
patent for a torpedo remotely controlled by "Hertzian" (radio) waves[40][41] and in 1898 Nikola
Tesla publicly demonstrated a wireless-controlled torpedo that he hoped to sell to the US Navy.[42][43]

In 1903, the Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo demonstrated a radio control system
called Telekino at the Paris Academy of Sciences,[44] which he wanted to use to control an airship of his
own design. He obtained several patents for the system in other countries.[45][46] Unlike previous 'on/off'
techniques, Torres established a method for controlling any mechanical or electrical device with different
states of operation.[47] The Telekino remotely controlled a tricycle in 1904, considered the first case of
an unmanned ground vehicle, and an electric boat with a crew in 1906, which was controlled at a
distance over 2 km.[48]

Archibald Low, known as the "father of radio guidance systems" for his pioneering work on guided
rockets and planes during the First World War. In 1917, he demonstrated a remote controlled aircraft to
the Royal Flying Corps and in the same year built the first wire-guided rocket.

Early robots

W. H. Richards with "George", 1932

In 1928, one of the first humanoid robots, Eric, was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Model
Engineers Society in London, where it delivered a speech. Invented by W. H. Richards, the robot's frame
consisted of an aluminium body of armour with eleven electromagnets and one motor powered by a
twelve-volt power source. The robot could move its hands and head and could be controlled through
remote control or voice control.[49] Both Eric and his "brother" George toured the world.[50]

Westinghouse Electric Corporation built Televox in 1926; it was a cardboard cutout connected to various
devices which users could turn on and off. In 1939, the humanoid robot known as Elektro was debuted at
the 1939 New York World's Fair.[51][52] Seven feet tall (2.1 m) and weighing 265 pounds (120.2 kg), it could
walk by voice command, speak about 700 words (using a 78-rpm record player), smoke cigarettes, blow
up balloons, and move its head and arms. The body consisted of a steel gear, cam and motor skeleton
covered by an aluminum skin. In 1928, Japan's first robot, Gakutensoku, was designed and constructed
by biologist Makoto Nishimura.

The German V-1 flying bomb was equipped with systems for automatic guidance and range control,
flying on a predetermined course (which could include a 90-degree turn) and entering a terminal dive
after a predetermined distance. It was reported as being a 'robot' in contemporary descriptions[53]

Modern autonomous robots

The first electronic autonomous robots with complex behaviour were created by William Grey Walter of
the Burden Neurological Institute at Bristol, England in 1948 and 1949. He wanted to prove that rich
connections between a small number of brain cells could give rise to very complex behaviors –
essentially that the secret of how the brain worked lay in how it was wired up. His first robots,
named Elmer and Elsie, were constructed between 1948 and 1949 and were often described
as tortoises due to their shape and slow rate of movement. The three-wheeled tortoise robots were
capable of phototaxis, by which they could find their way to a recharging station when they ran low on
battery power.

Walter stressed the importance of using purely analogue electronics to simulate brain processes at a
time when his contemporaries such as Alan Turing and John von Neumann were all turning towards a
view of mental processes in terms of digital computation. His work inspired subsequent generations of
robotics researchers such as Rodney Brooks, Hans Moravec and Mark Tilden. Modern incarnations of
Walter's turtles may be found in the form of BEAM robotics.[54]

The first digitally operated and programmable robot was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was
ultimately called the Unimate. This ultimately laid the foundations of the modern robotics industry.
[55]
Devol sold the first Unimate to General Motors in 1960, and it was installed in 1961 in a plant
in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.[56]

The first palletizing robot was introduced in 1963 by the Fuji Yusoki Kogyo Company.[57] In 1973, a robot
with six electromechanically driven axes was patented[58][59][60] by KUKA robotics in Germany, and
the programmable universal manipulation arm was invented by Victor Scheinman in 1976, and the
design was sold to Unimation.

Commercial and industrial robots are now in widespread use performing jobs more cheaply or with
greater accuracy and reliability than humans. They are also employed for jobs which are too dirty,
dangerous or dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly and
packing, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, and mass
production of consumer and industrial goods.[61]

Future development and trends

External videos

Atlas, The Next Generation

Further information: Robotics

Various techniques have emerged to develop the science of robotics and robots. One method
is evolutionary robotics, in which a number of differing robots are submitted to tests. Those which
perform best are used as a model to create a subsequent "generation" of robots. Another method
is developmental robotics, which tracks changes and development within a single robot in the areas of
problem-solving and other functions. Another new type of robot is just recently introduced which acts
both as a smartphone and robot and is named RoboHon.[62]

As robots become more advanced, eventually there may be a standard computer operating
system designed mainly for robots. Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source software set of
programs being developed at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
the Technical University of Munich, Germany, among others. ROS provides ways to program a robot's
navigation and limbs regardless of the specific hardware involved. It also provides high-level commands
for items like image recognition and even opening doors. When ROS boots up on a robot's computer, it
would obtain data on attributes such as the length and movement of robots' limbs. It would relay this
data to higher-level algorithms. Microsoft is also developing a "Windows for robots" system with its
Robotics Developer Studio, which has been available since 2007.[63]

Japan hopes to have full-scale commercialization of service robots by 2025. Much technological research
in Japan is led by Japanese government agencies, particularly the Trade Ministry.[64]

Many future applications of robotics seem obvious to people, even though they are well beyond the
capabilities of robots available at the time of the prediction.[65][66] As early as 1982 people were confident
that someday robots would:[67] 1. Clean parts by removing molding flash 2. Spray paint automobiles with
absolutely no human presence 3. Pack things in boxes—for example, orient and nest chocolate candies
in candy boxes 4. Make electrical cable harness 5. Load trucks with boxes—a packing problem 6. Handle
soft goods, such as garments and shoes 7. Shear sheep 8. Be used as prostheses 9. Cook fast food and
work in other service industries 10. Work as a household robot.

Generally such predictions are overly optimistic in timescale.