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What is a robot? The word robot
was first used in a 1920 Czech play The playwright, Karel Capek,
borrowed the word robot from |
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Robots in films a machine enslaves humanity, using people as batteries to power its mainframe. Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial Intelligence (2002) is the story of sensitive robots being abused by brutal, selfish human masters. In The Terminator (1984), a computer network nukes the human race in order to achieve supremacy. This network then manufactures intelligent robots called Terminators which are programmed to annihilate any human survivors. George Lucas made robots mans' best friends in Star Wars (1977) with C-3PO and R2-D2. HAL, the supercomputer that rebels against its human handlers in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), is a cheeky reference to the computer firm IBM. The letters H, A and L, precede I, B and M in the alphabet. |
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Award winning robots C3PO and Robby the Robot will officially take their place in the hall of fame at the Carnegie Mellon University in the USA on October 11, 2004. Asimo was chosen as a truly revolutionary example of how human-like robots can be. It has been around the world showing off its dancing, running and stair-climbing skills. Shakey, who was born in 1969, was way ahead of its time and set a standard for many years. Star Wars chatterbox C3PO will be reunited with his old buddy R2D2, who earned his place in the hall of fame in 2003. The dustbin-shaped droid, R2D2, was voted the world's favourite robot in a poll carried out by Amazon in July 2004. Another film star, Forbidden Planet's Robby, was chosen for its personality. Japan's cult cartoon figure, Astroboy, is a metallic version of Pinocchio - a robot with a soul. |
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| What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? It is research into building machines that solve problems and reason like humans. AI is being used to create better, faster and more challenging computer games. It is often present in the opponents you play against or other team members. But can machines behave like people? In June 2002, a robot called Gaak acted just like a human when it made a dash for freedom from an exhibit at the Magna science centre in Rotherham. Gaak crept along a barrier until it found a gap and squeezed through. Having left the building, it reached the M1 motorway before it was rumbled. One of the most difficult challenges faced by scientists is creating a machine with feelings and the knowledge that it exists - like a person. Since the early 1990s, researchers have concentrated on developing robots which have insect intelligence, rather than human intelligence, which is still very sophisticated. |
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The world's most powerful computer trillion operations per second. A spokesman for IBM, who are building the computer, said ASCI Purple would be nearly as powerful as the human brain. But some scientists believe our brains can carry out around 10,000 trillion operations per second. A supercomputer, which can process over 200 trillion operations per second, is expected to be built within the next two years. It is being built to replace ASCI White - formerly the world's most powerful computer - which occupies a space the size of two basketball courts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. |
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Robots then and now and inventor, is reputed to have constructed such a clock about 250 BC. Today, robots in factories do a lot of the physical labour people used to do. In car factories, for example, one-armed robots lift, weld, and spray-paint cars. They mimic the movement of a human arm and hand. |
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| Robots in the
future Over the next ten years, breakthroughs in nanotechnology may help us build better and smaller machines. A nanometre is just one-millionth of a millimetre in length and nanotechnology involves studying and working with materials on an ultra-small scale. Using nanotechnology, scientists have created a tiny walking nanobot, using only the building blocks of life: DNA. The microscopic walker, which is only 10 nanometres long, uses its legs to move along a footpath. Nanotechnology could also lead to a range of materials with new qualities such as stay-clean glass and magnetic liquids. There may also be breakthroughs from scientists trying to implant computer programs into living creatures - known as wetware. This technology could help people with false arms or legs to move them just by thinking about it. |
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| Robots in
space The Hubble space telescope's life may be prolonged by robots. It is too dangerous for astronauts to carry out repairs on the telescope so NASA propose to send a robot to do it instead. If the go-ahead is given, the mission could take place in 2007. The main aim of the mission will be to install a "de-orbiting module" which will allow the telescope to be brought to Earth in a controlled crash. |
