ROBOTICS
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A brief history
Basilio Bona – DAUIN Politecnico di Torino
Outline
A brief history of robotics
What is a robot and what is robotics
Classification of robotic applications
Industrial robotics
Service robotics
Exploration robotics
Safety robotics
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Robot
The term robot
robot, derived from the Slav term robota = executive
labor, was introduced in 1920 by the Czech playwright Karel
Čapek in the play “Rossum’s Universal Robots”
But the concept behind a robot appeared many years before any
real robot was built
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What is a Robot?
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What is a Robot?
Frankenstein (1818 and 1931)
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Metropolis (1927)
The film ‘Metropolis’ directed by Fritz Lang was
released in 1927. It was one of the favorite movies of
George Lucas. Inspired by it, he created the most
celebrated droid C-3P0 after “Maria” the robot
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The Forbidden Planet (1956)
Forbidden Planet is a pretty old science fiction film released in 1956. The characters and setting were
inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and the plot doesn’t have much differences.
Robby’s character was inspired by the Sprite in the play.
Robby is one of the first movie robots who demonstrates his own personality.
Before his appearance, they tended to lack personality characteristics, being simple artificial machines.
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Star Wars (1977)
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Robocop (1987)
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Terminator (1984)
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ED-209 in ‘RoboCop,’ 1987
Here is another robot from the thrilling action
movie ‘RoboCop’ (1987)
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Robot Andrew in ‘Bicentennial Man’ (1999).
It is based on the well-known short story by Isaac Asimov. Robot Andrew
from the first sight seems to be the ordinary robot but the only thing that
distinguishes him is that he can feel and share his emotions.
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Robot from ‘Artificial Intelligence’
‘Artificial Intelligence’ is one of the science fiction movies where the main
character is a robotic boy who really longs to become human. The robot
depicted on the image above is also from this movie.
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Cylon from “Battlestar Galactica”
Cylons were a race of war machines created by an ancient lizard-like race extinct
centuries ago. When they discovered humans as the most practical living beings, they
copied human bodies and became even more invulnerable. Cylons could live forever
because every part of their body could be changed or repaired.
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Robot B9 is a fictional character of several science fiction films. This one was taken from
“Lost in Space” released in 1998 and directed by Stephen Hopkins.
Robot B9 from “Lost In Space”
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Sonny in “I, Robot’”
That is how the robots may look like in the year 2035. Sonny is a fictional character from
the movie “I, Robot” directed by Alex Proyas.
The events take place exactly in 2035 year, when the robots have become an integral part
of people life. But Sonny has appeared the smartest one.
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Marvin in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” 2005
Marvin is the ship’s robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold. Marvin’s personality can
be characterized in the following way: he is apparently afflicted with severe
depression and boredom, he is very intelligent, but rarely is able to use his brain.
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WALL-E is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar
Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot
named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the
future. He eventually falls in love with another robot named EVE, and follows
her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his
kind and humanity.
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Timeline
1818-1942: robots are described either in novels and
plays or in science fiction stories (Frankenstein, RUR,
Asimov, …)
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Timeline
1945: tele-manipulators used for nuclear products
processing
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Timeline
1948: Grey Walter (UK) builds “turtle robots” Elmer
and Elsie
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Timeline
1956: Unimation is the first industrial robot firm
1961: first robot on GM car lines
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Timeline
1970: SRI Shakey
Shakey was the first mobile robot to reason about its actions.
Developed by SRI's (Stanford Research Institute) Artificial Intelligence Center from 1966 through 1972.
Shakey has had a substantial legacy and influence on present-day artificial intelligence and robotics.
Shakey had a TV camera, a triangulating
range finder, and bump sensors, and was
connected to DEC PDP-10 and PDP-15
computers via radio and video links.
Shakey used programs for perception,
world-modeling, and acting.
Low-level action routines took care of simple
moving, turning, and route planning.
Intermediate level actions strung the low
level ones together in ways that robustly
accomplished more complex tasks.
The highest level programs could make and
execute plans to achieve goals given it by a
user.
The system also generalized and saved
these plans for possible future use.
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Timeline
1975: PUMA manipulator
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Timeline
1979: Stanford cart
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Timeline
1999: Sony AIBO
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Timeline
2000: Honda Asimo
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Timeline
2004: Mars rovers Spirit & Opportunity
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Timeline
2006-7: DARPA Challenge
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The future
2011 …
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Robotic prosthesis and rehabilitation
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Brain interfaces
Neuro/brain interfaces or neuro prostheses are one of
the key emerging technologies in the next few years
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Some links
To follow the progress of robotics, IEEE Automaton blog is a good
starting point
IEEE-Robotics Society (RAS)
International Federation of Robotics (IFR)
Associazione Italiana di Robotica e Automazione (SIRI)
European Robotics Technology Platform
EURON (European Robotics Research Network)
Robotic Industries Association (RIA)
NASA Space Telerobotics Program
Willow Garage
Roboticstrends.com
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Conclusions
Il concetto stesso di robot è un concetto
filosofico, capace di suscitare interrogativi su
vita, pensiero, linguaggio e molte altre cose.
Sì, a volte mi chiedo se i robot non siano stati
inventati per rispondere a quesiti filosofici.
R. Giovannoli La Scienza della fantascienza
cita J. Sladek Tik-Tok
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A reflexion
Tutti volevano una macchina capace di eseguire la maggioranza delle
funzioni umane, però nessuno voleva una macchina umana. C’erano
problemi di intelletto: una macchina sempliciotta non sarebbe stata
meglio di una scimmia ammaestrata (e chi vuole che una scimmia
ammaestrata gli lavi la ceramica Wedgwood?), mentre una macchina
intelligente poteva perdersi nei suoi meandri cognitivi e non fare
niente […]. C’erano problemi di complessità: a una macchina
sempliciotta bisognava spiegare, nei minimi particolari, come fare una
cosa, mentre una macchina intelligente poteva decidere che per quel
giorno non le andava di fare niente …
R. Giovannoli La Scienza della fantascienza
cita J. Sladek Tik-Tok
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Previsioni per il futuro? Una cosa è certa
Non basta dotare un robot di due
braccia e due gambe
Occorre includere anche un cervello
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