Robotics: The Past, the Present, the Future

What are robots?

Robots are defined as a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer but are pretty much everywhere and anywhere in our everyday lives. The word "Robot" comes from the Czech word “robota” which means “forced work or labor,” and the study of robots is what is known as Robotics. Forms of robotics have been around for 2000 years but the science has advanced drastically in the last few centuries. At the rate of growth robots are looking to advance the intelligence of humans with the next 30 years and though one definition of them describes "(especially in science fiction) a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically," already these machines replicate human activity with ease and pretty soon telling the difference between a robot will be no easy task. But before we can look into the future advances of robotics it is important to understand their past and origin. 

History of Robots

Robotics date as far back as 2000 years as many scientists started the gradual progression of the robots we think of today. One example is in 270BC an ancient Greek engineer named Ctesibus made organs and water clocks with movable figures. A simple invention, but a step towards making machines emulate tasks or complete tasks that a human would otherwise do. Other great thinkers like Archimedes and The Hero of Alexandria were mathematicians and physicists that also contributed to the field of robotics long before technology would make complicated robots possible. Flash forward to 1495, artist and mathematician Leonardo da Vinci creates what may be the first humanoid robot though it cannot be confirmed if the design was actually ever produced. Then robotics made a rapid progression as in 1709 "The Duck", invented by Jacques de Vaucanson. The mechanical beast could flap its wings, eat, and digest grain with each wing containing over four hundred moving parts and still mystifying people today. Robot expansion really took off in the 1900s though, with the development of the first industrial robot in 1959 by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger. Also, robots began to be utilized for more than just actions on our planet, but in 1957 the Soviet Union launched ‘Sputnik’, the first artificial orbiting satellite which marked the beginning of the space race.

A few decades later robots such as Deep Blue begin to outsmart humans as this super computer beat the number one chess player in the world. Not to mention that this is merely the beginning, as though the history of robots has been promising, the future hold possibilities we can yet to comprehend. 

Present Day Robotics

Most robots today are used to do repetitive actions or jobs considered too dangerous for humans. No more are the factory jobs that had companies worrying about worker health, safety precautions and extra expenses that come with maintaining human occupation. The workers of the future are the workers of today and for the most part, robots are the solution. Even so the robots are today may not be the ones taking over the Earth and enslaving humans...yet, but they are vital to our entire society and way of life. The various types of robots used everyday can range from industrial robots to household robots, medical, service and military robots, space robots and of course robots used simply for our own amusement. Andy Rubin, SVP at Google is a big contributor in the field of robotics today and many are wondering when the Google super power will actually become conscious. But for other uses and benefits that robots can provide, medical robots are becoming a pressing topic with much upside. As Medical News Today describes, "robots were used in 422,000 surgeries in the US - 15% more than the year before" which means that robots are taking the place of doctors, and they are doing a better job. With little to no room for error in operations robots are the perfect machines for the job as they do not make mistakes and when they do, it does not happen again. Not to mention that robot operations have grown by 15 percent in only one year which puts the growth rate for medical robots at a stunning high. Not only do they medically present great benefits but the government and NASA have collaborated to utilize their efficiency.  They even developed a system for the army is known as MASH (Mobile Advanced Surgical Hospital) where a soldier could be loaded into a vehicle with robotic surgical equipment and could be operated on by a surgeon in the mobile unit. For example P.W. Singer talks about the possibilities of robots in war scenarios in the future and present day. 

Overall, present day robotics has only touched the surface on the possibilities that the future holds. One thing that is certain though is that robots will continue to play a huge role in society, as they are already the subject of major media and social attention. 

Robotics in Today's Society

Today robots have captivated the minds of millions in theaters, video games, books and more as the sci-fi realm has created hundreds of fictional ploys on what the future can hold. 

These movies, suggest everything from the possibility of taking over the Earth and enslaving humans, to even moving away from our planet and exploring the possibilities of life on other planets or spaceships. In almost all there is a robot civilization that becomes "conscious" and therefore decides to fight their human creators but at least for now, this does not seem like the case yet. (See technological singularity blog for more details) Anyway moving away from fiction, we as humans are now looking for more than just movies with robots tending to our every need but robots that will actually socialize with us, talk to us and take care of us as the article, Are We Ready for the Rise of Social Robots states, " In a paper, computer scientist Matthias Scheutz at Tufts University points out that the efficacy of social robots could one day be turned against us. “If it turns out that humans are reliably more truthful with robots than they are with other humans, it will only be a matter of time before robots will interrogate humans,” he comments."But for the future of robotics, much is in store. Already rapid progression has spiraled out of our control and who knows, maybe one day the robots will be the ones watching.

Sources: http://robohub.org/5-areas-in-robotics-that-will-transform-society-and-their-economic-impact/
http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI108_2004_Groups/Group02/Group%2002%20Website/history_robotic.htm
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280518.php
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