Evolution of Robots Handout 1

Descriptions of ancient robots date back to the 1st century. These devices are known as
automatons, from the Greek word automatons, or “acting of one’s own will.” Automa-
tons are non-electronic moving machines that mimic human or animal actions.

In 1495, Leonardo da Vinci designed a complex humanoid automaton, which could

possibly perform human-like motions like sitting, head and arm movement. The robot
appears to be a warrior or knight, dressed in German-Italian medieval armor.

Elektro, was built by Westing- house Electric Corporation between 1937 and 1938. He
is seven feet tall and weighed 265 pounds. He could walk by voice command.

In 1961, Unimate became the first industrial robot to work at the assembly line of a New
Jersey General Motors plant. The machine undertook the job of transporting die
castings from an assembly line and welding these parts on auto bodies.

Shakey was developed from approximately 1966 through 1972. It was the first general-
purpose mobile robot that combined logical reasoning and physical action. Shakey was
developed at the Artificial Intelligence Centre of Stanford Research Institute.

ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda in 2000. ASIMO can walk or run at
speeds of up to 3.7 MPH (6 km/h)...

Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics.

Sophia was activated on April 19, 2015. She is able to display more than 62 facial
expressions.