Hallo Robot - Meet Your New Workmate and Friend

Meet Your New Workmate and Friend

By: Bennie Mols, Nieske Vergunst

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eBook | 15 January 2025

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Age
9 - 12

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A short history of robots, from dolls to androids Machines as man throughout history According to the ancient legend, Pygmalion made an ivory statue of a woman that was so beautiful, he fell in love with his own creation. The goddess Aphrodite transformed the statue into a real woman, and the two lived happily ever after. Literally, because the Greek myth of Pygmalion originated in classical antiquity, and was recorded in writing by the Roman poet Ovid in the first century A.D. Almost two millennia later, in 1818, Mary Shelley imagined the character of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who created a monster of his own, then gave it life with a 'secret science'. Later in the 19th century, Carlo Collodi wrote about the woodcarver Geppetto, who was given a block of living wood that he used to carve a marionette in the form of a boy: Pinocchio. It seems as if creating someone in our own image is not a recent fad, but rather an ancient tradition — perhaps even as old as humanity itself. Creating humans or humanity raises complex questions: what makes us human? Is it our human appearance? Our emotions? Is it the fact that we are imperfect: that we have scars, that we would rather eat chips than Brussels sprouts, and that we can break out in tears at awkward moments? What ties together Pygmalion's ivory statue, Frankenstein's monster and the puppet boy Pinocchio, is the combination between their humanoid form and the 'spark of life' that turns a lifeless object into a living being. Robotics enables us to combine the body and movement in order to make these kinds of visions reality. Mechanical dolls: forerunners of the robot Robots that resemble humans are often referred to as 'humanoid' or 'android'; two concepts that are closely related, but which have slightly different meanings. Humanoid robots — from the Latin word for 'man, person' — are built to resemble humans, usually with two legs, two arms, and a head. They move like humans, and can often walk upright, but they don't necessarily have a human face. Android robots — from the Greek word for 'man' — actually look like human beings, down to their hair and skin. We clearly enjoy creating things in our own image, but humanoid robots also have many functional benefits as well. Our surroundings are built to accommodate beings that are roughly 170 centimetres tall, with two legs and two arms, which observe their surroundings from our eye level, and which can sense things by hearing and touching. In order to make the best use of that world, it is simply easier to be roughly the same size and shape as humans. More than 500 years ago, long before the invention of artificial intelligence or even the computer, Leonardo da Vinci designed a complex combination of gears and pulleys in a suit of armour to create a mechanical knight. Da Vinci's notes from the year 1485 are not entirely clear, but the mechanical knight was probably able to sit down, stand up, and move its arms. From the 17th to the 19th Century, Japanese craftsmen built all sorts of mechanical dolls called karakuri to serve tea or sake to guests. The first 'robot' to be referred to as an 'android' dates from 1863, when the American J.S. Brown patented a design for a mechanical doll resembling a human: 'To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, J.S. Brown, of Washington, in the county of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented a new and Improved Toy Automaton or Doll Androides...' The doll's feet were attached asymmetrically to gears, allowing it to simulate the act of lifting its feet while walking. Unfortunately, we haven't found any evidence that this 'robot' was ever built. In the 1920s, humanoid robots experienced their first wave of popularity. In 1928, for example, the robot Eric officially opened an exhibition in London after the Duke of York cancelled at the last minute.