1900 - 1959
The Modern Era (1900-2000)
The 20th century brings unheard of change to the globe. Microchips power the computer revolution which in turn makes the age of robots possible. The future arrives with the hum of gears and the glow of LEDs.
In the 1940s science fiction author Isaac Asimov forever changes the image of robots from soulless or evil beings to characters that can be viewed with compassion and curiosity. From this point on robots are frequent characters in science fiction, becoming more and more sophisticated and human in their depictions.
1900
The entire civilized world is connected by telegraph. In the United States there are more than 1.4 million telephones, 8,000 registered automobiles, and 24 million electric light bulbs.
1921
The word ROBOT is used for the first time in a play called "R.U.R" (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Czech dramatist Karel Capek. These robots are intelligent machines meant to serve their human makers, though the play has a dramatic ending. Karel Capek (Czech) called these powerful beings "robota" meaning forced and slavishly work. He distinguishes the robot from man by the absence of emotion.
1926
Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis is released. "Maria," the female robot in the film, is the first robot to be projected on the silver screen; she is a beautiful woman but lacks a soul.
1936
Alan Turin, the father of modern computer science, develops the Turing Machine which can model the logic of any computer algorithm, essentially investigating whether or not something can be computed. The Turing Award would later honor individuals for technical contributions to computing.
1940
Isaac Asimov writes a series of short stories about robots starting with A Strange Playfellow (later renamed Robbie) for Super Science Stories magazine. The story is about a robot and its affection for a child that it is bound to protect. Over the next 10 years he produces more stories about robots that are eventually recompiled into the volume I, Robot in 1950.
1940s
The German military uses unmanned tracked mine sweepers called Goliaths. Remotely controlled by soldiers, these wired mine detectors were easily thwarted by resistance fighters who had only to cut the wires.
1942
Isaac Asimov writes a story about robots, Runaround, which contains the "Three Laws of Robotics." He later added a “Zeroth Law.” These laws have influenced robot development in both fiction and reality since.
Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with a higher order law.
Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.
1946
John P. Eckert and John W. Mauchley develop ENIAC, the world's first fully electronic, general-purpose, programmable, digital computer. It is used for calculating ballistic-firing tables for the U.S. Army.
1948
W. Grey Walter invents Turtle robots, small, low-to-the-ground robots designed for navigation and sensor testing. They could find their way back to a charging station when their current was low.
1951
The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres in theaters. The movie features an alien named Klaatu and his robot Gort.
1951
In France, Raymond Goertz designs the first tele-operated articulated arm for the Atomic Energy Commission. The design is based entirely on mechanical coupling between the master and slave arms, a design still in use.
1951
The first Astro Boy manga (comic) is released in Japan, created by Osamu Tezuka. Astro Boy is a boy-shaped robot who helps people and fights evil.
1954
George Devol and Joe Engleberger design the first programmable robot arm and use the term Universal Automation for the first time, thus planting the seed for the name of their future company - Unimation.
1956
Aided by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nat Rochester and Claude Shannon organize The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence at Dartmouth College. The term "artificial intelligence" is coined as a result of this conference. McCarthy later went on to start the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford University (1963); he received the Turing Award for his contributions to the AI field in 1971
1956
MANIAC I, the first computer program to beat a human being in a chess game, is developed by Stanislaw Ulam.
1957
October 4 – the Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite. It took 98 minutes to orbit Earth, initiatin the U.S. / U.S.S.R. Space Race.
1958
January 31 – The U.S. successfully launches Explorer I.
1958
U.S. Congress passes the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on October 1.
1960s
The US Government begins to develop unmanned aerial drones. This work led to the Predator, Raven, Wasp and others.
1961
Unimate, the first industrial robot created by George Devol in the 1950s, works on a General Motors assembly line in New Jersey. Devol, together with Joseph Engelberger started Unimation, the world's first robot manufacturing company.
