Robotics and artificial intelligence are currently the forefront of innovations science and technology. The revolution in Robotics and AI technology is on the rise. Its effects are now being felt across a wide range of channels. One only needs to witness the exponential growth of robotic process automation companies such as UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, and others. Let us learn about some Popular Names in Robotics:
Joseph Engelberger
Engelberger was an American engineer, businessman and physicist whose lifetime achievements transformed the concept of manufacturing and society in general. He is considered The Father of Robotics. The year 1959 saw the creation of the very first working model of a robotic arm named Unimate #001 which was used by General Motors in its New Jersey production line. In 1961, he created Unimation Inc. for the purpose of advancing this idea on industrial robots. At one of the earliest trade fairs, a Unimate 1900 one of the company’s earlier robots was displayed in Chicago and was later featured by Johnny Carson during his show in the year 1966.
George D. Devol
He conceived, designed, built, and patented the world’s first programmable industrial robot. At that time, Devol was only quite young, about 9 years of age. However, it was in 1921 when Karel Capek’s celebrated play Rossum’s Universal Robots was published and the term ‘robota’ came very much into usage as the term ‘robot’ is derived from. This event would bear relevance for Devol who several decades later would design and build the world’s first-ever industrial robot.
Ichiro Kato
In 1967, Ichiro Kato from Waseda University studied medicine and humanoid robots. He started the WABOT project which later became one of the most important projects. In 1972 the project realized the first full-scale humanoid ‘intelligent’ robot ever constructed, the WABOT-1. WABOT-1 was equipped with two arms. It could stand upright on two legs, and also possessed rudimentary vision through a pair of cameras.
Dr. Toshitada Doi
Toshitada Doi is most notably ascribed the invention of AIBO. AIBO stands for Artificial Intelligence Robot and were a few series of robotic pets designed by Sony in the late 90’s. In 1998, the uncovered prototype. While the first consumer version appeared roughly about May 1999. After that time, up until nearly 2006, Sony produced new models, the majority of which resembled dogs. AIBO enabled a small amount of interaction with humans. It was already sold out in less than 20 minutes upon its launch for sale in Japan.
David Hanson
Hanson formed the company Hanson Robotics based in Hong Kong. Sophia was created and constructed by them. She made her very first public debut at the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in March 2016, in Austin, Texas, United States. Sophia has altered the otherwise traditional understanding of robots, partly due to the fact that she was awarded citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the year 2017.
All these popular names in robotics have remarkably done their work perfectly that we have gotten a lot better in technology.
