Invention of the robot. Robotics: Everything you need to know about robots

The history of robotics dates back to ancient times. After all, since time immemorial, people have come up with various devices for entertainment. The great mathematicians of antiquity created amazing mechanisms that can still cause genuine delight in our time. From those times to the present day, the desire to create an independently functioning mechanism has not faded away; on the contrary, it has only grown. The best world scientists are working on creating various types robots capable of performing a wide variety of functions. However, before delving into history, we should understand what robotics is.

1. What is robotics?

Robotics is a science that studies the development processes of automated technical systems based on electronics, as well as mechanics and programming. The production of robots is one of the most developed branches of modern industry. Just imagine, on this moment thousands of robots work in factories and enterprises, replacing the hard work of people.

Automated manipulators have become an integral part of various production and scientific research. In addition, robots allow us to explore space beyond our planet, where humans have no access.

If we talk about the history of robots, then the first mechanisms that perform the simplest movements can be found back in ancient times. However, the first surviving drawings and records of working robot date back to 1495. They were created by a world famous inventor, scientist Leonardo Da Vinci, who created an iron knight capable of moving his arms and legs.

If we talk about modern robots, the development of robotics dates back to 1961, when General Motors created the first robot with a moving arm that performs a certain sequence of actions recorded on a magnetic drum. In fact, this development marked the beginning of mass production of robots.

It is worth noting that the very concept of “robot” came to us a little earlier, or rather in 1921, when the science fiction writer Karel Capek wrote a play called “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” Of course, at that time it was a simple fantasy, and no one could have imagined that robots would become so deeply involved in people’s lives. A little later, 20 years later, Isaac Asimov formulated three basic laws of robotics, which determined ideas about robots:

• A robot is not capable of causing harm to a person, or allowing, through inaction, harm to a person;
• A robot must follow human commands if they do not contradict the first law;
• A robot must ensure its safety as long as this does not contradict the first and second laws.

The active development of robotics and mass production of automated machines began in the 1970s. First of all, these were industrial robotic machines that were used in production. They successfully replaced people on assembly lines and performed repetitive work, which significantly reduced the number of industrial accidents and also increased the productivity of enterprises.

Of course, robots are not capable of working independently. To control them, people are needed who constantly monitor the progress of work and, if necessary, can turn them off or reconfigure them.

Nowadays, robots have become even smarter. Some factories, such as IBM's keyboard assembly facility in Texas, have fully automated production. Moreover, all work from the moment of unloading materials until receiving the finished product is performed by robots. Such factories do not require lighting and can operate 24/7.

2.1. Types of robots

A brief history of robotics allows us to understand how rapidly this field is developing. Only a little more than 50 years have passed from the appearance of the first robot capable of performing a few simple movements to the mass production of a wide variety of robotic mechanisms and machines. In addition, today there is a huge variety of household robots that can significantly simplify the daily life of ordinary people.

Scientific activity in the development of robotics is very high. Every year, international conferences on robots are held, national and international scientific and technical meetings are held, and so on. Every year appears a huge number robots capable of replacing people in the workplace, helping in everyday life, entertainment robots, and even robots working in medicine.

An interesting fact is that today robots are able to build other robots, which in turn will work in the production of the same automated machines. Already at the moment, many science fiction books have become a completely normal and familiar reality, and it is not difficult to imagine what kind of robots will be among people in 10-20 years.

To understand what kind of robots can generally be found in modern life, you should understand some terms:

• Mechanism;
• Robot;
• Android;
• Car.

So, a machine is a set of mechanisms that replace a person or animal in a certain area. Such devices are usually designed to convert one type of energy into another. In the vast majority of cases, machines are used to automate labor.

A mechanism is the use of certain materials to perform certain mechanical functions. All mechanical designs are based on mutual adhesion, as well as the resistance of bodies.

A robot is a machine with anthropomorphic (human-like) behavior that is partially or fully capable of performing the functions of a human (or animal) under certain conditions.

Android is a concept from science fiction, which is already becoming a reality in our time. This is a robot that looks like human-like. The goal of the android is to replace a person in any type of activity.

Knowing what a robot is, one can only imagine what functions it can perform. Nowadays, robots can take a wide variety of forms, from pets to huge industrial installations - from robotic vacuum cleaners to real robots from fantasy stories playing on musical instruments or performing important tasks on other planets.

2.2. Advances in robotics

It is difficult to describe all the modern achievements in the development of robotics. However, everyone agrees that most high achievements Modern robots working in medicine have become part of this field. With their advent, new opportunities opened up for humanity to carry out the most delicate operations that even the most trained and experienced person is unable to perform.

It would take forever to describe all existing achievements, so let’s pay attention only to the most interesting developments. For example, robots playing music. Yes, this is no longer fantasy - this is real reality, accessible to everyone. Modern technologies allow you to create groups of robots playing various musical instruments. At the same time, robots do not make mistakes and do not need rest.

Imagine a rock band consisting entirely of robots. Just 10 years ago this was the wildest fantasy, but today it is reality. Of course, machines cannot write music themselves; they are programmed by people. Despite all the achievements of modern robotics, all robots are still controlled (programmed) by people and carry out exclusively pre-programmed commands.

In addition, robots work in a wide variety of areas:

• In construction;
• On production lines;
• In medicine;
• In the entertainment industry.

3. Robotics: Video

It is thanks to robots that our lives are the way we see them. Many things used in Everyday life, have become more accessible due to the work of machines that do not require wages and work in three or even four shifts.

Space exploration was largely made possible thanks to robots. Moreover, modern automated machines make it possible to obtain rock samples from other planets, meteorites and comets. This in turn makes a significant contribution to the work of scientists. It is worth noting a certain relationship - the more “smart” machines become, the faster technologies develop that make it possible to make even more advanced and “smart” machines.

4. Prospects for the development of robotics

The development of robotics has far-reaching prospects. If you look at the history of the development of this field, you can understand that the development of robotics is accelerating every year. And given the importance of automated machines in a wide variety of industries, especially in medicine, it is not difficult to imagine the hopes that lie in them.

Despite the fact that the history of the development of robotics began relatively recently, this area of ​​technology already has a very high level. The world's best scientists are working tirelessly to create new types of robots - from nanorobots that will be used in medicine to treat various diseases, to independent machines with advanced artificial intelligence. At this point, one can only imagine to what heights technology in robotics will be able to reach in the near future.

In the 12th century, the Arab Al-Jazire invented and designed several mechanical devices that could play music. However, what these devices looked like, whether they played well and whether they could be called the first robots is still unknown. Images of a mechanical man were found in Leonardo da Vinci's drawings. The genius assumed that his device would be able to sit and even move. The German philosopher Albert the Great not only invented, but also designed a robot, which he called the iron servant. According to some sources, the device could not only move and perform simple actions, but also answer simple questions. However, the philosopher's student named Thomas considered the iron servant to be the devil and destroyed his teacher's invention.

In the 17th century by different people More and more “intelligent machines” were created. The inventors assured that their creations would soon save people from hard work. However, in all cases it turned out that a living person was hiding inside the mechanism. There is a known case when a mechanical man, created by V. Kempelen, knew how to play chess. Once, during one of the games, spectators standing around the chess table rushed to the exit, somewhere shouts of “Fire! Fire!". The mechanical chess player was also frightened. It turned out that the person who operated the device also responded to the false alarm. In 1738 humanoid robot created by the Frenchman J. Voknason. His creation could play the flute skillfully. ABOUT future fate of this android nothing is known.

XX century

In 1927, an American engineer named Wexley took part in the World's Fair in New York. There he demonstrated his invention - a human-like robot that obeyed voice commands and could perform simple movements.

In the middle of the 20th century, the desire to make robots humanoid was overcome. Engineers considered that in some cases it is much more convenient to move on tracks or on. In the 1950s, human-controlled manipulators appeared, making it easier to work with radioactive materials. In the 60s, a self-propelled robot was patented, which was a cart with a camera and microphone. This device was supposed to conduct reconnaissance in places of radioactive contamination and transmit information to headquarters.

In 1962, the era of industrial robotics began in the United States. The robots were named “Versatran” and “Unimit”. They were equipped with manipulators similar to a human hand, but the engineers decided not to make them more similar to people.

Over time, innovative robots appeared: scouts, cleaners, waiters, and even a robot policeman. The presentation of the latter took place in 2009. This robot is equipped

As long as humanity can remember, there has been a desire in people to shift hard work onto someone else... of course, there have always been forced people - those are slaves - but slaves, unfortunately, are also people: they get tired, get sick, and finally - they sometimes have a tendency to rebel.. ... Now, if you could create a mechanism that could do everything that people do - and at the same time would not have the shortcomings of a living being...

Certainly. The gods were the first in this matter: the ancient Greek god-blacksmith Hephaestus made workers for himself... but myths are myths - and which of the people accomplished something similar in reality?

This was done in the 12th century by the Arab scientist Al-Jazeera. He created an ensemble of four mechanical musicians (unfortunately, the invention has not survived to this day, and there was no sound recording at that time - so it is difficult to say how highly artistic the performance was).

There is a drawing of a mechanical man in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Whether Leonardo implemented this idea in practice is unknown, but if he did, it would have been just an interesting experiment that would not have much practical significance: a mechanical man could only sit, spread his arms and raise the visor of a knight’s helmet - no other functions were expected .

Here's the famous one German philosopher Albert the Great made a very useful “iron servant” who could even answer questions! But he didn’t have time to use it for long: Albert’s student Thomas (the future “angelic doctor” Thomas Aquinas) mistook the mechanical man for the devil and broke him.

Particular interest in this topic arose in the 17th century, even “machine minds” appeared... however, each such case turned out to be, if not fraud, then a clever trick in which people were hiding in machines - just remember the mechanical Turk playing chess, designed by the Austrian inventor B .Kempelen... but we must pay tribute: the inventor managed to keep the audience under his spell for a very long time, and an incident contributed to the exposure: during one of the performances, shouts were heard in the hall: “Fire!” True, the alarm turned out to be false - but the panic was real, and blows were heard inside the machine gun...

But the French inventor J. Voknason created a real robot in 1738. He was humanoid (nowadays such devices are called androds). It is difficult to say whether J. Vaucanson thought about the work of his predecessor Al-Jazari (1136-1206), but this android was also a musician - he played the flute... really, it is not clear why the inventors of the past so wanted to replace musicians with androids? Are my “brothers in the craft” really characterized by a particularly quarrelsome character? And why is this idea not in demand among science fiction writers? Which one then dramatic novel one could write (or make a film) about the adventures of a robot musician, in which the public sees only a funny “mechanical toy” - and does not want to see creative individuality...

But let's get back to our robots! Of course, neither Al-Jazari, nor Albertus Magnus, nor J. Vaucanson called their inventions that way... the word is - Czech origin, and was first used in 1920 by the Czech writer Karel Capek in the play “R.U.R,” which tells about a factory where “ artificial people"... K. Capek at first wanted to call “artificial people” with another word - “labori”, but considered it too pedantic and turned to his brother for advice, and J. Capek came up with the word “robot”, derived from the Czech “robota” - which means “corvée”, “forced labor”), possibly “rob” (slave).

K. Capek's play is quite pessimistic: robots rebel and destroy humanity... But, apparently, such gloomy forecasts of the writer did not frighten the American engineer D. Wexley: in 1927, at the World's Fair in New York, he presented the first humanoid robot capable of performing simple tasks movements at the command of a person.

But why, in fact, should a robot be humanoid? After all, if it performs one specific function - why does it need two arms, two legs, and indeed - in some cases it is much more convenient to move on wheels or tracks... and when the desire for “anthropomorphism” was overcome, the robots from “ mechanical toys"turned into something useful: in the 50s. XX century Mechanical manipulators for working with radioactive materials appeared (they repeat the movements of the hands of a person located at a safe distance) in the 60s. – a remote-controlled cart with a manipulator, a microphone and a camera – for examining radioactive contamination zones...

And finally, in 1962, the first industrial robots were created in the USA. They were called Unimate and Versatran. There was nothing anthropomorphic about them anymore - except for a manipulator that vaguely resembled a human hand. These robots coped with their duties perfectly (and some of them still do it).

Since then, robots have been confidently “conquering” production, and more recently, other areas of activity: robot scouts, robot waiters, robot cleaners appeared... In 2009, a robot policeman was first introduced (so far only in exercises), equipped with a VSK-94 rifle, a Yarygin pistol and a launcher for hand grenades (however, the matter never went beyond the exercises)... in a word, it is difficult to name a field of activity where robots would not be “noted.” In some places, they even replace pets - for example, many Japanese are so attached to robotic puppies that they associate low birth rates with this phenomenon... in addition, the Japanese are also going to simulate birth rates using robotics: not so long ago, a robot baby Yotara was created, on which young spouses can acquire parenting skills, and most importantly, comprehend the joys of motherhood and fatherhood...

Were science fiction writers right when they spoke about the danger of robots for humans?

To a certain extent, yes: since Japanese worker Kenzi Urada died at the hands of a robot in 1981, the number of victims of robots has been increasing every year... but it is far from matching the number of people dying under the wheels of cars - and to refuse this For some reason, no one is going away from vehicles. Today no one seriously discusses the rebellion of robots. Much more serious is the danger that S. Lem warns about in “The Diaries of John the Quiet”: robots have completely replaced people in production, as a result, enterprises have mountains of goods that cannot be sold, and people all over the planet are dying en masse from hunger: human labor has become unnecessary, no one has a job - therefore, no money...

However, this is still a long way off... And the further, the more science fiction writers develop another topic: if a robot really becomes like a person, if it acquires intelligence and emotions, how will our relationship with such a robot develop? And more and more works are appearing in which robots evoke much more sympathy than people - just remember the films “Artificial Intelligence”, “I, Robot” or storyline replicators from the planet Asuras in the series “Stargate: Atlantis” (in the latter case, people generally look like some kind of fascist-like monsters)…

Will we end up leaving not only labor operations, but also moral principles to robots?

10 robots that influenced history the most

• Robotics

• Translation

It wouldn't be right if GeekTech didn't write anything for Robotics Week, and if there's one thing this blog loves, it's robots. Robots are constantly around us, from the coffee maker in the kitchen to the assembly lines at work. But where did the first robots come from? Who were the founders of the robots we see now?

There are hundreds of incredible robots out there, but we've selected a few of the most significant and memorable ones in chronological order.

Around 350 BC: The Pigeon

This first “robot” is very old indeed. Archytas, Greek philosopher, astronomer, mathematician and statesman, outlined the principles of mechanics. One of his projects was a wooden mechanical bird. It was powered by steam and could fly to a height of up to 200 meters. This invention may not only be the first robot on the planet, but also the first flying device.

1495: Leonardo's Robot

Leonardo da Vinci also took part in the history of robots. He designed the first humanoid robot. In 1495, he created a robot knight, which, judging by the sketches, could stand, sit, raise his visor and move his arms.

Using original sketches, modern designers managed to recreate the robot. The copy can perform all of the above movements.

1738: The Duck

French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson created several autonomous robots in his time, but The Duck is one of his most outstanding works.

The mechanical duck had more than 400 various parts, which isn't too surprising considering what she could do. The duck could flap its wings, eat, digest its food, and then defecate. It was quite an impressive robot!

Vaucanson managed to “teach” the robot to digest food by installing compartments for chemical decomposition of grain.

Only now, 274 years later, modern robots have appeared with similar capabilities, for example, although he can only digest, unlike the duck, which could perform other fun “tasks”.

Unfortunately, no one knows what happened to the original duck. However, in the museum in Grenoble there is a replica of the duck created by a watchmaker.

1898: Tesla's Remote-Controlled Boat

You may know Nikola Tesla for his electric coils, but he has another achievement in the field of robots.

When Nikola was looking for a way to demonstrate his wireless transmission system (what we now know as radio waves), during a conference he put an iron boat in the water at Madison Square Garden and controlled it with a remote control, the boat received the signals and carried out Nikola's commands. At the time, no one understood how a remote-controlled boat would affect the future of robots, toys, radios and other devices we use today.

1962: The Unimate

In the 60s of the 20th century, inventors invested a lot of effort into the development of robotic manipulators, but one of the most important inventions was The Unimate arm. It was one of the first industrial robots and was installed on the General Motors assembly line to reduce the likelihood of injury and death on the job. The device could fold pieces of hot cast metal and weld body parts. Unimate is currently in the Hall of Fame with robots like R2-D2 and HAL.

1966: Shakey the Robot


Shakey the Robot was one of the first truly successful robots with artificial intelligence. He could understand his own actions. If you gave Shakey a task, it would analyze it, unlike other robots that needed specific instructions.

Shakey demonstrated his ability to think and react by moving through rooms and hallways, turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors, and moving objects. The robot is currently retired and is housed in a museum in Mountain View.

1989: Genghis

Have you ever wondered which robot was one of the first to learn to walk? This is Genghis. This six-legged autonomous robot, created by the Mobile Robots Group in the laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was not only famous for its ability to walk, but also for how quickly and cheaply it was produced. However, it needs 4 microprocessors, 22 sensors and 12 servos to function.

His walk was called "the Genghis Gait". The robot's first steps:

1997: NASA Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner

NASA has also contributed to the development of incredible robots, but the robot that really stands out is Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner.

Its main goal was to demonstrate the technologies needed to send a robot to Mars efficiently and economically. The robot managed to enter the atmosphere of Mars and send a lot of useful data about the Red Planet to Earth for further study.

1998: Lego Mindstorms

It wouldn't be GeekTech without mentioning LEGO. The Mindstorms series kits, containing programmable software and hardware, were among the cheapest and simple ways for those who wanted to make their own robot. The series was inspired by Seymour Papert's book Mind Storm: Children, Computers, and Big Ideas, in which the mathematician proposed simple theory learning by doing.

2000: ASIMO

Back in 1986, Honda announced its intention to take part in a project to create a humanoid robot capable of not only existing with people, but also surpassing their abilities. A little later, Honda announced ASIMO, one of the most impressive robots. He can emulate a person's gait, use his hands, speak and listen, and see and recognize people and objects. Of course, ASIMO has a ways to go before it can surpass human capabilities, but Honda already has a lot of ideas for the robot's future development.

Robotics- an applied science that deals with the development of automated technical systems.

The word "robotics" (in its English version"robotics") was first used in print by Isaac Asimov in the science fiction story "Liar", published in 1941.

Robot (Czech robot, from robota — forced labor or rob — slave) — an automatic device created on the principle of a living organism.

Acting according to a pre-programmed program and receiving information about the outside world from sensors (analogues of the sensory organs of living organisms), the robot independently carries out production and other operations usually performed by humans (or animals). In this case, the robot can both communicate with the operator (receive commands from him) and act autonomously.

“Modern robots, created on the basis of the latest achievements of science and technology, are used in all areas human activity. People have received a faithful assistant, capable of not only performing life-threatening work, but also freeing humanity from monotonous routine operations.” I. M. Makarov, Yu. I. Topcheev. “Robotics: History and Prospects”

Appearance and design modern robots can be quite varied. Currently, various robots are widely used in industrial production, appearance which (for technical and economic reasons) are far from “human”.

Story

Information about the first practical application The prototypes of modern robots — automatically controlled mechanical people — date back to the Hellenistic era.

Then, at the lighthouse built on the island of Pharos, four gilded female figures. During the day they glowed in the rays of the sun, and at night they were brightly illuminated, so that they were always clearly visible from afar. These statues, turning at certain intervals, beat off the bottles; at night, they made trumpet sounds, warning sailors about the proximity of the shore.

The prototypes of robots were also mechanical figures created by the Arab scientist and inventor Al-Jazari (1136-1206). So, he created a boat with four mechanical musicians who played tambourines, a harp and a flute.

Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci

A drawing of a humanoid robot was made by Leonardo da Vinci around 1495. Leonardo's notes, found in the 1950s, contained detailed drawings of a mechanical knight capable of sitting, extending his arms, moving his head and opening his visor. The design was most likely based on anatomical studies recorded in Vitruvian Man. It is unknown whether Leonardo tried to build a robot.

WITH early XVIII century, reports began to appear in the press about machines with “signs of intelligence,” but in most cases it turned out that this was a fraud. Living people or trained animals were hidden inside the mechanisms.

French mechanic and inventor Jacques de Vaucanson created the first working humanoid device (android) in 1738 that played the flute. He also made mechanical ducks that were said to be able to peck food and "defecate."

Types of robots

Industrial robots
The advent of numerically controlled machine tools has led to the creation of programmable manipulators for a variety of machine loading and unloading operations.

Appearance in the 70s. microprocessor control systems and the replacement of specialized control devices with programmable controllers made it possible to reduce the cost of robots by three times, making their mass implementation in industry profitable. This was facilitated by the objective prerequisites for the development of industrial production.

Despite their high cost, the number of industrial robots in countries with developed manufacturing is growing rapidly. The main reason for mass robotization is:

“Robots perform complex production operations 24 hours a day. The manufactured products have high quality. They... don’t get sick, don’t need a lunch break or rest, don’t go on strike, don’t demand a raise wages and pensions. Robots are not affected by temperature environment or exposure to gases or emissions of aggressive substances dangerous to human life.”

Medical robots
IN last years robots are increasingly used in medicine; in particular, are being developed various models surgical robots.

As early as 1985, the Unimation Puma 200 robot was used to position a surgical needle during computer-controlled brain biopsies.

In 1992, the ProBot robot developed at Imperial College London performed the first prostate surgery, marking the beginning of practical robotic surgery.

Da Vinci robot

Since 2000, Intuitive Surgical has commercially produced the Da Vinci robot, designed for laparoscopic surgeries and installed in several hundred clinics around the world.

Household robots

One of the first examples of successful mass industrial implementation of household robots was the AIBO mechanical dog from Sony Corporation.

iRobot robot vacuum cleaner

In September 2005, the first humanoid robots, Wakamaru, produced by Mitsubishi, went on sale for the first time. The robot, worth $15 thousand, is capable of recognizing faces, understanding certain phrases, giving information, performing some secretarial functions, and monitoring the premises.

Robotic cleaners (in essence, automatic vacuum cleaners) are becoming increasingly popular, capable of cleaning an apartment independently and returning to their place to recharge without human intervention.

Combat robots

A combat robot is an automatic device that replaces a person in combat situations or when working in conditions incompatible with human capabilities, for military purposes: reconnaissance, fighting, mine clearance, etc.

Drone

Combat robots are not only automatic devices with anthropomorphic action that partially or completely replace a person, but also operating in the air and water environment that is not a human habitat (remotely controlled unmanned aircraft, underwater vehicles and surface ships).

Currently, most combat robots are telepresence devices, and only a very few models have the ability to perform some tasks autonomously, without operator intervention.

IN Institute of Technology Georgia, under the leadership of Professor Henrik Christensen, have developed insectomorphic robots resembling ants, capable of inspecting a building for the presence of enemies and booby traps (delivered to the building by a “main robot” - a mobile robot on a caterpillar track).

Flying robots have also become widespread among the troops. At the beginning of 2012, about 10 thousand ground and 5 thousand flying robots were used by the military around the world; 45 countries around the world were developing or purchasing military robots.

Robot scientists

The first robot scientists Adam and Eve were created as part of the Robot Scientist project at Aberystwyth University and in 2009 one of them made the first scientific discovery.

The robots used to study ventilation shafts can certainly be classified as robot scientists. Great Pyramid Cheops. With their help, the so-called “Gantenbrink doors”, etc. "Cheops niches". Research continues.

Travel system

To move around open areas, a wheeled or tracked propulsion device is most often used (Warrior and PackBot are examples of such robots).

Walking systems are used less frequently (BigDog and Asimo are examples of such robots).

BigDog robots

For uneven surfaces Hybrid structures are being created that combine wheeled or tracked travel with complex kinematics of wheel movement. This design was used in the lunar rover.

Indoors, at industrial facilities, robots move along monorails, along floor tracks, etc. To move along inclined or vertical planes, through pipes, systems similar to “walking” structures, but with vacuum suction cups, are used.

Robots are also known that use the principles of movement of living organisms - snakes, worms, fish, birds, insects and other types of robots of bionic origin.

Robot Tuna

Pattern recognition system

Recognition systems are already capable of identifying simple three-dimensional objects, their orientation and composition in space, and can also complete missing parts using information from their database (for example, assembling a Lego constructor).

Engines

Currently, DC motors, stepper motors and servos are commonly used as drives.

There are developments of engines that do not use motors in their design: for example, the technology of reducing material under the influence of electric current (or field), which makes it possible to achieve a more accurate correspondence of the robot’s movement to natural ones smooth movements Living creatures.

Mathematical basis

Aibo robot

In addition to the already widely used neural network technologies, there are self-learning algorithms for the interaction of the robot with surrounding objects in real life. three-dimensional world: the robot dog Aibo, controlled by such algorithms, went through the same stages of learning as a newborn baby, independently learning to coordinate the movements of its limbs and interact with surrounding objects (rattles in a playpen). This provides another example of a mathematical understanding of the algorithms of the work of higher nervous activity in humans.

Navigation

Systems for constructing a model of the surrounding space using ultrasound or scanning with a laser beam are widely used in racing robotic cars (which already successfully and independently pass real city routes and roads on rough terrain, taking into account unexpected obstacles).

Appearance

In Japan, the development of robots that have an appearance that at first glance is indistinguishable from a human does not stop. The technique of simulating emotions and facial expressions of robots is being developed.

In June 2009, scientists at the University of Tokyo introduced the humanoid robot “KOBIAN”, capable of expressing its emotions — happiness, fear, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust — through gestures and facial expressions.

Robot KOBIAN

The robot is able to open and close its eyes, move its lips and eyebrows, and use its arms and legs.

Robot manufacturers

There are companies specializing in the production of robots (among the largest are iRobot Corporation). Robots are also produced by some companies working in the field of high technology: ABB, Honda, Mitsubishi, Sony, World Demanded Electronic, Gostai, KUKA.

Robot exhibitions are held, e.g. the world's largest International robot exhibition (iRex) (held in early November every two years in Tokyo, Japan).