Who created the first working robot in the world. What was the first robot in the world? Origin of the word "Robot"

Humanity has always tried as much as possible to make everyday life and work easier. And in the course of this evolution, a class of machines - robots - emerged, and with it a whole direction - robotics. One of the countries in which this discipline is most actively developed is Japan. The developers plan to use robots not only, but also in everyday life. Scientists hope that in the coming decades they will become as commonplace as the use of smartphones.

However, where did the timid steps in the history of robotics begin?

I-III centuries AD

This is where the story of robots begins. The first statues of gods with moving limbs and heads in Ancient Egypt, Babylon, China. Automatic ball created by Archimedes, with reflection heavenly bodies. Automatic systems of Heron of Alexandria for the sale of holy water.

Middle Ages

The most popular at that time were automatic watch movements and human figures that were moving.

In 1495 - Leonardo da Vinci's project - a mechanical man.

In the mid-1700s, watchmakers Pierre-Jacquet Droz and his son Henri-Louis Droz developed automatic systems. The word “android” comes from the name of the latter.

By 1805, mechanisms emerged that gave rise to the creation of automatic machines.

The play Rossumovi univerzální roboti (“Rossum’s Universal Robots”) by the Czech author Karl Capek was released, which gave the world the word “robots” - creatures that are mechanically and intellectually more perfect than humans.

The topic of robotics was revealed most widely and significantly in literature in the cycle of stories “I, Robot”. Now, it seems, even a person far from this field knows about the three laws of robotics.

1928 - “Mr. Televox” (author - engineer J. Wensley, USA) - a humanoid robot that performs movements on command. Another robot - “Naturalist” (Dr. Nishimura Makota) - an android that laid the foundation Japanese history robotics Was able to move his limbs and head:

Technical progress in robotics has moved towards improved control systems. A developed sensor system is typical for such robotic systems: Unimate, Hitachi, Westinghouse.

The period from 1970 to 2000 is characterized by active growth and development of the industry: the use of new controllers, the development of programming languages, the launch of the first robots into space and the emergence of machines that create robots.

The two thousand years were marked.

In the history of the origin of words with Latin roots, there are oddities that can only be explained by ignorance of the origin Latin language.
The Latin language was formed on the basis of Vulgar Latin (street language - vulgarus > vulica - street (pre-Slav.)), which was spoken by ordinary people ancient city Rome.
Vulgar Latin is at the same time a Proto-Slavic language - the predecessor of the Slavic languages.
For example, it is generally accepted that the word “robot” was coined by the Czech writer Karel Capek in 1920.
Here are links from sources.
"Robot
The origin of the word "robot" is indisputable, but, oddly enough, little known.
In 1921, the famous Czech writer Karel Capek wrote the play "R.U.R." (“Rossum’s Universal Robots”), the characters of which were people and robots - artificial people.
Capek's robots were not mechanical, but biological creatures. They simply lacked some human functions, in particular the ability to fall in love.
Capek derived the word “robot” from the Czech robota - in our language “work”.
One of the characters in the play CEO company "R.U.R.", answering the question "What are robots?", says: "Robots are not people... they are mechanically more perfect than us, they have incredibly strong intelligence, but they have no soul."
Thanks to these qualities (“mechanical perfection” and “incredibly strong intelligence”), robots are able to work and improve like humans. In the play "R.U.R." robots, originally created to replace people in factories, soon got out of the control of people and began to destroy their creators.
The images and ideas of K. Capek in many ways anticipated and scientific and technical progress and fantasy."
“The word robot was coined by the Czech writer Karel Capek and his brother Josef and first used in Capek's play R. W. R. (“Rossum’s Universal Robots,” 1920). Early Russian translations used the word "raic soulless devices"
Information about the first practical use of prototypes modern robots- mechanical people with automatic control - refer to Hellenistic era. Then, four gilded female figures were installed on the lighthouse built on the island of Farosm. 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, harp and flute.
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.
In the 16th-18th centuries Western Europe The construction of automata - winding mechanisms that externally resemble humans or animals and are sometimes capable of performing quite complex movements - has become widespread. In the collection Smithsonian Institution there is one of the earliest examples of such automata - the “Spanish monk” (about 40 cm in height), capable of walking by hitting his chest right hand and nodding his head; periodically he brings the wooden cross in his left hand to his lips and kisses it. It is believed that this automaton was made around 1560 by mechanic Juanelo Turriano for Emperor Charles V.
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.”
The origin of the word “robot” is described in more detail in the article.

“Who actually came up with the word “robot”?

The word "robot" came into use with light hand Czech writer Karel Capek. In his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920, Capek describes a factory producing " artificial people", which he calls robots.
But, contrary to popular belief, Karel Capek did not invent this word. In a short letter to the compilers of the Oxford Dictionary in English he names his older brother, artist and writer Josef Capek, as the actual originator of the word "robot".
Some argue that the word "robot" was first used by Josef Capek in his short story“Opilec” (“The Drunkard”) published in 1917. But this is also not true, in this story the author uses the word “automatic”. And the word “robot” actually appears for the first time in Karel’s play “RUR”.
And here is an excerpt from an article by Karel Capek, in which the whole story is told in detail by Capek himself.
“... it was like this: the idea for the play came to the writer at one inopportune moment. But while she was still warm, he hurried to his older brother Joseph, the artist, who stood in front of the easel and painted so that the canvas crackled.
“Listen Joseph,” said the writer, “I have an idea for a play.”
- Which? - the artist muttered (he really muttered, because at that moment he was holding a brush in his mouth. The author told him the idea as quickly as he could.
“Then write this,” the artist remarked, taking the brush out of his mouth and stopping work on the canvas.
“But,” said the author, “I don’t know what to call these artificial workers.” I want to call it Labori, but that seems too pedantic to me.
“Well, call them Robots,” muttered the artist with a brush in his mouth and walked up to the canvas.
That's how it was. This is how the word Robot was born..."
Thus, the word robot came to us from Czech language and means “forced labor, hard labor.” .
In fact, the word “robot” is of common Slavic origin and originates from Vulgar Latin.

Etymology of the word "robot"

The English word Labor - labor is borrowed from the Latin language, where l;bor - work, labor; difficulty, disaster (lat.).
At the same time, the Latin word l;bor comes from Vulgar Latin and means “slave”, “work”, “labor”. You just need to read the word l;bor inversely:
l;bor > rabij/rabota/trudij/orudij - slave/work/labor/tools (pre-Slavic) (Inv. l;bor, replacement j/l; replacement t/l; omission t, replacement d/b, j/ l)
Another Latin word op;ra - work, effort, labor; work, product; worker; mercenary; service; leisure; time (lat.) also in the Slavic interpretation means work.
opera > rabota/upiranj – support/rest/work (glor.)(omission n; inv. op;r, reduction b/p, omission t)
The musical word “opera” also comes from the Slavic root “work”, in the sense of “work”.
Opera (Italian opera from Latin work, product, work) [TSE].
However, “in meaning, so to speak, in essence,” as Mr. Golokhvastov said, “opera” is connected with the Slavic root “singing.”
Opera – opera > co-pelnaj > so-pelnaj – co-singing, co-singing (glorious) (reduction l/r, s/c, skipping n)/so-pevanj- co-singing (glorious) (replacement v/l), i.e. “singing together.” Hence, the derivative word “capella”, which linguists correlate with the Late Latin capella, and transfer to Italian. cappella - “chapel” - a room for singers.
Josef Capek did not need to invent anything. He, as an artist, with out-of-the-box thinking, simply reversed the word Labori and intuitively came up with the original Vulgar Latin root, which means "work."
“A robot (from the Slovakian robota) is an automatic device with an anthropomorphic action that partially or completely replaces a person when performing work in monotonous, life-threatening conditions or when the object is relatively inaccessible.” [VP]

Abbreviations

SPI - A Word about Igor's Campaign
PVL – Tale of Bygone Years
SD - Dahl's dictionary
SF - Vasmer's dictionary
SIS - dictionary of foreign words
TSE – Dictionary Efremova
TSOSH - explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov, Shvedov
CRS – dictionary of Russian synonyms
BTSU - Ushakov’s large explanatory dictionary
SSIS - combined dictionary of foreign words
MAK - small academic dictionary of the Russian language
VP – Wikipedia
EBE - Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
TSB - large Soviet encyclopedia

1. Robot, http://www.robo-homo.ru/robo-lenta/robo-glossary/142.html
2. Robot, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
3. Who actually coined the word “robot”?

When we imagine a robot, we usually think of human-shaped electronic machines - such as cyborgs or androids - or other computerized autonomous devices, such as Roomba. But the definition of the word "Robot" covers a deeper meaning.

A robot is any machine or mechanical device that operates automatically or semi-automatically. This means that the "robot" is not necessarily limited to being powered by electricity.

By far the most common application of modern robots is in manufacturing. They are used to make production more efficient for the company, cheaper for the consumer and safer for the employees. But where did this word come from?

Origin of the word "Robot".

The word "Robot" was coined in 1920 by Karel Kapek and his brother Josef Kapek. Karel was a Czech writer who coined words to name the artificial creatures in his play. Dissatisfied with the word laboři (or "workers" in Latin), his brother suggested roboti from Latin word robota (meaning "serf labor").

In 1944, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov decided to expand on it and coined the word "robotics" for use in his story "Escape". He later began repeating the word in many of his books. This helped increase the popularity and use of the word.

What was the first robot in the world?

Aside from mythological tales that involve mechanical servants built Greek gods, clay golems of Jewish legend and clay giants of Norse legend, the first real documented example of a robot was invented by the Greek mathematician Archytas in the 4th century BC. He created a wooden mechanical steam bird, which he called the “Dove”.

It is believed that the bird was suspended from the end of a turning rod, and the apparatus was rotated under layers of compressed air and steam. Information about the "Dove" was found in the writings of Heron of Alexandria, who described it as "controlled by water, rotating weight and steam." Not only does it claim to be the first known robot, but it is also the first documented recording of a scientist trying to figure out how birds fly.

What about modern robots?

Robots and robotics are developing more and more at a fast pace. We sent robots into space to explore planets for us, in nuclear reactors and even instead of soldiers for the war on terror. The industry itself is evolving in unpredictable but exciting ways. For example, the robot shown in the video below features a robotic "pop star" that sings and dances for an audience:

PS: The first person killed by a robot was Kenji Urada in 1981. Urada was repairing a broken robot at the Kawasaki plant in Japan. After failing to completely disable him, the robot pushed him into a grinding machine, resulting in his death.

Various automatic devices occupy such a strong place in human life that it is almost impossible to imagine without them. modern civilization. However, the history of robotics is very long; people have been learning to create various machines throughout almost their entire history. Of course, ancient machines cannot compare with modern ones; they were rather their similarities. However, they demonstrate that the ideas of creating machines, in particular the artificial imitation of humans, can be traced back to the most ancient layers of human history.

The emergence of the word "robot"

This word was introduced into use by the famous Karel Capek. He first used the term in the title of his play Rossum's Universal Robots, published in 1920. However, he cannot be considered the author of the word “robot”; it just comes from the Czech robota, which simply means “work”. According to the writer himself, his brother Joseph suggested the word, while Capek himself could not decide what to name his characters.

The plot of Capek's play will seem familiar to many: at first, people exploit their mechanical servants in various hard jobs, then they rebel and, in turn, enslave people.

In the modern understanding, a “robot” is a mechanical device that operates according to given program independently, without human help.

The concept of robotics and its laws

In 1941, Isaac Asimov's famous laws of robotics were formulated in the story "Liar", which are designed to regulate the behavior of these machines.

1. A robot cannot cause damage to a person or, through inaction, allow this damage to be caused.
2. A robot must obey a person as long as it does not contradict the first law.
3. A robot can defend itself if this does not contradict the first two laws.

Subsequently, based on these laws, Asimov himself and other authors created a huge layer of works devoted to the relationship between people and machines.

Azimov introduced the very concept of “robotics”. A word once used in fantasy story, is now the name of a serious scientific branch engaged in the development and construction of various mechanisms, process automation, etc.

Machines of the ancient world

The history of robotics goes back to ancient times. Some kind of robots were invented in Ancient Egypt more than four thousand years ago, when priests hid inside statues of gods and talked to people from there. At the same time, the statues' arms and heads moved.

If you give some free rein to your imagination, you can find references to robots, for example, in myths Ancient Greece. Homer also mentions mechanical servants whom he created for himself ancient greek god Hephaestus, the giant Talos, created by him from bronze to protect Crete from the enemy. Plato tells the story of the scientist Archytas of Tarentum, who made an artificial pigeon capable of flying.

In the 3rd century BC, Archimedes allegedly made an apparatus extremely reminiscent of a modern planetarium: a transparent ball, driven by water, which displayed the movement of all celestial bodies known at that time.

In the Middle Ages, people had already begun to create real machines that could do many interesting things. Attempts to create the first humanoid machines also date back to the Middle Ages.

Albert the Great, a famous alchemist of the 13th century, created an android that served as a gatekeeper, opened the door when knocked and bowed to guests (an android is a robot that copies a person in appearance and behavior). He also designed a mechanism capable of speaking. human voice, the so-called talking head.

Who was the first to create a robot?

The design of the first robot, about which reliable information has been preserved, was created by Leonardo da Vinci. It was an android that looked like a knight in armor. According to Leonardo's drawings, he could move his arms and head. Remains open question, why the famous inventor did not endow his knight with the ability to move his legs, i.e., to walk. Perhaps he considered it a technically difficult problem (which is entirely true). Or it was assumed that the knight had to ride a horse, and the mobility of his legs was not necessary for him.

It is not known for sure whether Da Vinci was able to build his “terminator”, but he designed a robot lion, which, when the king appeared, tore his chest with his claws, revealing the coat of arms of France hidden in it.

In addition, Leonardo also had ideas about the interaction of mechanisms with human organs, i.e., already at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries he anticipated modern developments prostheses controlled directly nervous system person.

Mechanical musicians and walking locomotives

During the 16th century, many devices were created in Europe, mainly using winding (clock) mechanisms. For example, in Germany an artificial fly and an eagle were made that could fly, and in Italy a robotic woman played the lute.

IN during the XVII century, Europeans developed and improved the first mechanical “calculators”. At first they can only add and subtract, but by the end of the century they are already capable of division and multiplication.

• development of machines that imitate and replace humans and their actions;
• creation of devices designed for storing and processing information.

At the same time, mechanical humanoid devices continue to be created that can play musical instruments, write and draw.

The onset of the 19th century was marked by the beginning of people's “friendship” with electricity. It begins to spread quickly and penetrate into many areas human activity. At the same time, various mechanical computing and analytical machines were being improved, and the telephone and telegraph were invented.

There are stories of various humanoid machines allegedly invented and used in the United States during the 19th century:

• in 1865, designer Johnny Brainard created the so-called steam man, who was harnessed to a cart instead of a horse. It was, in fact, a steam locomotive that looked like a person (only much larger in size). He had to be constantly “stoked”, and he was controlled like a horse by the reins. It was claimed that he could “walk” at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
• After some time, Frank Reed experiences " electric man", however, little is known about this invention.
• In 1893, Archie Campion introduced a model of a steam-powered artificial soldier called the Boilerplate, which was allegedly used many times in practice, i.e., in battle.

All this information is interesting, but raises some doubts, since, despite the seemingly outstanding characteristics, these products never went into production. mass production, unlike steam locomotives, steamships, and so on. Most likely, they existed only in the form of prototypes and never found their application, being, in fact, toys for adults.

20th century - the era of the heyday of robotics

In the 20th century, the history of robotics entered its final stage, which led to the creation of the robots that humanity knows now.

Breakthroughs are being made in the field of electronics, diodes and triodes appear. The first tube computers were first developed in theory and then implemented.

At the same time, the first electronically controlled remote control, capable of moving and talking, is created. Then an electronic dog appears that responds to light and can bark.

By the end of the first third of the 20th century, radio-controlled androids learned to talk on the phone, walk, even act as lecturers at an exhibition, smoke cigarettes, and so on. At that moment, many already thought that there was little left - and robots would replace people. However, then it becomes clear that it will not yet be possible to use the androids of that time for any kind of work due to the insufficient development of technology at that time.

But these conclusions do not stop inventors - androids continued to appear and are still being developed.

In the 1940-1950s, the improvement of electronics, computers and computer programming continued, and the concept of “ artificial intelligence“, after which a significant leap in development occurs and they begin to quickly “get smarter”.

Finally, from the beginning of the 60s, the dream of humanity began to come true - machines began to replace people in hard, dangerous and uninteresting jobs. The first robotic manipulators appear modern type. First, they perform only the most inconvenient operations for humans, then automatic assembly lines are created.

Over time, people's craze for robots begins. Many clubs and robotics schools are opened for children, and various educational toys and construction sets are produced. The entertainment industry also does not stand aside - in 1986 the first part of the Terminator film was released, which created a real sensation around the world.

Domestic robotics

The history of robotics in Russia, as well as in Europe, goes back more than one century. For some time now, Russian scientists have been keeping up with their European colleagues in designing various machines: last third In the 18th century, a computing machine called the Jacobson machine was created in Russia, and in 1790, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin created his famous “egg” clock. Several human figures were built into them, which performed certain actions, and the clock also played a hymn and other melodies.

It was Russian scientists who made several landmark discoveries for the history of robotics. Semyon Nikolaevich Korsakov laid the foundations of computer science in 1832. He developed several machines capable of performing intelligent calculations, using punch cards to program them.

Boris Semenovich Jacobi invented and tested the first electric motor in 1838, the fundamental design of which remains relevant to this day. Jacobi, having installed it on a boat, took a walk along the Neva with its help.

Academician P. L. Chebyshev In 1878, he presented the first prototype of a walking vehicle- a stationary car.

M.A. Bonch-Bruevich invented a trigger in 1918, thanks to which it became possible creation the first computers, and V.K. Zvorykin a little later demonstrates the electron tube, which gave rise to television.

The first computer appeared in the USSR in 1948, and already in 1950 the MESM (small electronic calculating machine) was released, at that time the fastest in Europe.

Officially, the history of robotics in Russia can be counted since 1971. Then, at the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, a department of special robotics and mechatronics was created, headed by academician E.P. Popov. He became the creator of the domestic school of engineering robotics.

Domestic science competed worthy with foreign ones. Back in 1974, he became the world champion at a chess tournament among machines. And the Elbrus-3 supercomputer, created in 1994, was twice as fast as the most powerful American computer of that time. However, it was not put into mass production, perhaps due to the difficult situation in the country at that time.

Russian automatic cosmonauts

The official beginning of robotics in Russia dates back to 1971. It was then that it was officially recognized as science in the USSR. Although by that time the machine guns Russian production They were already exploring the expanses of space with all their might.

In 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite entered orbit. In 1966, the Luna-9 station transmitted a radio signal to Earth from the surface of the Moon, and the Venera-3 apparatus, having successfully reached the planet, installed a USSR pennant there.

Just four years later, two more lunar stations were launched and both completed their missions successfully. The Lunokhod-1 apparatus, delivered by the Luna-17 station, worked three times longer than planned and transmitted a lot of valuable information to Soviet scientists.

In 1973, another station of the same series delivered another lunar rover to the Moon, which also coped with its task perfectly.

Robotics in our time

Modern robots have penetrated into many areas of human life. Their diversity is amazing: here are just children’s toys, and entire automated factories, surgical complexes, artificial pets, military and civilian unmanned vehicles. Many organizations around the world are engaged in their constant development and improvement. In Russia, the leading position in scientific robotics is occupied by the Central Research Institute RTK (Central Research Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics) in St. Petersburg, founded in 1961 as a design bureau at the Polytechnic Institute. This largest center developed electronic systems for the Buran spacecraft, Luna series stations and the international space station.

The specialty “Mechatronics and Robotics” and similar ones are present in many technical universities peace. Specialists with such education are in great demand in the labor market, because automation is penetrating deeper into many areas of human activity. For those interested in the subject free time Many books on robotics have been published, both in Russia and in other countries.

Despite the fact that current technology has reached unprecedented heights, and robots are actively used by people, their humanoid representatives - androids - still remain “out of work”. They are being improved and developed more and more complex models, but in practical application they are still hopelessly inferior to their wheeled, tracked and even stationary “colleagues” and remain, by and large, toys. The fact is that human walking is a very complex process, which is not so easy for a machine to imitate.

Moreover, from a practical point of view, it is in humanoid robots there is no urgent need. Stationary manipulators combined into automatic production lines successfully operate in industry. Where it is necessary to move - be it loading work in a warehouse, clearing bombs, inspecting destroyed buildings - wheeled and tracked drives are much simpler and more efficient than imitation of human legs.

Nevertheless, people do not give up working on androids; competitions are regularly held around the world in which representatives of various schools of robotics demonstrate their skills in controlling their products. Tournaments are constantly organized directly between machines, for example, in chess or football.

Classification of robots

There are several classification methods. Based on the nature of the work performed, automatic machines are divided into industrial, construction, and Agriculture, for transportation, household, military, security, medical and research.

Based on the type of control, they are divided into operator-controlled, semi-autonomous and fully autonomous.

The first type of cars are simply remote controlled cars ( simplest example- children's radio-controlled car or helicopter). Semi-autonomous can perform part of the operations independently, but in key points human intervention is still required. Fully autonomous robots perform the entire range of operations independently (for example, manipulators of automatic assembly lines).

Based on the level of mobility, the following classes of robots are distinguished: stationary and mobile. Stationary ones are the same manipulators that everyone is used to seeing, for example, in automobile factories. Mobiles are further divided into walking, wheeled or tracked.

Drummers of modern production

Various industrial productions are the industry in which it finds practical use the main part of modern automatic devices.

The history of industrial robotics begins in 1725, when punched paper tape was invented in France and used to program weaving machines.

The beginning of production automation occurred in the 19th century, when mass production of automatic looms using punched cards began in France.

Henry Ford installed the first conveyor line for assembling cars at his plant in 1913. Assembling one car took about an hour and a half. Of course, this line was not yet fully automated, as it is now, but it was an entry to a qualitatively new level of production.

The official use of robots in manufacturing began in 1961, when the first officially manufactured robotic arm was installed at the General Motors plant in New Jersey. This machine operated on hydraulic drives and was programmed through a magnetic drum.

The boom in developments in the field of industrial automation occurred in the 70s of the 20th century. In 1970, the first modern manipulator for use in industry was created in the USA: it had electric drives with six degrees of freedom and was controlled from a computer. In parallel, development was carried out in Switzerland, Germany and Japan. In 1977, the first Japanese-made robot was released.

In the early 80s, General Motors began automating its production, and already in 1984 Russia began it - AvtoVAZ acquired a license for the independent production of robots from the German company KUKA Robotics. However, the palm still belongs to the Japanese - in the mid-90s, two-thirds of the total number of robots in the world were concentrated in Japan, now it is about half.

Today, it is almost impossible to imagine automobile, or any other continuous production, without mechanical assistants. The first place is occupied by automatic welding machines. The accuracy of robotic laser welding is tenths of a millimeter. Such a device is capable of simultaneously cutting metal into parts.

Next come the mechanisms that carry out loading and unloading operations, feeding blanks into machines and storing finished products.

In third place in terms of automation level is forging and foundry production. At the moment, almost all such workshops in Europe are robotic, since the working conditions there are very difficult for people.

Other operations for which automatic machines are most often used are bending pipes, drilling holes, milling and grinding surfaces.

Where can machines replace people?

The answer to the question of whether a person or a robot should do a particular job lies in the differences between people and machines. On this moment even the most advanced machines operate according to certain algorithms pre-programmed (albeit sometimes very complex ones). They have no free will, freedom of choice, desires, impulses, nothing that defines the creative component of a person.

A robot can perform work of great complexity and precision, and will be able to perform this work in conditions in which a person would not survive for even an hour. But he will not be able to write a book or a script for a new film, or create a painting, unless this was previously implanted in his memory by a person.

Therefore, creative professions, where non-standardism and unconventional thinking are important, certainly remain with people. A robot can be a welder, loader, painter, even an astronaut, but it cannot become (at least at the current stage of development) a writer, poet or artist.

Should we be afraid of robots?

The main fear of humanity in relation to machines is the fear that they, having become perfect, will one day stop obeying and begin to live their own lives, turning people into slaves. This fear went hand in hand with the development of robotics. It finds its expression both in mythology (eg. Jewish myth about a golem rebelling against its creator), and in art. Famous films"The Matrix", "Terminator", a great many books telling about the rise of the machines. The play that gave life to the word "robot" also ends with the enslavement of humanity by its former servants.

However, on modern stage development of science, these fears are meaningless. Robots do not have human-like consciousness, so they cannot have any desires at all, let alone the desire to take over the world.

In order to reproduce consciousness in a machine, a person must first understand what his own consciousness is, how and from what it is formed. The answer to this question lies in the depths of the human brain, which has not yet been fully explored.

In order to “revolt,” robots need to understand what world domination is and why they need it.

Until this moment, any, even the most complex and perfect machine, is fundamentally no different from a food processor or coffee grinder. Therefore, the question of who will ultimately be in charge on Earth - a robot or a person - is not yet pressing.

Where did the word ROBOT come from? November 2nd, 2013

What is a robot? One of the definitions says that Robot - This is a machine with anthropomorphic (human-like) behavior that partially or completely performs the functions of a person (sometimes an animal) when interacting with the outside world.

Where and how did the word ROBOT come from?

The term robot first appeared in the play "R.U.R" (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1917, published 1921) by author Karl Capek, co-authored with his brother Josef. .Which tells the story of the creation of a robot production facility by a father and son.

The word “robot” is Czech, meaning “forced labor” (and is a relative of the Russian “work”). Capek initially called his creations “laboratories” from the Latin word labor - work. But then, on the advice of his brother, he changed the name to robot from the Czech word robota - hard forced labor. The first translation of the play into Russian introduces its own version - “robotar”.

Cheap and unpretentious workers for humans. However, they were able to produce their own kind and soon filled the entire planet. And so on.

Scene from the play "RUR".

One of the characters in the play, the general director of the RUR company, answering the question “what are robots?” says: “Robots are not people... they are mechanically more perfect than us, they have incredibly strong intelligence, but they have no soul.” This is how the new concept of “robot” first appeared, which soon began to play important role not only in science fiction literature, but also in science and technology.

But, contrary to popular belief, Karel Capek did not invent this word. In a short letter to the compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary, he names his older brother, the artist and writer Josef Capek, as the actual originator of the word "robot".

And here is an excerpt from an article by Karel Capek , in which the whole story is told in detail by Capek himself.
“... it was like this: the idea for the play came to the writer at one inopportune moment. But while she was still warm, he hurried to his older brother Joseph, the artist, who stood in front of the easel and painted so that the canvas crackled.
“Listen Joseph,” said the writer, “I have an idea for a play.”
- Which? - muttered the artist (he really muttered, because at that moment he was holding a brush in his mouth. The author told him the idea as quickly as he could.
“Then write this,” the artist remarked, taking the brush out of his mouth and stopping work on the canvas.
“But,” said the author, “I don’t know what to call these artificial workers.” I want to call it Labori, but that seems too pedantic to me.
“Well, call them Robots,” muttered the artist with a brush in his mouth and walked up to the canvas.
That's how it was. This is how the word Robot was born..."

Three laws of robotics science fiction- mandatory rules of behavior for robots, first formulated by Isaac Asimov in the story “Runaround” (1942).

The laws state:

1. A robot cannot cause harm to a person or, through inaction, allow a person to be harmed.

2. A robot must obey all orders given by a human unless those orders conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must take care of its safety to the extent that this does not contradict the First and Second Laws.

Let me remind you of a few more stories of the origin of words: or for example And here's something else that I really liked -

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -