sign in sign up
<<
Home , History of robots, Karakuri puppet, Kuratas, Tanaka Hisashige, Unimate

POSTER 2017, PRAGUE MARCH 24 1

Magicae Machinas Milestones in and History

Gil Goldman

Dept. of , Czech Technical University, 120 00 Praha 2, Praha, Czech Republic [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. In this article, we will cover a brief history of what a robot is: in his famous 2015 article “The Road to and throughout history, examine some Super Intelligence”, the blogger Tim Urban refers to robots of the world’s firsts, and cover a few modern intelligent simply as a “container for ”1. Andy and pre-intelligent systems. Rubin, inventor of the operating system, said in a 2016 interview with WIRED magazine that every machine We will discuss the Antikythera mechanism, Al Jazari’s could become a robot if it will “First… sense. Next, it must Floating Orchestra and Elephant , the of Pierre compute. Then, it must actuate”2. The International Jaquet-Droz and Jacques de Vaucanson, and Tanaka’s Federation of (IFR) draws the distinction between famous Karakuri. We will also discuss modern robots such two types of robots: industrial robots - “An automatically as the pre-intelligent, remote or direct controlled controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose and TALON robots, and intelligent systems the likes of programmable in three or more axes, which may be either Asimo and Amazon’s robot swarms. fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial applications”3 – and service robots – “… is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment excluding Keywords industrial automation application”4. In professional circles, however, a robot is most commonly referred to as a Robotics, History, Automatons, Myths, Legends, machine capable of making decisions. Machines, history of robotics, history of automatons, robotics in mythology, modern robotics, industrial robotics, intelligent systems 2. Robots of the Past In this section, we will cover two aspects of robots in 1. What is a robot? history: machines in various mythologies and cultures, and actual automatons throughout history. We Robot. The very word conjures vivid and widely will contrast and compare their complexity, capabilities, varied images in our mind, visions of miraculous feats or of and purpose. terrible horrors. However, the definition of a robot and its cognitive weight have changed significantly across the centuries, between different countries and sometimes even from one person to the next. So before we review their history, we must first ask ourselves - What is a Robot?

The term “Robot” comes from the medieval Czech- Slavic word “Robota”, originally meaning the work a 1 The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Part 1 vassal, or peasant, was obliged to do for their ruling lord http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial- for no payment. It was first used in its modern context in intelligence-revolution-1.html Karel Čapek’s 1920 play called “R.U.R”, Rossum’s Universal Robots (originally “Rossumovi Univerzální 2 What Is a Robot? Roboti” in Czech), which weaves the story of the creation of artificial humans to be used for cheap labor, quickly https://www.wired.com/2016/02/editors-letter- followed by the artificial revolt and the end of march-2016/ humanity. 3 Industrial robots according to the IFR: However, despite being the first to use the word, http://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/

Čapek’s Robots are more akin to modern – 4 synthetic humanoids, rather than cognizant machines. As Service Robots definition according to the IFR: the word evolved and changed as it has sparked the http://www.ifr.org/service-robots imagination of thousands, resulting in many definitions for 2 GIL GOLDMAN, MILESTONES IN ROBOT AND AUTOMATON HISTORY

2.1 Mythical robots and humanoid However, perhaps the most renowned golem is the machines – golems, androids, and monsters Golem of Prague – brought to life by Rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague, to fight those who From the day we have started producing artifacts, spread the infamous Blood Libels of the time. The Golem humanity has been enamored by the idea of infusing a was activated every Sunday and deactivated every Friday, inanimate object with artificial life. Along the centuries, we to prevent it from preforming sacrilege and violating have grown fond of telling fables of such instances when Saturday, or the holy Shabbat, during which Jews must rest legendary smiths and engineers have brought machines to and are forbidden from working. According to legend, one life. Friday night, the Rabbi forgot to deactivate the Golem, and it went on a rampage across Prague. The Rabbi eventually It seems that the first to tell the tale of cognizant caught up to the golem, fought it outside the Altneuschul – machines were the Chinese, apparently the first in history Prague’s old-new synagogue, and eventually defeated it by to have discovered the wonders of the automaton. as erasing the first letter of the word inscribed on the golems mentioned in The Writings of Master Lei (“列子” (Lei forehead, E’Met, thus changing its meaning from Truth to Zi), in Chinese). According to the Lei Zi, the ingenious Met – Dead. Jewish legend says the clay remains of the artificer Yan Shi has presumably created a fully functional, Maharal’s Golem were hidden in the Old-New synagogue’s human-like android for the entertainment of King Mu of th attic, where they remain locked to this day, waiting for a the Zhou Dynasty, approximately during the 10 century powerful rabbi to activate it again should it be needed to BC. The android has allegedly walked, talked, danced, protect the Jews of Prague. sang, and “…winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance…”5. It is assumed that the android myth was created solely to glorify the Zhou Dynasty, as the 2.2 Ancient automatons – navigational book goes to great lengths to show that the androids and defecating ducks anatomy was compliant with the way human anatomy was perceived at the time of writing. We may find evidence of As is human nature, we have always aspired to it in the book in the form of “…The king tried the effect of achieve our fantasies and make our dreams reality – and the taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no dream of a functioning automaton was not different. longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no The first mechanism to be considered as an automaton longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their was the Antikythera Mechanism. Nicknamed “The World’s power of locomotion…”6. First Analog ”, the Antikythera Mechanism was Another famous instance of mythical humanoid discovered in April 1900 on a sunken ship near Antikythera machines are the Jewish Golems – powerful beings made Island in Greece, after which it is named. The mechanism of clay, dirt, or metal, created by the greatest and most was stored in the Athens National Museum for more than powerful Jewish Mekubbals (Jewish mystics) in times of 50 years, until in 1951 Professor Derek J. De Solla Price dire need or great danger. There are two general types of has heard of the device, and spent over 20 years Golems: the first type of Golem is created by Ashkenazi intermittently analyzing it with his colleague Charalampos mystics, made of clay or dirt, and draw its strength from Karakalos, a Greek nuclear physicist. words of power, usually derivatives of the 70 different The Antikythera Mechanism was recovered from the names for God in Jewish mythology, written on a piece of sunken ship as a block of dirt, rusty bronze, and tin, and parchment deposited in the Golem’s mouth. was later separated into its distinct 82 pieces7, and was The second type, the Sephardic Golems, were made dated to the year 87 BC, though more recent measurements of various metals (bronze, iron, etc.) and drew their power have estimated it to have been created up to 120 years from the astral effect of the stars. Golems, by their very earlier, around 200 BC. The mechanism is believed to definition, were machines – inanimate, mute humanoids, have been used as an astronomical clock – predicting E’Met) eclipses, holidays, and the cycles of the ancient Olympic ,אמת) activated by writing the Hebrew word Truth on a piece of jewelry given to the Golem, or directly unto Games. The mechanism’s front dial is assumed to have the Golem’s body. Golems were used mainly as labor, to been decorated with Zodiac signs and a Sothic Egyptian preform demanding and repetitive physical tasks or, thanks Calendar, whose month names were the original Egyptian to their hulking physique, as protection during times of names transcribed into Greek. strife. The first Golem in Jewish mythology is said to be The mechanism had a lever, which has yet to have Adam, the first man, created by god out of clay, and given been recovered, through which the mechanism was limited intelligence and purpose. operated. Rotating the lever would move a date pointer, which would be used to set the desired date. It was, 5 Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China: Volume 2 7 from the Greeks. The Antikythera 6 J. Needham, Science and Civilization in mechanism: a calendar computer from ca 80 B.C., by De Solla Price, New York, NY (USA): Science China: Volume 2 History Publications POSTER 2017, PRAGUE MARCH 24 3 however, impossible to externally set a year to be His most famous invention, the Elephant Clock, was calculated, so a prerequisite to using the mechanism was to heavily influenced by Indo-Chinese clockwork technology, know the year to which it was calibrated. Rotating the lever and Al Jazari payed homage to his predecessors in the would move the date pointer at a rate of 78 days per full external design of the clock – he explains in his writings rotation, as well as all the other parts of the mechanism, that the elephant represents India; the two Dragons instantly calculating the position of the Sun, Moon, and the represent China, the Phoenix represents Persia, and the other planets of the solar system, as well as Eclipses and Turban represents Islam. A working replica of the Elephant moon phases. In his 2012 article, Tony Freeth has Clock could be found outside the Musée d'Horlogerie du discovered that due to an error in the way the Greek have Locle in Le Locle, Switzerland, as well as in Dubai. calculated the movement of the planets, the pointer would have missed the planets accurate position by up to 38 degrees8. While there are several hypotheses, it is currently unknown who had created the mechanism, where, who for, and how it found its way onto the shipwreck. The Antikythera Mechanism would remain the most complex known mechanism for more than 1000 years.

Elephant clock replica, Dubai The remains of the Antikythera mechanism However, One of Al Jazari’s most notable achievements, and his personal favorite, was his Floating The next time the world would see such intricate Orchestra, a boat with 4 musicians on it that played music. inventions was during the Islamic golden age, when the The boat would sail around a pond, measuring the time as it Muslim polymath Badi' al-Zaman Abu-'l-'Izz Ibn Isma'il went, and every 30 minutes the band on the boat would Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, better known as Al Jazari, set the play shortly. Al jazari’s boat had pegs, which, once moved, standard for polymaths across the world, influencing many would make the band’s drummer play different rhythms. from Leonardo de Vinci to Pierre Jaquet-Droz. Several The band’s flute player was also adjustable, and the entire researchers claim that Al Jazari’s ingenious mechanisms, automaton could operate independently for up to 15 cycles, from automatons to water , were the greatest 30 minutes each10. achievement since the Antikythera Mechanism9. The reason some researchers hold this belief is that unlike some predecessors, all of his mechanisms are described in minute detail in his book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Al-Jami' bayn al-'ilm wa-'l-'amal al- nafi' fi sinat'at al-hiyal in Arabic), and using nothing more than his original work, many of them were recreated.

8 Freeth, Tony; Jones, Alexander. "The

Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism". Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2012. 10 Ibn al-Razzaz Al-Jazari (ed. 1974), The Book of 9 Ahmad Y Hassan; Donald Routledge Hill (1986), Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. Translated and annotated by Donald Routledge Islamic Technology: An Illustrated History, Hill, Dordrecht/D. Reidel, Category II, Chapter 4 Cambridge University Press 4 GIL GOLDMAN, MILESTONES IN ROBOT AND AUTOMATON HISTORY

Al Jazari’s Floating orchestra painting, from “The book of The Writer, Front view knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices”

Al Jazari’s work has inspired many famous scientists and engineers, including a young man called Pierre Jaquet- Droz. Jaquet-Droz first came across Al Jazari’s work during his time in the University of Basel. Jaquet-Droz was studying math and physics, and took a few classes in theology, yet he dropped out to join his family’s business as watchmakers11. At first, Jaquet-Droz focused on pendulum clocks, but soon drifted to automatic mechanisms, which inspired him to build his famous automatons. Jaquet-Droz gained notoriety for building the most intricate automatons, even The Writer, Back view at one point scaring off the entire court of the king Pierre Jaquet-Droz’s work fit the times well – In 18th Ferdinand the VI of Spain who believed his automatons to century France, everything was perceived to be a machine. be sorcery. His automatons were unique in that unlike most The world was a machine operated by God, the government automatons in his time, the mechanism which drove them was a machine conducted by the king, and the people are were housed inside the automatons body, rather than machines themselves, which can be fixed by doctors. hidden somewhere, like in a piece of furniture on which the During that fascinating time of machinery, another automaton would sit. This led to seemingly living dolls, mechanical craftsman rose to fame - Jacques de who would sing, play music, and would tell the time. Vaucanson. De Vaucanson was already well renowned for One of Jaquet-Droz’s most complicated and most his innovative work at the time Jaquet-Droz revealed his famous of his surviving automatons is “The Writer” – an writer, even commenting that Jaquet-Droz will almost 6000 piece automaton that still functions today, a “…Complete what I’ve begun”12. De Vaucanson rose to sign to its creator’s genius. The Writer was a small doll, fame due not only to his showmanship, but also due to his which would pick up a quill of goose feather, dip it in ink, mechanical aptitude, creating highly sophisticated shake it the excess ink off, and would proceed to write a Automata, which were revolutionary at the time, and preprogrammed text in 4 lines of 10 characters each, while advanced technologies that are still used to this day. its eyes follow along with the writing motion. Despite creating seemingly lifelike automata such as a flute player that played up to 12 songs and a drummer to drum along, De Vaucanson is most known for his smallest,

most elaborate creation – the “Canard Digérateur”, or The Digesting Duck. The digesting duck was a masterpiece of complexity, with up to 400 separate parts in each of his

wings alone. The duck was apparently incredibly lifelike, being able to walk, quack, flap its wings, drink, eat, and, as its name implies, “digest” - consume food through its beak and defecate out the other end. Famous magician Jean- Eugène Robert-Houdin (after whom Houdini named himself) later revealed it to be a trick, where pellets of wet

11 M. Kang; “Sublime Dreams of Living Machines”, 12 Baumunk/Kallinich/Sänger (Hg.): "Die Roboter Harvard publishing (2001) kommen! Mensch - Maschine - Kommunikation". 2007 POSTER 2017, PRAGUE MARCH 24 5 breadcrumbs and green dye were set in advance in the rear his company - Tanaka Seisakusho – which his son renamed end of the duck, to be excreted when necessary. De as Shibaura Engineering Works. After a merger in 1939 Vaucanson, always in pursuit of new passions, sold the with another company called Denki, it became duck in 1743. The original duck was destroyed in 1879, Tokyo Shibaura Denki, or as we know it today, . and only two replicas are known to exist today. Tanaka’s most famous work is in fact one of his first – a Karakuri (Japanese Automaton Doll) called Bow Shooting Boy. This automaton was delicate and complex, and its mechanism bore subtle hints of French automaton design. The Bow Shooting boy was a statue of a boy in a Kimono, sitting on a pedestal and holding a bow. When activated, the automaton would bow down, pick an arrow from an automatic quiver, load it unto his bow, and fire up to four arrows at a target.

Canard Digérateur schema However, De Vaucanson’s legacy was much greater than three automatons. In order to make the duck’s digestive system reliable, he has invented the world’s first flexible rubber tube, revolutionizing industry across Europe. Yet his greatest contribution was the modification of Basile Bouchon’s punch tape – a long paper tape with holes in set locations to control a loom – into the first recorded instance of wooden punch cards. While seemingly minor, it marks the first real change in Automata in almost 2000 years. Before De Vaucanson’s punch cards, control of Automata was mostly done at the mechanical level, using intricate gears and clockwork to pre-determine all possible behaviors of an automaton. Until the punch cards, changing an automatons action would require disassembling it and Bow Shooting boy, Toshiba corporation collection changing its internal mechanism, while De Vaucanson’s The Automaton is powered by a complex set of gears, punch cards allowed machines to be designed to do several most of them hidden away in its base. The most impressive different tasks and human operators to choose which part of the automaton is its durability – as most of the “behavior” of the machine was required – thus becoming mechanism is made of precision-crafted gears and parts, one of the first instances of programmable external the only parts that decayed were several strings – meaning controllers in history. that with minor adjustments, the automaton still functions Word of De Vaucanson’s work has travelled far and wide, today in its original form. inspiring hundreds of craftsmen to create many incredible Many of these automatons were considered as automata. On the other side of civilization, in 18th century miracles at the time – acts of witchcraft and sorcery, , Tanaka Hisashige (田中 久重) studied his work in granting inanimate objects reason and intellect, and his (Western studies) classes. Tanaka was one commanded fear as much as admiration. Thousands of Japan’s greatest engineers, and his skill was renowned: at years of myths regarding intelligent machines seem to have the request of his lord, he built Japan’s first Steam come true to the observers of these automatons, who would from nothing but a Dutch reference book and seeing a often feel that the machines were alive. However, unlike demonstration of one by Count Yevfimy Vasilyevich the automatons of myth and legend, the aforementioned Putyatin, a Russian diplomat. Later in his life, he moved to automatons would have been lifeless, and their behavior Roppongi, a neighborhood in today’s Tokyo, and started would have been scripted to the finest detail. A small 6 GIL GOLDMAN, MILESTONES IN ROBOT AND AUTOMATON HISTORY change in the way they were handled would have shattered switches16, and was created to be versatile – the robot was the illusion, reminding all that there were just machines. had a crude arm shape, which palm could be replaced These automatons would be considered in today’s terms depending on the task which it faced17. The could, read only programmable computers, and the first steps when outfitted with the correct “palm” and with only minor humanity took on its journey to automate the mind. changes to its “program”, move objects around, weld, pour a beer, and even conduct the Tonight’s Show band18. The Unimate, being the first of its kind, was slow, bulky, and 3. Robots of the Present expensive – despite being a revolutionary product, Davol and Engelberger’s company, inc, showed its Somewhere along the way, humanity has discovered first profit in 197519. the benefit of delegating our physical labor to machines. Eventually, we also realized the huge potential of delegating not only physical tasks, as was done with the plough and the tractor, but also thinking tasks and decisions. In this section we will cover a few examples of machines, which have been built with this idea in mind: industrial, service, and entertainment robots.

3.1 Industrial Robotics – The first steps Today we see industrial robotics as this giant field, encompassing everything from how we build cars to how we operate the International Space Station. However it all Demonstration of the Unimate #1, The Tonight show had a rather humble, clumsy and clunky beginning – the Unimate. On the opposite end of the scale lies Amazon’s Robotic warehouse – the latest in industrial robotics. In and George Davol built Unimate, March 2012, Amazon purchased Kiva systems, a robotic the first recognized , in 1959. Davol, a logistics company, starting the largest non-governmental master engineer and inventor of the barcode13 who patented effort to employ robots in logistics to date. his “Programmed Article Transfer”14 in 1954, met Engelberger in 1956 in a cocktail party. Upon discussing The Robotic warehouse designed and built by Kiva is their mutual love of science fiction literature, particularly a form of advanced distributed robotic system. Once an that of , Davol told Engelberger about his order is placed, the system locates the nearest Kiva Bot, a patent. Engelberger, excited about the possibilities of such small, electrically powered orange AGV (Automated machines, have taken it upon him to see Davol’s machine Guided Vehicle), which then heads to a storage unit, which come to life, and in 1959 their effort came to fruition in a holds the item, connects to it, and moves the entire unit to a prototype - the Unimate #001. pick up point. It then waits with the entire unit until dismissed, at which point it returns it to its place, and the The Unimate was designed with Asimov’s first rule of system then sends the bot to its next mission. The entire robotics in mind – “A robot may not injure a human being warehouse is governed by a system, which uses the tiny or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to robots to bring storage units to the human operators rather harm”15. This idea Engelberger, the more business than having the workers search the warehouse manually for shrewdness of the two, used to the fullest – pitching the each item. Unimate #001 specifically for jobs dangerous for humans, eventually being deployed in 1959 in a General Motors die casting plant in Trenton, New jersey. The nearly 2-ton robot was controlled by a crude magnetic drum based memory system with data parity controls, as well as a network of vacuum tubes as

16 13 George Munson; “Pity the Pioneer: The Rise and Jeremy Norman; “History of information: The First Fall of Unimation, Inc.” Excerpt, Robot Magazine (2010) Industrial Robot” (2004) 17 14 Google Books, Jr Davol - US 2988237 A Sean McCollum; The Fascinating, Fantastic Unusual (2011), Capstone Press 15 Isaac Asimov, “Runaround” (1942), 18 Astounding Science Fiction, Published by Street “A Tribute to Joseph Engelberger” (2016), and Smith Publishing Robotics.org 19 J. Norman; “History of information: The First Industrial Robot”(2004) POSTER 2017, PRAGUE MARCH 24 7

sent on reconnaissance missions. Its continued use by so many organizations led to many outfits and upgrades to the basic platform – some for better monitoring, others for work in Hazmat environments, and some even for combat20.

Kiva Bots in action, Amazon Warehouse The exact mechanisms and workings of the Kiva Bots are a closely guarded secret, and shortly after being bought by Amazon the company did not renew any of its previous contracts, focusing on improving the internal operations of Amazon instead. Modified TALON with combat extensions 3.2 Service robotics – The gateway to However, security and war are not all a robot can do, society and applications to everyday services are being explored by the giants of the robotics industry, locked in an arms race to Services to humanity take many forms – from keeping be the first to create a robot that can successfully interact us happy to keeping us safe. When it comes to robots for with people. our safety, the first images to come to mind are those of Bomb Disposal Robots. Leading the race is the Honda company with its flagship robot Asimo. Asimo stands for Advanced Step in One of the most common bomb disposal robots in Innovative Mobility, and is the product of many years of service today is the TALON robot, used by the Czech development: the first Honda prototype was produced in military and police since 2012. 1986 and was called the E0, which was not much more than a pair of legs that could walk very slowly and unsteadily. By 1988 a second prototype, the E2, was unveiled which could walk in a slow walking speed without support, as well as up and down stairs. The robot division kept improving the robot until in 1993 a torso was added to the robotic pair of legs, which combination was named the P1. In 1996 the P2 was revealed, which added an independent power system and control unit, making the robot far more independent. In the year 2000, Honda unveiled the latest in the line of its humanoid robots – the Asimo. Asimo stands 130 cm tall and weighs about 50 Kg, has 57 degrees of freedom, a plethora of sensors and cameras, and can operate independently for one hour on its TALON EOD 51.8 volt Lithium-Ion battery. Asimo’s goal is to be a “… multi-functional mobile assistant”21, and has such has been The TALON is known as one of the fastest robots of taught a variety of feats: Asimo can dance, conduct an its kind, known for its durability and versatility. The orchestra, push carts, pour drinks, play the violing, TALON is a mobile, remote controlled platform outfitted recognize movements, expressions and faces, is fluent in with an extendable arm. It is usually outfitted with a variety English and Japanese, and has even played football with of sensors and cameras used to assess the threats faced by it, a wireless and and fiber-optic cable communication interface, and more. The Czech and Israeli armies, as well 20 “TALON Tracked ”, 2017, Army- as the American forces in Iraq, have demonstrated the Technology.com TALON’s versatility. During its deployment in Iraq, it became the first robot to draw blood in the war, when it 21 Kornblum, Janet (22 November 2000). "Meet was outfitted with a remotely-operated Claymore mine and Honda's ASIMO, a helpful Mr. Roboto". USA Today 8 GIL GOLDMAN, MILESTONES IN ROBOT AND AUTOMATON HISTORY former president of the US Barak Obama. Asimo’s main – a human piloted robot that acts as an extension of features are actually its advanced social interface – Asimo the person riding it. The Kuratas is mounted on a four- may gesture for happiness and sadness, answer questions, wheeled base, and is equipped with ‘weapons’ such as a move out of humans way, and as of 2007 several Asimos firework launcher and a pellet mini-gun. can work together as a group and coordinate activity.

Kuratas, Suidobashi Heavy Industries While interesting and exciting, the Kuratas remained anonymous until July 2015, when an American company named MegaBots Inc. have challenged Suidobashi Heavy Industries to an international duel – the Japanese Kuratas vs. the American Mk. II. A week later, Suidobashi has accepted – and the fight was on. Both participants have been preparing their robots since, with the duel being Asimo, Tokyo presentation delayed repeatedly due to logistical issues. In order to test Asimo in the real world, outside of test labs and theme parks, Honda has deployed Asimos to act as tour guides in Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, to limited success22, and as a chauffeur in Henn Na robotic hotel in . While the all knowing all powerful service robots of our imagination are still far away, specialized robots are already able to care for our most basic needs – and they are constantly developing.

3.3 Entertainment robots – The world’s first Mech Duel We constantly look to machines for entertainment – MK. II, MegaBots Inc. we are absorbed by our laptops, smartphones, and televisions daily. However, a quiet revolution is happening The duel would stand to be a milestone event in robot without our notice – simple AI bots are keeping our Twitter history – the first time robots would fight for our feed interesting, recommend us which series to watch next entertainment. And what an entertainment it will be. or what article to read, and much more. Robots have always excited our imagination – the The entertainment revolution has recently been idea of creating artificial life to simplify ours, to use our brought into the spotlight with a wild proclamation – soon, brain to create beings in our image. Throughout history, robots will fight for our enjoyment. from the humble beginnings of analog computers to the most modern of robots, we may see, like geological layers, In 2012, Japanese Suidobashi Heavy Industries have how each work inspired the next one, and each new revealed to the world their creation – the 4 meters tall, 4.5 technology sparked an idea that led to more and more tons rideable robot called Kuratas. Kuratas is technically a incredible things.

22 “Honda's ASIMO Gets New Job at Museum”, 2013, IEEE Spectrum POSTER 2017, PRAGUE MARCH 24 9

Acknowledgements The author would like to acknowledge the immeasurable contribution of Professor Jan Mikeš, whose dedication and determination were the main drive behind this article. The author would also like to acknowledge Mrs. Noa Bar for her unyielding mental support, and Mr. Hoang Minh Nguyen and Mr. Jakub ‘Kuba’ Srna for their revisions, opinions, and ideas.

References [1] Dr. Kang, Minsoo: “Sublime Dreams of Living Machines”, 2011, Hardcover [2] Sean McCollum: “The Fascinating, Fantastic Unusual History of Robots”, 2011 [3] Timothy Hornyak: “Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots”, 2006

About Authors... Gil GOLDMAN, a former staff sergeant at the IDF’s Ordenance division stationed with the Field Intelligence corps Electro-Optronics squad, is currently a student of the Robotics and Cybernetics course of the Faculty of Electrical engineering at the Czech Technical University. Robots and their history are his personal passion and has been one of his greatest interests since childhood.