The robots of Modernity

The Japanese craftsman Tanaka Hisashige (1799-1881), known as the 'Edison Japanese', created a selection of extremely complex mechanical toys that served tea, fired arrows and could even paint a Japanese kanji character. In 1898 Nikola Tesla made a public demonstration of a radio-controlled torpedo. Based on the patents' teleautomatización ", Tesla hoped to develop it into a weapon system for the U.S. navy.

In 1926, Westinghouse Electric Corporation Televox created the first robot used to work. They continued the same line with other simple robots, among which are included Rastus, made from the image of a black man. In the '30s, they created a humanoid robot known as Elektro for various exhibitions like World's Fairs 1939 and 1940. In 1928, the first robot in Japan, 'Gakutensoku', was designed and built by biologist Makoto Nishimura. 

The first electronic autonomous robots were created by William Grey Walter at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol, England, between 1948 and 1949. They were called 'Elmer' and 'Elsie'. These robots could sense light and contact with external objects, and used these stimuli to move.

The first modern robot, digitally operated and programmable "was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was named 'Unimate'. Sold the first Unimate Devol to General Motors in 1960, and in 1961 he was inducted at a plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a machine and then stacked smelter.

Potential Problems

A wide range of books and movies have expressed fears and concerns about the robots. A common theme is the development of a superior race of highly intelligent robots, determined to destroy the human race. Some fictional robots are programmed to kill and to destroy others gain superhuman intelligence and skills to improve their own software and hardware. Examples of popular movies in which robots are malignant are: '2001: A Space Odyssey ',' Red Planet ', etc. Another common theme is the reaction of unrest and even rejection of the view of robots that mimic humans too well. 'Frankenstein' (1818), generally considered the first science fiction novel, is the best example of the issue of robot or monster advancing on its creator.

Manuel De Landa noted that the "smart missiles" and autonomous bombs equipped with artificial perception can be considered robots, ue and perform some of their decisions autonomously. He believes that this represents a significant and dangerous trend whereby humans delegate important decisions machines.

Meet robots can be fun, but the misuse of the robots is a real danger. An industrial robot actuators powerful and complex behavior can cause unexpected damage, for example, falling on the foot of a human or a person. Most industrial robots operate from a security fence that separates them from human workers, but not always so. The first fatal accident involving a robot was Robert Williams as a victim, who was beaten by a robotic arm at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, on January 25, 1979. The second accident hurt Urada Kenji, a Japanese factory worker in 1981, was making his routine maintenance of the robot and forgot to shut it down properly, and ended up being pushed accidentally in a machine smelter.