An Electric Cow, A Robot Mailman, And Other Automatons We Overestimated

In Hollywood, robots come in all shapes and sizes. There's the classic robot from Lost in Space (1965), an offshoot of corrugated tubes; clumsy C-3PO and handsome R2-D2, the duo from Star Wars (1977); Terminator (1984) The Terminator Complex with Arnold Schwarzenegger; The naughty Johnny 5 in Short Circuit (1986); The naughty Johnny 5 in Short Circuit (1986); Sonny is good and bad in I, Robot (2004); and WALL-E (2008) , an awesome trash-cleaning robot. However, machine reality still lags behind machine imagination. Elon Musk's October 2022 appearance with Optimus, the prototype of Tesla's humanoid robot that went wireless for the first time, did not surprise critics who compared it to a decade of Japanese robots. I didn't have the wit.

However, automatic machines and self-propelled machines are not new. Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Greek inventor Archytas built a wooden dove capable of flying very short distances by flapping its wings (the airflow acted as a counterweight that moved the bird). Around the 12th century, Al-Jazari, a prolific Muslim inventor, built a series of automatic instruments, including a water-mechanical band (harpist, flutist, and two drummers) collected across the lake by mechanical rowing. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks are filled with detailed drawings of various automata, including a mechanical rider who could sit, wave his arms, and move his head, said to have first appeared in 1495. But Czech playwright Karel Capek was in on a play by the 1920s . RUR Rossum's Universal Robots ) first introduced the phrase "robot" as a separate class of automata. The robot comes from the Czech robotics , which means forced labour. As Popular Science editor Robert E. Martin wrote in December 1928, a robot is a "functional robot" designed to serve humans. Isaac Asimov captured the concept of forced labor in his Three Laws of Robotics, which first appeared in the 1942 short story "The Turn."

Predicting the future is fraught with pitfalls, especially for the science writer who is enchanted by the promise of new technologies. But that didn't stop the writers and editors at Popular Science from trying. Previous issues are filled with stories of robots poised to take over the world. However, our lives at home are still relatively robot-free. (Automating factors is a different story.) This is because we underestimate sophisticated people who easily take on menial jobs like sorting and folding clothes. Even in the 21st century, home and service robots are failing: complex, disposable machines like the pancake-shaped vacuum cleaners that litter our living rooms. Advances in machine learning may eventually make the next generation of robots more agile and adaptable in the real world, but until we get there (if we get there), let's get back to some miscalculations and misguided robotic inventions. The visions of its human inventors can illuminate the future.

Android rental

Are you looking for "live" entertainment for a party, banquet or conference? The roots of hiring robotic artists may go back to the 1940s, according to a Popular Science article describing the stellar life of the Clarence robot. Clarence can walk, talk, wave his arms, and perform other feats. However, more than eight decades later, robot animators are a bit more sophisticated than their 1940s predecessors, albeit with more streamlined shapes. For example, Disney uses talking robots that flap their arms and wings to bring toys to life, but they are still pre-programmed to perform a limited set of actions. Chuck E. Cheese, who made a name for himself decades ago combining high-tech entertainment with culinary expertise, is phasing out his once-popular cartoon electronics. The cruel gestures of the pre-programmed animal robots seem to have lost their charm. They still can't dance, spin, or shake their robotic shoes. Until Blade Runner androids hit the market, robotic entertainment won't be worth it.

Animatronics smoking, drinking and vertigo

In May 1933, Popular Science predicted the debut of animatronics by unveiling a prototype for the Chicago World's Fair in 1934. The beast in question was not prehistoric, did not shake its prey, and had no teeth to show, but was capable of Move over. , to blink. Meditate, and even pour yourself a glass of milk. A robotic cow might have been worthy of the 1933 World's Fair, but in 1935 Brooklyn inventor Milton Tenenbaum raised the bar by introducing a living mechanical mannequin known for "singing, smoking, drinking, drinking." and have a lively conversation. Tenenbaum suggested using such robots in "cartoons". While Hollywood has been slow to embrace smoking bells and supermodels, Tenenbaum may have been in the animation industry's crystal wave that inspired blockbusters like Jaws , Jurassic Park , and Aliens . Sadly, with AI-powered films like Waymark's The Frost releasing in March 2023, animated props may be doomed to fail.

postman android

In October 1976 , Popular Science envisioned an automated future for desktop mail delivery, declaring that "Mailmobile was catching up". The mail cars were automated office mail carts (past tense) that tracked "a radioactive chemical that can be safely sprayed onto most floor surfaces." Later models used laser guidance systems to navigate office floors. Mobile mail has doomed the advent of email, not to mention the limitations of its unique purpose. But in their heyday, they were beloved by human office workers, who gave them nicknames like Ivan, Igor, and Blue-Eyed. The Mailmobile also had a cameo appearance on the FX series The Americans . Although manufacturer Dematic went out of business in 2016 (the original manufacturer was Lear Siegler, who also built Lear's aircraft), there's no denying its impressive four decades of experience. Sure, the US Postal Service uses automation to process mail, including computer vision devices and fancy sorting machines, but chances are your mail will soon be delivered by a freelance mobile mail operator.

Lawn mowers

Suburban homeowners will likely shell out quite a bit of money for a robotic lawn mower that actually works. The current generation of cordless automatic lawn mowers may be a little simpler than the one described by Popular Science in April 1954, but they're still disappointing when it comes to navigating average lawns, including steep slopes and thick grass. irregular geometry. In other words, more than half a century after their debut, the sky-high prices of robotic lawn mowers will not appeal to most homeowners. Sorry, neighbors, mowing the lawn is a thing of the future.

Robotics education

In the early 1980s, companies began introducing what Popular Science called personal robots in their May 1983 issue. With names like BOB, HERO, RB5X, and ITSABOX for their fledgling machines, the startups were targeting the home robotics and service market. However, according to one of the inventors, there was a problem: “Robots can do a lot. But right now they can't do things that require a lot of mechanical or cognitive skill.” This excluded everyone in the house except the inventors, and so, according to popular science , Entertaining guests and educating children. Good. no. Teaching children requires great cognitive abilities? Go tell the teacher about it. Mistakes aside, four decades later, and the great power of language models demonstrated by applications like ChatGPT from Open AI, this could be the starting point for building bots with enough cognitive ability to enhance the human learning experience (if they fully understand facts) As for bots that can fold clothes and make Dinner safely while you're at work, so don't hold your breath.

The Top 10 TV Shows were so bad they got canceled after one episode