Robots in history

Summary

The script explores the historical fascination with life-like machines, from 18th-century automata to modern robotics. It discusses early innovations like the digesting duck and the Jacquard loom, which influenced Charles Babbage's mechanical computing engine. The script highlights the development of teleoperation at Argonne National Laboratory, leading to the creation of the first industrial robot by Unimation in 1961, marking the beginning of robotics in manufacturing.

Takeaways

• 🤖 Early automata machines in the 18th and 19th centuries were considered technological marvels, showcasing life-like functions such as eating and excreting.
• ⏳ The 'digesting duck' was a famous automaton that simulated digestion, reflecting the fascination with creating life-like machines.
• 📚 Vaucanson, the designer of the 'digesting duck', later contributed to the automation of silk weaving, which was further advanced by Jacquard's invention of programmable looms using punched cards.
• 💡 Charles Babbage's concept of a mechanical computing engine, controlled by punched cards, laid the groundwork for modern computers and, by extension, for robotics.
• 🔗 The ENIAC Computer, developed during World War II, was an early electronic computing device that influenced the development of today's computers and robot systems.
• 🤖 The concept of a robot is often considered as a computer that can interact with the physical world, highlighting the integration of computing with mechanical actions.
• 🧑‍🔧 At Argonne National Laboratory, the need to manipulate radioactive materials led to the development of teleoperation, a precursor to modern robotics, where operators control machines remotely.
• 🔄 The transition from teleoperation to true robotics involved replacing the human operator with a computer, allowing for autonomous and reprogrammable machine actions.
• 🏭 George Devol and Joseph Engelberger founded Unimation in 1956, marking the beginning of industrial robotics with their first robot installed in a General Motors plant in 1961.
• 🏗️ The deployment of Unimation's robots in manufacturing marked a revolution, with many current robotics companies tracing their origins back to this pioneering enterprise.

Q & A

What was the fascination with Automata in the 18th and 19th centuries?

People were fascinated by building machines, known as Automata, that resembled human actions and appearances, using intricate clockwork mechanisms with gears and cams.

What was the writer draftsman Automata capable of doing?

The writer draftsman Automata was capable of performing very elaborate drawings, such as a drawing of a sheep, showcasing the level of detail these machines could achieve.

Can you describe the function of the 'digesting duck' Automata?

The 'digesting duck' was a clockwork machine that appeared to eat small pellets and then excrete them, simulating two important functions of living beings: eating and excreting.

How did Vaucanson contribute to technological progress after creating the 'digesting duck'?

Vaucanson advanced the technology of silk weaving by automating the process, which was further advanced by Jacquard with the introduction of punch card control for weaving patterns.

What is the significance of punch card control in the history of computing?

Punch card control was significant as it introduced the concept of programmability in machines, influencing the development of Charles Babbage's mechanical computing engine and later electronic computing devices.

What was Charles Babbage's contribution to the concept of a general-purpose computing engine?

Charles Babbage introduced the idea of a programmable, general-purpose computing engine where the computation performed was dictated by a program input on punched cards.

How did the ENIAC computer relate to the lineage of modern computers?

The ENIAC computer, built during World War II, is an ancestor of modern computers, as it was one of the early electronic computing devices that influenced the development of today's computers, including those in laptops and mobile phones.

What is the definition of a robot as described in the script?

A robot can be thought of as a computer that interacts with the physical world, capable of performing tasks that were previously done by humans or other machines.

What problem led to the development of teleoperation at the Argonne National Laboratory?

The problem of assembling nuclear weapons with radioactive materials that were hazardous to human health led to the development of teleoperation, allowing tasks to be performed remotely.

How does teleoperation differ from modern robotics?

Teleoperation involves a human operator controlling a machine remotely, while modern robotics involves computers sending commands to machines, eliminating the need for human operators in the loop.

Who is credited with the idea of creating 'universal automation' and what was its impact?

George Devol is credited with the idea of creating 'universal automation,' which led to the founding of Unimation, the first company to produce industrial robots, revolutionizing the manufacturing industry.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 The Dawn of Automata and Programmable Machines

This paragraph delves into the historical fascination with creating life-like machines, known as Automata, during the 18th and 19th centuries. It highlights the technological marvels of the time, such as the writer draftsman and the digesting duck, which showcased life-like functions of eating and excreting. The narrative then transitions to the industrial applications of these concepts, with Vaucanson's contribution to automated silk weaving and the introduction of punch card control by Jacquard. The paragraph culminates in the influence of these early machines on modern computing devices, tracing the lineage from Charles Babbage's mechanical computing engine to the ENIAC computer, and ultimately to the computers and robots we use today.

05:03

🏭 The Birth of Industrial Robotics

The second paragraph introduces George Devol, an American inventor, and the co-founder of Unimation in 1956, alongside Joseph Engelberger. It discusses the inception of Unimation, which aimed to produce industrial robots for manufacturing, with a focus on their first robot installed at a General Motors plant in 1961. This robot was designed to unload castings from a die-casting machine, marking a significant milestone in the integration of robots into the manufacturing industry. The paragraph also reflects on the legacy of Unimation, which, despite no longer being in business, has inspired numerous companies that now build manufacturing robots, tracing their roots back to this pioneering Connecticut-based company.

Keywords

💡Automata

Automata refers to self-operating machines, often designed to imitate human or animal actions. In the context of the video, 18th and 19th century automata were ingenious, clockwork machines filled with gears and cams. They were considered technological marvels of their time, with examples like the writer draftsman and the digesting duck showcasing the ability to perform elaborate tasks, such as drawing or mimicking the digestion process.

💡Clockwork

Clockwork is a mechanical system that uses a wound spring to release energy and move gears to operate machinery. The video mentions clockwork as the driving force behind early automata, emphasizing the complexity and ingenuity of these life-like machines that could perform tasks such as drawing or digesting.

💡Teleoperation

Teleoperation is a technique where a machine is controlled remotely by a human operator, often used in environments hazardous to human presence. The video describes its use at the Argonne National Laboratory for assembling nuclear weapons, where master manipulator arms were controlled by operators to move slave arms in a remote location, handling radioactive materials.

💡Punched Wooden Cards

Punched wooden cards were used in early programmable machines to control patterns or operations. The video explains how Jacquard used these cards to automate the weaving process, with the pattern determined by the arrangement of holes in the cards, which was a precursor to modern computer programming.

💡Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage was a 19th-century polymath known for his designs of the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine, which were mechanical computing devices. The video highlights Babbage's introduction of the concept of a general-purpose computing engine, which was programmable through punched cards, influencing later electronic computing devices.

💡ENIAC

The ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was one of the first general-purpose electronic digital computers, built during World War II. The video connects the ENIAC to the lineage of modern computers, showing how early computing innovations have evolved into the devices we use today.

💡Robotics

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The video discusses the evolution of robotics from early automata to modern machines capable of performing complex tasks in manufacturing and other industries.

💡General-Purpose Computing Engine

A general-purpose computing engine is a machine capable of performing any kind of computation, as opposed to a specialized machine. The video describes Babbage's vision for such an engine, which was dictated by a program input through punched cards, laying the groundwork for modern computers.

💡Unimation

Unimation was the first company to build manufacturing robots, founded in 1956 by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger. The video mentions Unimation as a pioneer in the field, with its first robot installed in a General Motors plant in 1961, marking the beginning of the robotics revolution in manufacturing.

💡Industrial Robots

Industrial robots are machines designed to perform tasks in an automated manner in industrial settings. The video discusses the development of industrial robots from the concept of teleoperation to fully automated machines, which have become a critical component in modern manufacturing.

💡Reprogrammable

Reprogrammable refers to the ability of a device or system to be programmed with new instructions or tasks. The video explains how the transition from teleoperation to robotics involved replacing the master arm with a computer, creating a reprogrammable device that could control the slave arm to perform various tasks.

Highlights

Long-term human interest in building life-like machines dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries with Automata.

Automata were ingenious clock-work machines with gears and cams, capable of performing elaborate tasks.

The writer draftsman, an example of Automata, could create detailed drawings like a drawing of a sheep.

The digesting duck was a famous clock-work machine that mimicked eating and excreting, showcasing technological progress.

Vaucanson, designer of the digesting duck, later automated silk weaving processes.

Jacquard advanced weaving technology with punched wooden cards controlling the weave pattern.

Charles Babbage conceived a mechanical computing engine using punch card control, influencing later electronic computing devices.

ENIAC, built during WWII, traces its lineage to modern computers used in today's robots.

Robots can be seen as computers interacting with the physical world.

Post-WWII work at Argonne National Laboratory led to the development of teleoperation for handling radioactive materials.

Teleoperation involves a master manipulator controlled by humans and a slave arm mimicking its movements for remote tasks.

Teleoperation was a precursor to modern manufacturing robots, replacing the human operator with a computer.

George Devol and Joseph Engelberger founded Unimation in 1956 to produce industrial robots.

Unimation's first robot was installed in a General Motors plant in 1961, unloading castings from a die-casting machine.

Unimation, Inc. pioneered the manufacturing robot industry, with many current companies tracing their origins to this Connecticut-based firm.

Transcripts

There’s been a long-term human interest or fascination in building machines that look

and act like we do. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, people were building machines that

they called Automata, and some examples of them are shown here. Essentially, they’re

very ingenious, clock-work machines filled with gears and cams and so on.

The example the writer draftsman shown here on the right hand side, was able to perform

very, very elaborate drawings. An example here, a drawing of a sheep is shown. An earlier

and very famous example of machines of this class is the digesting duck and once again

it is a clock-work machine. What you’d do with this duck is you would feed it with small

pellets which it would appear to eat and they would pass through the digestive tracts of

the duck and be eventually excreted.

They’re able to build a machine that appeared to be life-like, it would eat and it would

excrete. Two of the important functions of something that is alive. At that time, this

was considered quite wonderful, an example of technological progress, how they were able

to build machines that were very, very life-like. Of course by today’s standards, it looks

very, very primitive but at that time, it was an amazing achievement.

Now, the gentleman who designed this, Vaucanson, went on to do some more useful things. He

got involved in automating the process of silk weaving. The technology of weaving was

advanced further by Jacquard and he introduced the innovation of controlling the weave pattern

by means of a series of punched wooden cards. So, this was a form of automated machine and

it was programmable. The pattern that came out depended on the patterns of holes punched

in those wooden cards.

The notion of punch card control was picked up by Charles Babbage, when he was conceiving

a mechanical computing engine in the late 1800s. At that time he didn't have the technology

to actually build this machine but he introduced the really important notion of a general-purpose

computing engine and the computation that it performed is dictated by a program. In

his case, input on punched cards.

The ideas embodied in this machine influenced later electronic computing devices. For an

instance, the ENIAC Computer that was built during World War II and from that machine,

we can trace a lineage to the computers we use every day, in our laptops and in our mobile

phones, and computers of course, are a critical component of robot systems that we build today.

We can perhaps think of a robot as a computer that can do things to the physical world.

The other really important innovation that led to robotics as we know them today is this

work that was done after World War II at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United

States. In there, they were faced by a problem of assembling nuclear weapons. This required

them to handle, to manipulate pieces of material that were radioactive. This was a task that

couldn't be undertaken by human beings because it would injure or kill the people who did

that work. We needed to have machines to handle that material instead but the problem was

that we need a lot of skill and intelligence in order to manipulate this radioactive material,

so, they came up with a concept called teleoperation.

The people in white coats are sitting with what are called the master manipulator arms

so they would grab those arms with their hands and they would move them. The arms over here

are referred to as the slave arms. They move in such a way as to mimic the motion of the

master arm. So, the people who were doing the assembly work and controlling the master

arms, the slave arms are in a remote room performing work on the radioactive material.

Video of what’s going on in the radioactive room is transmitted back to the people doing

the work with the master arm so they can see what’s happening on a TV monitor. They move

the master arms, the slave arms move in synchronism and perform the task remotely. This is a technique

called teleoperation. It’s not really robotic. In some ways, you can think of it as a very-sophisticated,

remote-controlled technology. It was really important to achieve this specific task at

the Argonne National Laboratory.

This technology is an important precursor to modern manufacturing robots. What we do

is we cut the wire between the master arm and the slave arm and instead of the master

arm sending the commands to the slave arm, we put a computer there instead. So, the computer

is sending commands to the slave arm which is going to move in accordance to the signals

coming out of the computer. Of course, the computer is an infinitely reprogrammable device

so therefore we can make the slave arm do anything that we like at all and now, there

are no longer any human beings involved. We've created a robot.

And perhaps the person that this idea first occurred to is George Devol, the gentleman shown

here, a prolific American inventor who died only recently. He had the idea of creating

what he called universal automation which was contracted to Unimation. That was the

name of the company that he founded in 1956 with Joseph Engelberger. They founded the

company to produce industrial robots that would eventually go to work in General Motors

plants. The first of their robots which was installed in 1961 is shown here. What this

robot did was to unload castings from a die-casting machine.

This was the start of the revolution of robots working in the manufacturing industry. Unimation,

Inc. was the first company to build manufacturing robots. They were the pioneers. They’re

no longer in business and today, there are many, many companies that build manufacturing

robots, but most of them can trace their ancestry, their ideas or perhaps even the people back

to this little company founded in 1956 in Connecticut in the United States.