Category – Science
Robots can zoom through a warehouse like a character in a video game, grabbing products and toting boxes to conveyor belts. These artificial helpers are manufactured to perform many kinds of work. Some weld together oil rigs, while others sweep battlefields for mines or explore distant planets in outer space. Early robots from the 1970s were electromechanical gadgets without programmable controllers, but today’s robots are more sophisticated, with speech-recognition or the ability to do complex tasks.
Questions –
· Long before R2D2 and C3PO acted in Star Wars, an artist designed the first humanoid robot. Who was the famous artist?
· What did the original robot look like?
Assignment – Learn the the artist’s name on Wikipedia. The accompanying article has a photo of his original robot.
Click here to research the answer. Assignment – Learn more about humanoid robots by reading a longer article on Wikipedia.
Click here to research the answer. Question –
· Science-fiction author Isaac Asimov coined the term “robotics” to describe the engineering of robots. He also invented the three laws of robotics. What do these laws state?
(Fun Fact – Asimov’s three laws are central to Will Smith’s role in the movie – I, Robot.)
Assignment – See Isaac Asimov talk about these laws by watching the YouTube video below –
Question –
· Who is the largest manufacturer of industrial robots in the world?
Assignment – Find the answer by going to the Learn About Robots website –