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Greek inventor and mathematician Ctesibius, invents the first artificial automatic self-regulatory system by designing an improved water clock or a clepsydra. -
Nikola Tesla demonstrates a robot boat in Madison Square Garden. -
In 1961, George Devol and his partner Joseph Engelberger would create Unimate, a digitally-operated robot who was preprogrammed to perform dangerous task within the General Motors automobile facility in New Jersey. -
ELIZA, a computer program, was created by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT in 1966. It had the ability to function very much like a computer psychologist that manipulates its user's statements to form questions. -
Stanley Kubrick makes 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's novel of the same name. It features HAL, an
onboard computer that decides it doesn't need its human counterparts any longer. -
In May 25, 1977, George Lucas would release Star Wars. His film about a universe governed by the Force introduces watchers
to R2-D2 and C-3PO. The movie creates the strongest image of a human future with robots since the
1960's and inspires a generation of researchers. -
Takeo Kanade builds the direct drive arm. It is the first to have motors installed directly into the joints of
the arm. This change makes it faster and much more accurate than previous robotic arms. -
Dante, an 8-legged walking robot developed at Carnegie Mellon University descends into Mt. Erebrus,
Antarctica. Its mission is to collect data from a harsh environment similar to what we might find on another
planet. The mission fails when, after a short 20 foot descent, Dante's tether snaps, dropping it into the
crater. -
The Pathfinder Mission lands on Mars on July 4, 1997. Its robotic rover Sojourner rolls down a ramp and onto Martian soil
and continues to broadcast data from the Martian surface until September. -
Honda builds a humanoid robot that would later be known as the Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility or ASIMO, named after the famed science fiction novelist Isaac Asimov. -
In 2001, LEGO would release its first set of the LEGO Mindstorms line. It came with a RCX brick, along with many TECHNIC pieces. It also comes with electronic programming software for the set. -
In November of 2004, SONY would release its last and most advanced model of the AIBO line of Entertainment Robots.