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Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a French inventor presented the widely adopted “Jacquard Loom.” It worked by translating patterns from punch cards into commands, increasing the speed at which complex patterns could be woven by more than twenty times, from one inch to two feet a day. -
Karel Čapek named "robots" in his play "R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots". Where synthetic humanoids work and eventually revolt against humanity. -
William Grey Walter introduced a pair robots that could maneuver around objects, guide themselves toward a source of light and find their way back to a charging station by using sensors. -
Unimate, the first industrial robotic arm is installed in a GM plant. It could move up and down the X and Y axis and had a rotatable gripper. It could lift 75 pound loads. -
Created by Victor Scheinman, it had six axes of movement, allowing it to approximate the range of a human arm. And it was the first robotic arm to be controlled by software in a computer -
"Shakey" was created in the Stanford Research Institute. It was capable of accomplishing simple goals by observing its surroundings, creating a plan and executing it. It used sensors, cameras, and metal whiskers. -
"SCARA" is created by Hiroshi Makino, a four axis robots that could pick something up, swivel and plop it down somewhere else. -
Kismet, a robotic head designed to provoke and react to emotions. It used around twenty one motors to control a set of eyebrows, eyes, lips and ears. It used audio sensors to pick up vocal tones. -
The Roomba was the first functional robot to become a hit with the public, selling 15 million to date. It came from a military algorithm designed to check for landmines. -
Mick Mountz created the Kiva robot: a squarish, close-to-the-ground orange bot that could glide around warehouses, moving racks of goods. It was less precise but could correct its own course.
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Boston Dynamics' "Big Dog" is four legged robot capable of navigating on only two feet. Equipped with 50 sensors and a computer that allowed it to keep it stable even when kicked.