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My first idea of what a robot should look like was from watching 1960s TV programs like "Lost in Space." These early robots had arms and legs and heads and could speak; they could even become part of the family like Rosie, the "slightly used" maid from the cartoon series, "The Jetsons."
The robot in Lost in Space was never named, and like a guard dog, he would warn the humans when there was danger. Who can forget the robot's deep voice calling "Warning, warning, alien approaching" as it waved its arms and flashed its lights. Robert Kinoshita designed the robot, using fiberglass for his torso, rubber for his arms and legs, and wood for his base. The finished product was over six feet tall, weighed 200 pounds and cost Irwin Allen Productions $75,000. You can learn more (and buy kits) at http://www.aboyd.com/robots/lis.html
Today's kids can create their own robots with LEGO Mindstorms http://mindstorms.lego.com. The Robotics Invention System 2.0 allows children to create robots, including a robotic rover that can follow a trail, move around obstacles and duck into dark corners.
On the softer side, My Real Baby is a doll from Hasbro and iRobot that uses the Behavior Language Operating System, developed by Rod Brooks, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The doll uses sensors and artificial intelligence to interact with children. http://www.irobot.com
You can view some of today's robots here http://www.yil.com/features/feature.asp?volume=07&issue=08&keyword=asimo (keep hitting "next" at the bottom, there are three pages). PaPeRo, a prototype from NEC, will change the channels on your TV if you ask it nicely and will find you in the house to recite your email to you.
For a directory of some classic robots, visit http://chaoskids.com/ROBOTS/directory.html. Here you can see pictures of robots like Atomic Robot Man, one of the earliest toy robots, manufactured in occupied Japan in the late 1940s.
For a book on tin space toys, see "Vintage Toys: Robots and Space Toys" by Jim Bunte, Dave Hallman, Heinz Mueller http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158221025X/auctionbytescom.
While robots seemed far-fetched in the 1960s and seem like cool toys today, robots are actually being used in a wide variety of "real-life" applications. They can help surgeons operate on people http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~issues/spring98/robotic_surgery.html and have been sent into space.
And robots are ideal for search and rescue missions http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,46930-2,00.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/27/technology/circuits/27ROBO.html. They can get to places that humans and dogs cannot, and can relay information to rescue workers through infrared and video cameras. Robots are currently on the scene in New York City as they help in the World Trade Center rescue efforts.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is doing cutting-edge research into many aspects of robotics, including the development of robots that can interact and cooperate with people http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group.
Our fascination with robots is clear, as a search on any auction site will reveal. I'm just waiting for a real life Rosie Robot to help me do housework.
"Warning, warning, dust-bunnies taking over the house."
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