Page 36 - Introduction to AI Robotics

19
1.4 A Brief History of Robotics
olence in 1812, legislation was passed to end worker violence and protect the
mills. The rebelling workers were persecuted. While the Luddite movement
may have been motivated by a quality-of-life debate, the term is often ap-
plied to anyone who objects to technology, or “progress,” for any reason. The
connotation is that Luddites have an irrational fear of technological progress.
The impact of robots is unclear, both what is the real story and how people
interact with robots. The HelpMate Robotics, Inc. robots and janitorial robots
appear to be competing with humans, but are filling a niche where it is hard
to get human workers at any price. Cleaning office buildings is menial and
boring, plus the hours are bad. One janitorial company has now invested in
mobile robots through a Denver-based company, Continental Divide Robot-
ics, citing a 90% yearly turnover in staff, even with profit sharing after two
years. The Robotics Industries Association, a trade group, produces annual
reports outlining the need for robotics, yet possibly the biggest robot money
makers are in the entertainment and toy industries.
The cultural implications of robotics cannot be ignored. While the sheep
shearing robots in Australia were successful and were ready to be commer-
cialized for significant economic gains, the sheep industry reportedly re-
jected the robots. One story goes that the sheep ranchers would not accept
a robot shearer unless it had a 0% fatality rate (it’s apparently fairly easy to
nick an artery on a squirming sheep). But human shearers accidently kill
several sheep, while the robots had a demonstrably better rate. The use of
machines raises an ethical question: is it acceptable for an animal to die at the
hands of a machine rather than a person? What if a robot was performing a
piece of intricate surgery on a human?

1.4 A Brief History of Robotics

Robotics has its roots in a variety of sources, including the way machines are
controlled and the need to perform tasks that put human workers at risk.
In 1942, the United States embarked on a top secret project, called the Man-
hattan Project, to build a nuclear bomb. The theory for the nuclear bomb had
existed for a number of years in academic circles. Many military leaders of
both sides of World War II believed the winner would be the side who could
build the first nuclear device: the Allied Powers led by USA or the Axis, led
by Nazi Germany.
One of the first problems that the scientists and engineers encountered
was handling and processing radioactive materials, including uranium and