Page 59 - Robot Builder's Bonanza

28 ANATOMY OF A ROBOT

The term robota, from which the common word robot is derived, was first coined by
Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek. He used it first in a short story and then again in
a now- classic play titled R.U.R.—which stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots.”
The play was first produced onstage in 1921 and is one of many written by Capek that
have a dystopian theme— a utopia gone wrong. The basic premise of the play’s “perfect
society” is that the society is fatally flawed. In R.U.R. the robots are created by humans to take
over all labor, including working on farms and in factories. Eventually the automatons conspire
against their flesh- and- bone masters and rise up to kill them.
The term robota means “work” or “servitude”—like the poor mechanical dude in Figure
2-14, spending its days outdoors, sweeping up other people’s messes. It is the work aspect of
robotics that is often forgotten, but it defines a “robot” more than anything else.
The work doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be something as simple as a robot that
patrols the living room looking for signs of warm- blooded creatures and, when it finds one,
sounds off a shrill siren alarm. Annoying, yes, but a robot nonetheless!
Many of us get caught up in trying to make our robot creations do serious work around the
house— vacuum the carpet maybe, get a soda can from the refrigerator, or collect dirty socks
from the floor. Noble aims, to be sure, but it’s perfectly acceptable to build a robot that’s
merely for fun. Build it to amuse you and your family.
Or play tricks with the cat.

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