Robots have been around, in some form or other, since the ancient world. Early legends of automata existed in Greek and Roman legends and basic mechanical 'robots' were designed and built in China and Greece. Our modern concept of robots wouldn't appear until the Industrial Revolution with the notion of the android (humanoid robot) coming into existence in 20th century film and sci-fi literature. Since then many engineers have worked tirelessly to improve and, in some cases, redefine robotics. These 15 are just some of them. The following is far from exhaustive and is in no particular order. 1. Joseph Engelberger: 'The father of robotics' Their contribution to robotics: Joseph Engelberger is widely credited for the birth of the robotics industry. Other information: Engelberger was born in July 1925 and died in December 2015. He was an American physicist, businessman, and engineer whose life work would revolutionise manufacturing and society at large. In 1956 Engelberger met American Engineer/inventor George D Devol at a party. The two men began to discuss Isaac Asimov's philosophies on Robotics. Devol also explained to Engelberger about his patent-pending Programmed Article Transfer device. He immediately identified it as a robot and conceived of its potential application to manufacturing - especially for hazardous tasks. This was the beginning of the fruitful collaboration between the two men that would build the automated production line common today. By 1959 they had their first working prototype - Unimate #001 which was first adopted by General Motors at their production line at Trenton, New Jersey. By 1961 he had established Unimation Inc. to develop his new concept of industrial robots. One of the company's first robots, Unimate 1900, was shown off at a trade show in Chicago and also appeared on Johnny Carson's 'Tonight Show' in 1966. From this point on robots in manufacturing would change the industry, and the world around us beyond all recognition. His work on robotics would earn him the nickname of the 'father of robotics'. [embed]https://youtu.be/atiXtu63T6M[/embed] 2. George D Devol: The inventor of the first programmable industrial robot Their contribution to robotics: George D Devol conceived, designed, built and patented the world's first programmable industrial robot. Patent information (if applicable): US Patent No. 2,988,237 Other information: When George was nine years old the word 'robot' came into common parlance when Karel Capek's play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). became popular in 1921. This event would make a big impact on George who would, several decades later, design and build, the world's first ever true robots. He would later meet and work closely with the 'father of robots' Joseph Engelberger at a cocktail party where their mutual fascination with robots would change the world around us forever. The result of this meeting of minds was the production of the first industrial robot, The Unimate, in 1959. This was later sold to General Motors and used for die-cast handling and spot welding. By 1966 Devol and Engelberger's robots went into full production and by 1975 their company, Unimation, finally made its first profit after $5 million of investment. Devol died in 2011 at the ripe old age of 99. His inventions, including the first true industrial robot, Unimate, would lead to the fully automated production lines common to modern-day factories. [embed]https://youtu.be/hxsWeVtb-JQ[/embed] 3. Marvin Minsky was a pioneer of artificial intelligence Their contribution to robotics: Marvin Minsky is most famed for his pioneering work in the practise of the science of artificial intelligence. For his work, he won the 1969 AM Turing Award. This award is the highest award and honour in computer science. Patent information (if applicable): Conffocal scanning microscope Other information: Marvin Minsky was born in August 1927 in New York City. After a stint in the US Navy during the Second World War, Marvin enrolled at Harvard University to study physics, neurophysiology, and psychology. He eventually graduated with an honours degree in maths in 1950. The following year he enrolled at Princeton and built the first neural network simulator. Minsky moved to MIT after returning to Harvard for a few years to explore his interest in computers as a means of understanding human thought. Here he worked heavily with John McCarthy and the pair later founded the Artificial Intelligence Project. This is now called the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory which is still to this day one of the preeminent research centres in the field of AI. His work would help define the field of AI and laid the foundations for the modern explosion in the development of 'intelligent' robots. [caption id="attachment_45312" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: Mardetanha/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] He died in January 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. 4. Victor Scheinman invented the first electrically powered computer controlled robotic arm Their contribution to robotics: Victor Scheinman is widely known as the inventor of the world's first computer-controlled, electrically powered robotic arm - the so-called Stanford Arm. This robot was a lightweight, multiprogrammable and versatile device that has been widely adapted for use in industry from automobile assembly lines to other tasks. Other information: Victor was born in December 1942 and conceived of his groundbreaking robotic arm in 1969 after studying mechanical engineering at Stanford University. He later founded Vicarm Inc. in 1973 to further develop, build and commercialise his invention. His company was later sold to the seminal robotics company of the time: Unimation. Scheinman continued to work closely with Unimation to develop the Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly or PUMA for short. He later founded the robotics company Automatrix that built robots with built-in cameras and other sensors. He also developed the Robotworld system, which allowed robots to work in concert with one another. Victor died in September 2016 in Petrolia, California. [caption id="attachment_45313" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: ArnoldReinhold/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 5. Ichiro Kato built the world's first real android Their contribution to robotics: Ichiro Kato of Waseda University applied his studies of humanoid robots to initiate the highly influential WABOT project in 1967. By 1972 this project had created the world's first full-scale humanoid 'intelligent' robot - WABOT-1. WABOT-1 came complete with two arms, could walk on two legs and used a pair of cameras to 'see'. Other information: Ichiro's WABOT project was to prove highly effective in the early development of humanoid robots. WABOT-1, when it was completed in 1972, became the world's first Android (humanoid robot). WABOT-1's limb system allowed it to walk with its lower limbs and it could grip and move objects with its 'hands' that came complete with tactile sensors. It allowed WABOT-1 to measure distances and calculate directions to objects using its other visual and acoustic sensors. And its conversation system allowed it to communicate with a person in Japanese, with an artificial mouth. [embed]https://youtu.be/ZHMQuo_DsNU[/embed] 6. Takeo Kanade built the first direct drive robotic arm Their contribution to robotics: Takeo Kanade built, in 1981, the world's first direct drive robotic arm. This arm contained all of its motors within the robot assembly itself and thus eliminated long transmissions. Other information: Takeo, born October 1945 in Hyogo, Japan, is one of the world's foremost experts and researchers in computer vision and robotics. Computer vision is a field of research dealing with the investigation of how computers can understand digital images and videos in an attempt to replicate how humans see. Takeo has served many government, industrial, and university advisory boards, including the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of the National Research Council, NASA's Advanced Technology Advisory Committee, PITAC Panel for Transforming Healthcare Panel, and the Advisory Board of Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He has also received various awards and honours throughout his career including the Kyoto Prize in 2016 for Information Sciences. He is the Helen Whitaker Professor at Carnegie Mellon University with approximately 300 peer-reviewed academic publications and 20 patents. [caption id="attachment_45314" align="alignright" width="200"] Source: Inamori Foundation/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 7. Nobuyuki Okude popularised robots to a new generation Their contribution to robotics: Although you may not know his name you will certainly know the products of his labour. Nobuyuki Okude is the man behind the highly influential and successful line of toys, then cartoons, commonly known as The Transformers. Although not 'real' robots like other entries on the list, The Transformers series of toys and cartoons popularised the concept of robots among the wider populace. Nobuyuki was, at the time, the executive vice-president of Takara (a Japanese toy manufacturer) who devised the concept of robots that turned into realistic cars that he termed Diaclone. Takara soon teamed up with Hasbro to make toy and cartoon, and ultimately, robot history. This innovation would inspire an entirely new generation of children to further develop the concept and understanding of robotics. Other information: Okuda was born in 1944 and he joined Takara in the early 1970s. In the early 1980s Hasbro approached Takara to combine their two most popular toys 'Mircoman' and 'Diaclone'. Nobuyuki noted the potential for a new line of toys based on their existing Diaclone car robot to develop the Transformers children of the 1980s and 1990s have come to adore. The designs for the original 28 figures were made by Kojin Ono, Takashi Matsuda, Hideaki Yoke, Hiroyuki Obara, and Satoshi Koizumi and the entire toy range was eventually sold to Hasbro. [caption id="attachment_45315" align="alignright" width="287"] Source: Hiroyuki Obara/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 8. David Barrett built RoboTuna in 1996 Their contribution to robotics: David Barret's RoboTuna was the first fully functional robotic fish ever built. It was designed to mimic the shape and motion of a real fish and was controlled by six servo motors. It was devised to explore new propulsion systems for UAVs. Other information: In 1996 MIT doctoral student David Barrett designed and built the biomimetic robot, RoboTuna for his PhD thesis. This robot was able to mimic a real bluefin tuna as it swims in water. The idea of the project was to investigate the plausibility of designing and building a robotic submarine that could swim like a fish and, therefore, devise a superior form of propulsion for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (UAVs). RoboTuna proved to be highly successful and showed that it was more maneuverable and used less energy than other robotic submarines. [caption id="attachment_45316" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 9. Dr Toshitada Doi was behind Sony's groundbreaking AIBO Robodog Their contribution to robotics: Toshitada Doi is widely credited as AIBO's creator. AIBO (an abbreviation for Artificial Intelligence Robot) are or were a series of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony at the turn of the millennium. They unveiled their prototype in 1998 with the first consumer model released in around May of 1999. Sony released new models right up to around 2006 with most being of a dog-like design. AIBO was capable of limited interaction with humans and, incredibly, sold out in less than 20 minutes when it was initially released for sale in Japan. This groundbreaking robot was officially recognised for its contributions to robotics when it was added t the Carnegie Mellon University Robot Hall of Fame in 2006. Other information: Toshitada was born in 1943 who would train as an electrical engineer and would go on to play an important role in the digital audio revolution. He received a degree in electrical engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1964, and a PhD from Tohoku University in 1972. Doi joined Sony in 1964 and immediately begin to produce the first digital audio project for the company. He would drive the development of the PCM adaptor and was a prominent member of the group that eventually designed and created the CD. During the 1990s he headed Sony's Digital Creatures Laboratory, where he was responsible for the AIBO - Sony's robotic dog. In 2003, Doi created the Qrio, a running humanoid robot. [caption id="attachment_45317" align="alignright" width="300"] AIBO prototypes. Source: Alex/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 10. Satoshi Shigemi is the man behind Honda's iconic ASIMO series Their contribution to robotics: ASIMO or Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility is the famed series, now retired, of humanoid robots designed and built by Honda since 2000. ASIMO was one of the first robots to successfully mimic human perambulation and has become an android icon over the past 18 years. Other information: Satoshi Shigemi is best known as the senior engineer and project leader behind Honda's ASIMO project for the last two decades. He, in no small part, has been instrumental in the design and creation of Honda's humanoid robot project: ASIMO. The project began in the mid to late 1980s with the goal of producing the world's first bipedal robot. Initially designated the E-series, early walking robots were developed by Honda between 1986 and 1993. There were superseded by their P-series developed up until 1997. All of these were the precursor to the, now iconic, ASIMO series of robots. The later additions to the ASIMO series are able to run and walk on uneven slopes and surfaces, can turn smoothly, climb stairs and even reach and grasp objects. They were even able to understand based voice commands and had facial recognition abilities. Sadly Honda recently announced they plan to retire the ASIMO series of androids. [embed]https://youtu.be/wxP2QPsFYcA[/embed] 11./12. Jacob Matijevic and Donna Shirley and NASA's Sojourner took robots to Mars Their contribution to robotics: The Sojourner robot from the Mars Pathfinder mission was the first ever robot to be deployed to the planet Mars. It was deployed on the planet's surface on the July 4, 1997, and was only supposed to last seven days but ended up lasting over 83 days in operation. This humble little six-wheeled, solar-powered robot pushed the limits of human understanding of robotics and communications of the time. Despite its epic journey from Earth to the Red Planet, it travelled now more than 100 metres by the time communications were lost. Other information: The rover was designed by Jacob Matijevic and Donna Shirley and a large team of NASA scientist and engineers. Sojourner was a six-wheeled robotic probe that was semi-autonomous capable of being controlled by a human operator on Earth. Commands had a lag time of around 10 minutes, given the distance from Earth, which also meant feedback took a further 10 minutes to receive back on Terra Firma. The robotic rover's main objective was to explore the surface of Mars and gather information on soil and geology of the planet. The robot had three cameras, two monochrome to the front and one colour to the rear. It also came equipped with an Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to determine the composition of the surface of Mars. All of its equipment was powered by a set limited capacity batteries and a Gallium Arsenide/Germanium solar panel array capable of 18 per cent efficiency. Although the mission was short-lived, the information it gathered has been poured over to help improve and refine the designs of future robot probes. [caption id="attachment_45318" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: NASA/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 13. Joe Jones: The inventor of the Roomba Their contribution to robotics: Roomba, the famous home cleaning robot, was first released in 2002 by iRobot. It was one of if not the, first commercially successful home cleaning application of robots in history. It featured a series of sensors that let the robot navigate a space to perform its programmed cleaning activities. These sensors enabled the robot to detect obstacles, dirty spots on the floor or steep inclines and stairs. Roomba uses two independently operating side wheels, that allow 360° turns in place. A rotating, three-prong spinner brush can sweep debris from square corners to the cleaning head. Other information: Joe Jones started out researching robots at the MIT AI Lab when he had an interesting idea: "I got excited about the really small, reactive robots, and thought, 'You can do a lot with this; you could build a robot that could clean your floors'." He initially experimented by building prototype floor cleaning droids using Lego. A few years later, whilst working at Denning Mobile Robotics, he, and mechanical engineer Jack Shimeck, designed a proof of concept for what would become Roomba. The two were soon fired (after pitching the idea) and were hired by iRobot a few months later. The rest, as they say, is history. Roomba would go through a series of improvements over time with many having interchangeable parts to enable retrofit of older models. As of 2016, there are seven generations of the Roomba robot. [caption id="attachment_45319" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: Nohau/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 14. Marc Raibert and his 'spooky' Boston Dynamics robots Their contribution to robotics: Marc Raibert and his MIT spinoff company Boston Dynamics are famed for their development of the quadrupedal robot, BigDog, and acrobatic humanoid robot. BigDog has been initially developed for the US military with funding from DARPA but was later discontinued as it was too loud for combat situations. Boston Dynamics built in the work spent on BigDog to develop a new form of 'dog' robot called SpotMini that was unveiled in 2016. The company also developed heavy lifter robots, like Atlas and drones like Wildcat. [embed]https://youtu.be/Gy5TcqSFdMw[/embed] Other information: Marc was an MIT professor who founded Boston Dynamics in 1992. Some of this company's main contribution to robotics include the huge breakthrough of creating self-balancing/righting and hopping robots. Boston Dynamics were acquired by Google/Alphabet in 2013 but it was later sold to SoftBank in June 2017. 15. David Hanson: The man responsible for the creation of Sophia Their contribution to robotics: Sophia is one of the most advanced AI androids yet created by mankind. 'She' was developed and built by the Hong-Kong Based company Hanson Robotics who activated her in April 2015. Sophia made her first ever public appearance at the made her first public appearance at South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in March 2016 in Austin, Texas, United States. Sophia has literally changed the definition of robots in part by officially being granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia in 2017. Other information: Dr David Franklin Hanson Jr founded Handon Robotics in 2013 in Hong-King. David was born in 1969 in Dallas, Texas. His childhood hobbies included consuming sci-fi works of fiction from highly influential writers like Isaac Asimov and Phillip K Dick. He would later study fine arts at Rhode Island School of Design and later a PhD in interactive arts and engineering. His post-doctorate career has since been devoted to the creation of human-like robots, of which Sophia is one of his crowning achievements. [caption id="attachment_45320" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: SazzadHossain/Wikimedia Commons[/caption] This article was written by Christopher McFadden and is reproduced with kind permission from InterestingEngineering.com. Find the link to the original article here.