The Fascinating History of Robots

The concept of robots traces back to ancient times, beginning with Greek mythology. One of the earliest examples is Talos.

Talos is a giant bronze automaton created by the god Hephaestus to protect the island of Crete. Talos could move and perform tasks autonomously, making him one of the first robot-like figures in recorded history.

In India, the 11th-century text Samarangana Sutradhara, authored by King Bhoja, describes Yantras—mechanical devices that could automate tasks, reflecting a sophisticated understanding of early robotics. In the 13th century, Al-Jazari, an inventor and artist from the Artuqid Dynasty in Jazira, Mesopotamia, published The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, where he described 50 mechanical devices and details on how to construct them.

These ancient concepts paved the way for the modern era, where the term "robot" was officially coined by Czech playwright Karel ?apek in his 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots).

Today, robots have evolved into advanced machines capable of performing complex tasks far beyond what was imagined in ancient times. (However, there is still a gap between realism and idealism in the world of robotics, which will be discussed in a later article.)

Next week, we will explore the history of AI.