Robotic mapping is one of the many practical—and at times tactical—applications of the latest robotic technologythat is getting increasingly relevant in the world we live in. Robotic technology, as we know, has made some hitherto impossible tasks possible, such as monitoring pipelines for weak spots or getting into maintenance crawl spaces that are too tiny for a full-grown human to enter. There are other applications still that, while humanly possible, put lives in unnecessary danger. We’re all aware of how the application of robotic technology to unmanned aerial and ground vehicles can allow military operatives to remotely control vehicles in combat by while being physically remote from the hazardous situations. The technology behind robotic mapping further advances the application of robotics to various situations where human effort may be facilitated, or avoided altogether.

An Example for Uses of Robotic Mapping

Envision a scenario where a terror attack happens in an urban setting and hostages have been taken. In spite of blueprints and maps of

This DARPA project known as Urbie makes use of a specially designed robotic mapping algorithm (Image courtesy: www.cesar.ornl.org)

buildings being available, security forces attempting an assault would be going in blind because they’re unaware if any doors have been blocked, and are absolutely uncertain of the strength and positions of the bad guys. This is where robotic mapping can help by providing with vital situational awareness.

The subject of robotic mapping deals with building such robots that are able to make maps by themselves and put it to practical use. Such robots have the capability to locate themselves in the maps they create. So how do these robots obtain information for carrying out the desired operations. There are basically two types of information sources used by such robots i.e. the idiothetic and allothetic.

The Science Behind Robotic Mapping

The world idiothetic means self-proposition. This type of information source gives us the details of the location of robot through methods like dead reckoning. For example, the activity of tracking the number of revolutions performed by the wheel of a robot can help in determining its position from the original point it had started. The allothetic source can also provide the necessary information to the robot. Here, the means to obtain information are the sensors. There are many different types of sensors like the camera, laser, microphone, sonar, etc. Data gathered through such sensing tools allows the robots to determine their exact position. The allothetic source of information is marred by a limitation called ‘perceptual aliasing’; it means that the robot perceives two different but similar looking places as the same. One of the important aspects of the subject of robotic mapping is path planning. So how do robots plan their path. The process is guided by algorithms. These algorithms are prepared through complex computational methods.

Different Approaches to Robotic Mapping

The technique of internal representation of a map in robots is guided by two different approaches. One of the method makes use of the metric framework while the other uses the topographical framework. The characteristic of metric framework is that the mapping is done by taking into account the two dimensional space. Specialty of the topographical framework is that mapping is done by considering the relation between different places. A graphical representation of a map is presented to the robot in which nodes and arcs correspond to places and paths respectively.

Robotic technology offers us with many exciting opportunities to make the best use of automation technology for the advancement of civilization by developing feasible applications for the real world. If these applications are used in a smart way, such as robotic mapping, they could prove to be of great help to mankind.

So what exactly is soft robotics? Before we get to that, let us talk about how exactly we’d expect robotic technology to affect our lives in the near future. The answer is not that simple. There are many channels or streams through which the latest robotic technology is growing at a fast pace. Soft robotics is one such area of discipline that is a matter of interest for today’s researchers and potential consumers.

Soft Robotics: A Novel Concept for an Old Design

Developments in soft robotics would change robotic technology as we know it, perhaps rendering designs such as above obsolete

The robots developed through soft robotics are devoid of a rigid body-frame. Basically they have a non-linear design. Just imagine how exciting it would be to create robots that resemble human beings and other real-life creatures. Robotics is fast moving towards a world that had been portrayed in movies – the one where robots appear very much like real-life objects. The ‘Soft Star’ robot created by Harvard’s Whitesides Research Group is one such example of soft robotics; this robot is capable of gripping a surface with the help of its tentacles – made of rubber. One of the important characteristics of soft robots is that they would be multi-functional. Their movements won’t be restricted by gears or joints found in the conventional robots. A soft body would also render them unbreakable unlike other hard-bodied electronic devices. A robot model like the SAMI can be made appear humanoid with the use of new technologies of soft robotics.

The Technology Behind Soft Robotics

Carmel Majidi, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University is working to make use of microfluidics in order to build these new-age robots. The different types of fluids ranging from your simple, saltwater to Galinstan can be used. Galistan is basically an alloy of indium and gallium which remains in the liquid state at room temperature. These fluids, when passed through microchannels would make them conductive. According to Majidi, one of the applications or probably challenges in soft robotics would be that of creating exoskeletons possessing sensors for those individuals who have suffered an injury or stroke. Such exoskeletons would prove to be helpful for moving without much trouble. Also, rehabilitating from such injuries becomes possible with the use of robotic exoskeletons. The advances in soft robotics would therefore, directly affect our lives.

The term, ‘soft’ in the field of robotics should not just be associated with the feel and touch of these robots. The idea behind making soft robots goes much deeper. Movements of robots, safety of handling them and other such aspects are taken into account when we use the prefix, ‘soft’. A new technology or development in general is considered life-changing if it enjoys mass acceptance. Success of this technology also depends on how people respond to it. The future of soft robotics technology appears bright because it marks the confluence of both, functionality and humanoid designs.

Robotic technology, owing to its wide range of applications is making its presence felt in different fields ranging from engineering to medicine. In yet another breakthrough, this time by researchers at Cambridge University, the latest robotic technology is being used for development of artificial bones. The research conducted involves the use of a seemingly simple technology in artificial bone generation through robotics.

Robotic Technology to Revolutionize Orthopedics

New developments in robotic technology have given hopes to orthopedic specialists dealing with amputees and victims of severe fractures.

The process of building bones by conventional means is time-consuming. It requires the bone samples to be alternately dipped in solutions of calcium & protein and phosphate & protein. This process is referred to as layering. The process not only consumes a lot of time, but also is tedious. Automating the layering process would be of great help to those working in the medical field of orthopedics, and is expected to bring artificial limbs to a new level altogether. Amputees thus far had to rely on unwieldy limbs made of various materiel but with this new application of robotics, hope is that doctors would be able to provide them with a near identical replacement of their lost limbs.

Let us now understand in short, the mechanism implemented in the process of layering.

The Process: The Role of Robotics in Synthetic Bone Generation

The chemicals used by researchers at the Cambridge University for generating the synthetic bones are composites of hydroxyapatite and gelatin. Different components of the Lego Mindstorms robotics kit used in artificial bone regeneration include the actuators, microcontrollers and sensors. Actions of these components are guided by a computerized program. The basic idea of layering of a bone-like substance was automated in this process. The above-mentioned assembly of components of a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit enables a crane-like structure to dip the bone-like substance in the required chemical solutions to carry out the process of layering. At the end of this process, a composite bone structure is formed. With these fresh developments, process of synthetic bone regeneration has become a lot easier. Google has also made a video featuring the details of research that went into the genesis of this technology. This video is used by Google in its science fair event to encourage teenagers to come up with some interesting and innovative ideas.

The development of such technologies should be of great help in the advancement of robotics. As far as the scope for development in robotic technology is concerned, sky is the only limit!

There was a time when critics of robotic surgery raised questions about its reliability and cost-effectiveness. They also accused the proponents of this technology to be overzealous rather than pragmatic. It was said that robots were not at all needed to perform a surgery and the technological change was introduced just for the sake of it. However, the merits of the latest robotic technology for surgery have been confirmed by experts because of the positive results it has yielded. The main advantage of using robotic technology is cost-efficiency, which is attained without compromising on the quality of surgery being performed. It is the main reason why robotics has gained importance in the medical world.

Robotic Technology to Save Surgical Manpower

It is specualted that robotic technology would take the operation of performing surgeries to a level where only 3-4 individual would be required to perform them; these 3-4 individuals might include a surgeon, two nurses and an anesthesiologist. There are many advantages of using robotic surgery and some of these are listed below.

The incisions made during a robotic surgery are small and therefore, the pain experienced by the patient is less. It is not just the pain that is reduced. Improvement in recovery time of sugeries also is observed; scarring is reduced considerably.

The Advances in Robotic Surgery

The precision level of operations has risen due to the implementation of robotic technology in surgeries. This has helped in reducing the possible risks of a surgery.
Telesurgery is an advanced form of robotic surgery in which the surgeon controls all his operations from a computer station. In this technique, the surgeon doesn’t have to actually perfom a surgery by hands.

Common Applications of Robotic Surgery

Robotic surgery is commonly used in the treatment of prostate cancer. This form of surgery is used for about 85% cases of radical prostatectomies in the US. The results of these surgeries are encouraging since most of them have yielded positive results.
Performing surgery is a task that is mentally exhausting. Also the hand movement of surgeons are restricted. At times, the surgeons also experience hand tremors. All these factors are responsible for the build up of stress. Robotic surgeries can reduce the fatigue induced by conventional surgeries.
Impotence and incontinence are amongst the side effects of prostate cancer surgery which is conducted through traditional means. Robotic surgeries allow surgeons to have clear visuals right up to the minute details. Chances of occurrence of the above-mentioned side-effects are therefore, reduced.

The field of robotic surgery has great scope for development since there are many areas where this technology can be used. With development in robotic surgery, we will see far greater advancements in the due course of time.

Pictured: An artist's representation of robotic technology

In recent posts on this robotics blog, we have talked about how robotic technology is shaping the battlefield and war doctrine of the future. However, owing the latest breakthroughs in the research with respect to tactical usage of robotic technology have made it possible for robotic devices to already make a place for themselves in today’s battlefield. Yes, the application of robotic technology to military usage is extremely limited for now; the trends, though, are nothing if they’re not encouraging.

Even as you read this, military forces of 50-80 nations the world over have either already deployed military purpose robots in operational roles, or are in the process of building or acquiring the latest robotic technology to equip their defense systems with that extra strategic edge.

Military Robotic Technology in the News

The robotic military systems are nothing out of the ordinary. You probably see them on news media all the time. The reason they’re not recognized as robots are twofold: firstly, the military would rather call them unmanned units, and secondly, they don’t conform to the popular culture representation of robots as either humanoid units capable of independent decision making or as massive mecha-tanks, again with extraordinary AI. So we have the Unmanned Aerial Vhicles (UAVs), the Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), and even unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

The Applications of Robotic Technology to Warfare

Those who’ve been watching the media coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would find these names familiar. After all, so many instances of Predator (a UAV) drone strikes have been reported. Predator is an armed UAV which has onboard missiles in both air-to-air (Stinger) and air-to-ground configuration. It can be remote-operated without risking crew lives. Of course, it is an expensive piece of hardware, but a trained military operator is considered virtually priceless, and no military commander would choose losing a man over a machine. Although combat applications of UAVs are limited, they’ve more or less taken over from manned spy flights for aerial surveillance purposes.

UGVs are somewhat less glamorous but useful all the same in various hazardous battlefield tasks; mine laying and detection, IED handling, track-laying, surveillance and so on. Some armed UGVs are reportedly being tested by some forces, especially Israel which is investing in the Guardium UGV for border patrol purposes. This vehicle is remote controlled, and incorporates sophisticated imaging techniques. It can guard a given area, and also intercept intruders using lethal as well as non-lethal weaponry.

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) can range from remote-controlled torpedoes to mine-removers and so on.

Hopes for the Near Future

The day may come when robotic technology in warfare may well reflect the visions that science-fiction writers have developed. Until then, the military is putting robotic technology to great use: supplementing human effort in certain battlefield situations are physically hazardous and cannot abide even an iota of error. This goes a long way in avoiding exposing humans to hazardous conditions. Fully aware, independent decision-making robots may be a thing of the future. For now, let us hope that the UAV concept can be applied to more and more combat jets; this application of robotic technology would save the lives of countless pilots.

Robotic surgery for prostate cancer has made a large influence on prostate cancer treatment during the last decade. Far from being the latest robotic technology, this type of robotic surgical technology was developed first by the United States military to be used on the battlefield, it has recently been applied to the regular medical setting; most notably it is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. The very first robotic surgery for prostate cancer took place in 2001 and now it is the most recommended treatment among American men suffering from prostate cancer. In 2009, 86,000 men in the United States had prostate cancer and an astounding 86 percent had robotic surgery.

Robotic Surgery by the Surgeon-Controlled Arm

Image courtesy: CNN

Though the number suggests there is a robot involved, it is actually not true. The robotic prostatectomy is actually performed by a surgeon using the robotic system. It has four arms and is connected to a console the surgeon operates. One arm holds a very small magnification camera and the other three arms hold various surgical instruments. The instruments are inserted via small incisions in the abdomen approximately seven millimeters wide.

Advantages of Robotic Surgery: Better Range of Motion

The robotic arms are able to rotate 360 degrees. This provides the surgeon with the opportunity to fully manipulate the instruments with full range of motion and flexibility. These arms rotate much in the same manner as a human wrist. Using hand movements and foot pedals, the surgeon is able to control the robot. This machine provides surgeons with a much higher degree of precision. It also removes the possibility of hand tremors and other slip ups.

Better Depth Perception Through 3-D Display

The surgeon is guided using a three dimensional display of the area. By working with three dimensional images, surgeons are afforded a new perception of depth that they cannot achieve with normal laparoscopic surgery. It offers more precision and makes up for any visual feedback. These pictures offer surgeons the clarity they need to use the robotic system properly. This clarity is extremely important as it can assist in minimizing any unnecessary damage to muscles and nerve bundles along the prostate. Avoiding unnecessary damage means reducing the possible risk of incontinence and erectile dysfunction. These are two of the major side effects of regular prostate cancer that the robotic surgery looks to especially minimize.

The Demerit

The only criticism associated with the robotic surgery for prostate cancer and how it works is that the surgeon is unable to know how forcefully they are pulling tissue or how well the stitches in the area are holding. These items usually require what most surgeons call “tactile feedback.” However, according to a number of surgeons who have used this robotic machine for prostate cancer surgery, the high quality and clarity of the visuals they get and the inherent flexibility of the robot arms definitely compensates for this drawback. Robotic surgery for prostate cancer takes often around two to three hours to complete. Patients are put under general anesthesia during the time. The majority of patients who undergo this surgical process only experience minimal blood loss. Only in less than one percent of cases are blood transfusions required.

We’ll be back soon with more on the latest robotic technology, so stay glued to the blog!

When people used to talk about the possibility of robotic technology innovations for the home, they were generally thinking of humanoid servants that would wash the car, clean the house and walk Rover, all before breakfast. That was how the masses perceived the latest robotic technology.

Rodney Brooks Introduced Products Similar to this Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

They surely weren’t thinking of discreet automated vacuum cleaners like iRobot’s Roomba or Electrolux’s Trilobite. These products of the latest robotic technology look and act more like insects than artificial humans – but that is the key to their success.

Rodney Brooks: Innovation in Robotic Technology

The Roomba was the first of its kind and was developed by iRobot, a company co-founded by Rodney Brooks who, as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1980s and 90s, revolutionised the design of robots. The change he effected was not in the physical abilities of robots but rather in the approach to designing the software that controlled them.

Evolved Artificial Intelligence: Robotic Technology for the Home

Unlike most industrial robots, which operate in very carefully controlled environments, domestic robots need some degree of artificial intelligence to negotiate the complicated and changing situations they are bound to encounter in the real world.

Unfortunately early artificial intelligence was not up to the job. The field was focused on building very general-purpose intelligent systems for reasoning, decision- making and planning. The idea was that a general-purpose system could be applied to any particular problem. In fact these systems were often overwhelmed by the messiness of the real world.

Robots built under the old regime were designed to use their sensors to build a very complete internal model of their surroundings, reason about their goals using this model, and then put the resulting plans into action. In practice these robots tended to sit still and think for a lot of the time, occasionally taking brief and tentative action.

Defying Conventions

In the 1980s conventional artificial intelligence came under attack from a variety of directions, one of which was spearheaded by Brooks. Instead of starting at the top with an unworkable general-purpose system, Brooks decided to start at the bottom with the sensors and motors and gradually work his way up.

By combining simple, specialised subsystems that were good at one thing, like avoiding obstacles or exploring a room, he hoped more complex behaviour would emerge. This is more like the way we work, too, with many parts of the brain specialised for particular things, like face recognition or language.

The goal for the early robots Brooks and his colleagues developed was to simulate something like an insect. This led to small, efficient robots that responded quickly to changes around them, rather than sitting and pondering what they should do next. The approach has been very influential in robotics ever since, from automated vacuum cleaners to robots that explore other worlds, encountering more stardust than house dust.

Brooks’ approach is not perfect either, and the best robots of the future will probably employ a mixture of top-down and bottom- up design. But Brooks undoubtedly paved the way for practical robots when he eschewed top- down artificial intelligence for the bottom-up kind, almost literally turning robotic technology on its head.

Military robots in conventional warfare, fighting as foot soldiers may sound other-worldly, Hollywood-like or even sinister to some. But if experts are to be believed, they could be a reality in the very near future. The latest robotic technology researchers at various institutions have been supporting the US Military in developing prototypes that would cater to many battlefield  needs that in the current day put the lives of human soldiers at risk.

The same researchers are of the view that the senior leadership in the US military foresees—and desires—that about 30% of the overall strength of the Army be comprised of military robot forces within the decade. Which means that the projected possibilities aren’t so far away either

How Military Robots Would Fit In

The scope for military use of robots ranges from self-driving vehicles to the more conventional conception of a robot. The Pentagon, however, is more comfortable with the term ‘autonomous systems’ rather than robots.

That may sound like the machines in question would have an ability to make decisions within a given purview—as has been the case with human soldiers and commanders over centuries—but the truth is far from it in the current scenario. Military robots, for now, are being only seen as a means to eliminate physical hazards as far as possible; maybe even put hitherto undoable tasks within reach. Hence, although military robots are expected to replace humans in terms of numbers, or reduce the number of human soldiers if you look at it another way, they’re simply another tool or weapon that would ultimately be manned by humans remotely. This way, the standard military chain of command remains intact, with human decision making capabilities still being the essence of strategy. Thus, a fighter jet or surveillance plane can be remotely piloted or a tank be remotely crewed. Thus, humans are always in control, but with no danger whatsoever to human lives from enemy fire or other possible mishaps. Part of this has already been implemented, with the US military using unmanned aerial vehicles being used in the eye-in-the-sky role as well as weaponized platforms; they call them ‘drones’.

The Challenge: Military Robots with better AI

This would still not be the same as totally control, as is the case in current-day fighter planes and battle tanks. Humans would only be making strategic decisions and relaying them to the autonomous system via the appropriate apparatus. The researchers are aiming to build a robotics platform that can act intelligently, carrying out a task once ordered to while keeping the human operator involved, and with enough control to effect a ‘graceful intervention’ if required. Requiring a development process from the ground up, as also a revision of the thought process, such an approach would ensure that military robots would be more than mere remote-controlled toys.

The future of robotic technology is as interesting as robots are bound to be boring; eventually. Sounds contradictory? Think again.

Today, the latest robotic technology is well covered in the news to the point of overdoing it. A huge buzz is generated every time someone comes up with a robot that, say, can fetch you a drink, shake your hand, be your pet, or what have you. And what’s so exciting about robots, in fact or in fiction?

The Media Buzz Over Robotic Technology Developments

Well, first of all, they’re unfamiliar enough for most people that robot fiction can get away with just about everything, no matter how absurd. And that brings us to the other thing: robotic technology is still very young. Like a young toddler receives attention for everything it does the first time: speaking, walking, running, trying to trip the person who taught it to walk, and so on, so it is with the latest robotic technology. So, with every new development and emerging possibility, robots are becoming more and more a part of everyday life, till one day robots become as commonplace as the household telephone. Come to think of it, maybe your friendly household telephone ITSELF would be a robot. After all, the world of robotic technology as we know it today is undergoing not just a vertical evolution but a lateral one as well. Not only are robots being invented and reinvented to perform various daily tasks, there are several devices that are fast approaching a level where it would not be wrong to call them robots.

Harking Back to the Past: The Acceptance of Technological Evolution

Coming back to the topic, take any technology that has emerged within the past 100 years and changed the way we live as an analogous reference point. At the turn of the 20^th Century, air travel was still only slightly better than hot air balloons (the first Zeppelin took off in 1900) and the television still about half a century away. Although long distance communication through the telegraph was pretty much ubiquitous, what used to pass for tech press in the day were very excited about something called radio communication. Cut to today, none of these technologies even merits major coverage: flying once inspired epics and innumerable flights of fancy (forgive the pun) but even round-the-world flights are no longer press fodder, and while nobody could even imagine seeing images on a screen being broadcast from thousands of miles away, the television is such an essential part of the household that it is more a source background noise now. And that, ladies and gentlemen reading this robotics blog, is how the robotic technology of the future ought to look like: unremarkable, barely notice-worthy and boring.

Robotic Technology in Popular Culture Its Real-World Perceptions

Granted, robots have captured imaginations quite differently, in the sense that the notion of man creating a being in his image has long being an element of fantastical literature (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for one), along with the potentially disastrous consequences. Robotic technology, in both fact and fiction, has been a culmination of this long-standing fascination. As such, most laypersons have a concept of robots as androids or humanoids capable of making decisions. No wonder then, that humanoid robots becoming a part of society (Bicentennial Man, AI) is a common tech-related motif in popular culture. And that is second only to the long-enduring paranoid notion of robotic technology becoming intelligent enough to take autonomous decisions in contradiction of standing orders, turning against its creators and even trying to eliminate humanity (Terminator franchise and I, Robot being examples). For lack of a better term, we could call this fear an extension of what Asimov called ‘the Frankenstein complex’.

What Lies Ahead

As robots become more and more commonplace, the common man would come to see how robots aren’t just walking man-like contraptions but that the term can be applied device that can be programmed to go about mechanical tasks in a way that gives it reasonable decision freedom within a specific frame. Already, homes are welcoming robotic vacuum cleaners, pets and the like.

A car’s cruise control, or aircraft’s auto pilot system can equally well be regarded as products of robotic technology if they’re capable of not only maintaining speed (and altitude in planes) but also capable of taking contingency decisions. Already, inroads are being made in that direction. The military is funding research in robotic technology towards invention of armed robotic vehicles, both aerial and ground-based, which could act and engage (or not) based on situational awareness independently, with the scope for remote human intervention.

All that, however, would not serve to make the presence of robotic technology in our daily lives felt as profoundly as robotic gadgets specifically designed for the home. The true revolution in the world of robotics would be for robots to become mundane everyday devices that we’d be as familiar with as we are with. Till that time comes, its going to be a fun ride. The future in boring. The future is interesting. We’ll leave you with that thought, but stay tuned because we’ll be back soon enough with more on the marvels of robotic technology.

In any discussion of the latest robotic technology, whenever there’s a mention of the origins of robotics, everybody thinks of Isaac Asimov. Fair enough, the science-fiction writer coined the term, and we are pretty certain without him, the things we know today as robots would be known by far less exciting (and definitely lengthier) names. However, it is quite ironic that the man who is actually the father of robotic technology is hardly known except within the closed community of robotic technology developers and the geeks who follow them closely. Outside of these, even the people who have heard of George Devol, who passed away on the 18^th of August this year aged 99, associate him more with the auto industry rather than as the man who revolutionized the world of robotics as we know it today.

The Early Years: A Prelude to Robotic Technology

Devol was born in 1912 in Louisville, Kentucky, to an affluent family. A boyhood fascination with all things electrical and mechanical, as well as exposure to fantastic comic books and science-fiction stories planted the seeds of the inspiration that drove Devol. And so, in retrospect, it is hardly surprising that George Devol built the real-life digitally programmed robotic arm that has since been used on car assembly lines and in similar industrial roles.

That, however, was no bolt out of the blue. At Riordan Prep, he got some practical experience on top of his classroom lessons by helping construct some buildings and running the school’s electric light plant. He was never an exceptional student, but he would devour any reading material he could get related to mechanics, and was especially interested in the applications of vacuum tubes as control devices. Devol decided to forgo a college education in favor of gaining more know-how working at various electronics companies before founding United Cinephone in 1932. His initial business interest was to produce variable area recording directly onto film for the new sound motion pictures (“talkies”), an emerging form of entertainment after the silent film era.  Faced with stiff competition from companies already established in this line of work, like RCA and Western Electric, he decided to explore other possibilities. At this point, he felt the boyhood fascination with reemerging “what else can we do with all these photocells and vacuum tubes?”

Innovations and Inventions Galore

Devol decided that United Cinephone needed inventions in order to sell its photoelectric switches. He invented his first significant contraption while still in his 20s: the automatically opening door that was billed by the advertisers of the day as ‘the Phantom Doorman’, and which is so commonplace nowadays. The New York World’s Fair of 1939 had another of his early inventions in attendance. Actually it was his invention that was helping gauge the attendance to the event. The device was a photoelectric entrance counter, which automatically counted visitors and replaced the turnstile.

In the 40s decade, Devol invented a rather rudimentary version of what we’d go on to know as the microwave owen. This coin-operated contraption was named the ‘Speedy Weeny’ and it cooked and dispensed hot dogs, initially in New York’s Grand Central Station.

The Word’s First Robotic Technology Manufacturing Company

He invented the robotic arm, initially named ‘programmed article-handling device’ in 1954. It wasn’t until he met eventual life-long friend and business partner Joseph Engelberger two years later that things begun to take shape. Over discussions of Isaac Asimov and his fictional robotic technology, Devol revlealed to his new friend that he’d invented a robotic arm two years ago. Himself an engineer, Engelberger quickly warmed to the idea as Devol elaborated on the concept.

United Cinephone had long been sold off, and after Engelberger had rechristened this invention ‘Unimate’, he set up ‘Unimation’ with Devol, based in Danbury, Connecticut. This was, by all indications, the world’s first company for development and manufacture of robotic technology.

In his later years, Devol ran a robotic technology consulting company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He continued to explore new technologies to ‘improve’ robotic behavior before retiring to Connecticut. He was inducted in the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in early 2011 .

The man who has been hailed as the ‘Father of Robotic Technology’ on more than one occasion, and who preferred to describe himself as the ‘perpetual Don Quixote’ had one lifelong regret. He’d forever lament the fact that Japanese industrialists not only appreciated his robotic arm quicker than the American stalwarts but also cashed in on it in a big way. Nevertheless, George Devol never let that get him down, and spent the better part of his 99 years transforming ideas into concrete robotic technology products. His robotic arm is still used across industries, working on the same principles, but updated to keep in sync with the latest robotic technology.