Robot History InfoTech

  • 1970's FAMULUS

    1970's FAMULUS
    Freddy and Freddy II, both built in the United Kingdom, were robots capable of assembling wooden blocks in a period of several hours. German based company KUKA built the world's first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes, known as FAMULUS.
  • 1974's The Silver Arm

    1974's The Silver Arm
    David Silver designed The Silver Arm; the Silver Arm was capable of fine movements replicating human hands. Feedback was provided by touch and pressure sensors and analyzed by a computer.
  • 1978's SCARA

    1978's SCARA
    Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm, was created in 1978 as an efficient, 4-axis robotic arm. Best used for picking up parts and placing them in another location, the SCARA was introduced to assembly lines in 1981.
  • 1984's Wabot-II

    1984's Wabot-II
    Wabot-2 was revealed; capable of playing the organ, Wabot-2 had 10 fingers and two feet. Wabot-2 was able to read a score of music and accompany a person.
  • 1990s RoboTuna

    1990s RoboTuna
    The biomimetic robot RoboTuna was built by doctoral student David Barrett at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996 to study how fish swim in water. RoboTuna is designed to swim and resemble a blue fin tuna.
  • 1996s Humanoid P2

    1996s Humanoid P2
    Honda's P2 humanoid robot was first shown in 1996. Standing for "Prototype Model 2", P2 was an integral part of Honda's humanoid development project; over 6 feet tall, P2 was smaller than its predecessors and appeared to be more human-like in its motions.
  • 2001s Canadarm 2

    2001s Canadarm 2
    In April 2001, the Canadarm2 was launched an orbit and attached to the International Space Station. The Canadarm2 is a larger, more capable version of the arm used by the Space Shuttle and is hailed as being "smarter
  • 2004s Mars Rovers

    2004s Mars Rovers
    On 3 and 24 January the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity land on the surface of Mars.
  • 1989s Genghis

    1989s Genghis
    A hexapodal robot named Genghis was revealed by MIT in 1989. Genghis was famous for being made quickly and cheaply due to construction methods; Genghis used 4 microprocessors, 22 sensors, and 12 servo motors.