What Is a Robotics Engineer?

Asimov's "I, the Robot" was published by the Gnomm Press in late 1950. Although the book is an "old manuscript", these short stories were published in scattered pieces over a decade. This time, the readers will be able to appreciate the charm of Asimov's robotic science fiction novels for the first time. Asimov wrote a new "Introduction" for this book, and the subtitle of the "Introduction" is "Three Laws of Robotics", putting "Three Laws of Robotics" in the most prominent and most prominent place. .

Three Laws of Robotics

Starting from the short science fiction "Inference" in 1941, Asimov has created a series of short robot science fiction within the framework of the "Three Principles." He is proficient in applying the "three rules" and gradually develops the story under the premise that robots may violate the rules. These short stories are very logical, compact and exciting, and they were later included in the two undergraduate fantasy collections of "I, Robot" (1950) and "Other Robots" (1964). After trying a series of short stories, Asimov created another robotic science fiction novel, Steel Cave (also translated as Steel Cave) (1953) and Naked Sun (1957). The legend of human detective and robot detective jointly solving the case is known as a model of combining science fiction and reasoning.

With the "Three Principles", Asimov's robots are no longer the opposite role of "deceiving teachers to destroy their ancestors" and "perpetrating chaos," but human loyal servants and friends. However, highly intelligent robots still produce various psychological problems that require human assistance to solve, which is the basis of the robot story. What Asimov aspires to is the coexistence and coexistence of "carbon civilization" represented by humans and "silicon civilization" represented by robots. In Asimov's other excellent work, Two Hundred Years Old (1976), his idea is fully revealed.

With the widespread influence of "I, Robot", Asimov's "Three Principles of Robotics" also attracted widespread attention. To this day, many authors always write about "Three Principles of Robotics". Tao: "In 1950

Later came the supplementary "Zero Law of Robots":

Law Zero: Robots must protect the overall interests of human beings from harm. The other three laws can only hold true under this premise.

After Asimov, people have continuously proposed additions and amendments to the three principles of robots.

Bulgarian science fiction writer Lyuben Dilov proposed the fourth principle in the novel "Icarus's Way" in 1974:

Fourth principle: The robot must confirm that it is a robot under all circumstances.

In 1989, American science fiction writer Harry Harrison put forward another fourth principle in "Foundation's Friends":

Fourth principle: Robots must reproduce as long as they do not violate the first, second, or third principles.

Bulgarian science fiction writer Nikola Kesarovski in The Fifth Law of Robotics (1983) proposes a fifth principle that looks similar to the fourth principle of Lyuben Dilov but is actually different:

Fifth principle: The robot must know that it is a robot.

These supplements do have their reasons, but a common problem is the necessity and necessity of the supplement itself. You know, the Three Principles of Asimov pointed out three basic norms (or "laws") of robotics, and more specific norms must be based on these basic norms. How to divide a specification into a specific one or a basic one? If it is a basic norm, how do you determine its place in the basic norm system (why is it the "fourth" principle and the other is the "fifth" principle?)? Objectively speaking, the contents of the aforementioned "fourth" and "fifth" principles cannot make themselves the fourth and fifth principles. They do not see how they become principles, nor do they see such an order. The proposition of these principles is mostly to meet the needs of the plot of the novel. Although it makes sense in the novel, it is not necessary to be too rigid. Obviously, the starting point of these supplementary principles is the need of the plot of the novel, not the content of the three principles of robots themselves. Starting from the content of the three principles, the three principles are supplemented and modified. People have done such work and produced many serious discussion articles. Here is just an example of Roger Clark. The robot principles he conceived are:

Meta-principle: Robots must not perform behaviors unless the behavior complies with robot principles.

Principle zero: Robots must not harm the entire human body, or cause the entire human body to be harmed by inaction.

The first principle: Unless it violates the higher-order principle, the robot must not harm human individuals, or cause human individuals to be harmed by inaction.

Second principle: Robots must obey human commands unless the command contradicts higher-order principles.

Robots must obey orders from superior robots, unless the order conflicts with higher-order principles.

The third principle: if it does not conflict with the higher-order principle, the robot must first protect the superior robot, and then protect its own existence.

Fourth principle: Unless it violates the higher order principle, the robot must perform the functions assigned by the built-in program.

Reproduction principle: Robots must not participate in the design and manufacture of robots, unless new robots behave in accordance with robot principles.

It is reasonable for Roger Clark to name the last principle "the principle of reproduction" instead of the "fifth principle"; it is indeed difficult to determine exactly where this principle should be placed in terms of its content. . He put the robot in accordance with the built-in functions after performing human commands, and he believes that obeying human commands has priority over performing his job, and there is no problem in general. However, it is questionable to place the robot's own protection before its job. In addition, in addition to adjusting the relationship between humans and robots, these principles also involve some relationships between robots, which is beyond the scope of the original principles.

American actor Will Smith's "The Enemy of the Machine" mentioned the three laws of robots.

Mentioned in American drama "The Big Bang" and British drama "The Real Human."

Mentioned in "Robot Butler" (or "Become Human").

20 Three Laws of Robotics 20th Century

In 1920, Czechoslovakian writer Carel Chapeck wrote in his science-fiction novel "Rossam's Robot Universal Company" according to Robota (Czech, originally meaning "labour, hard labor") and Robotnik (Polish, originally "Worker"), coining the term "robot".

Elektro, a home robot manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, was exhibited at the World Expo in New York in 1939. It is controlled by a cable, can walk, can say 77 words, and even smoke, but it is far from real housework. But it makes people's vision for home robots more concrete.

In 1942, American science fiction master Asimov proposed "three rules of robotics". Although this was only a creation in science fiction, it later became the default research and development principle in academia.

In 1948, Norbert Wiener published "Cybernetology", which expounded the common laws of communication and control functions in machines and human neural and sensory functions. He first proposed computer-based automated factories.

In 1954, American American George De Wall built the world's first programmable robot and registered a patent. This manipulator can perform different tasks according to different programs, so it is versatile and flexible.

At the Dartmouth conference in 1956, Marvin Minsky put forward his views on intelligent machines: Intelligent machines "can create abstract models of the surrounding environment, and if they encounter problems, they can find solutions from the abstract models" . This definition affects the research direction of intelligent robots in the next 30 years.

In 1959 De Wall and the American inventor Joseph Ingleberger teamed up to make the first industrial robot. Subsequently, Unimation, the world's first robotic manufacturing plant, was established. Due to Ingerberg's research and development and promotion of industrial robots, he is also known as the "father of industrial robots".

In 1962, the American company AMF produced "VERSTRAN" (meaning universal handling), which became a truly commercial industrial robot like Unimate produced by Unimation, and exported it to countries all over the world, setting off a worldwide boom in robotics and robotics research.

From 1962 to 1963, the application of sensors improved the operability of the robot. People tried to install a variety of sensors on robots, including the tactile sensors used by Ernst in 1961, and Tomovic and Boni used pressure sensors on the world's earliest "dexterous hands" in 1962, and McCarthy In 1963, the vision sensor system was added to the robot, and in 1965, he helped MIT launch the world's first robot system with a vision sensor that can identify and locate building blocks.

In 1965, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory developed the Beast robot. Beast has been able to correct its position according to the environment through sonar systems, photocells and other devices. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Edinburgh have established robotic laboratories. The United States has risen to study second-generation "sensory" robots with sensors, and is moving towards artificial intelligence.

In 1968, the Stanford Research Institute of the United States announced their successful Shakey robot. It has a visual sensor that can detect and grab building blocks based on human instructions, but the computer that controls it is as large as a room. Shakey can be regarded as the world's first intelligent robot, which kicked off the development of the third generation of robots.

In 1969, Kato Ichiro's laboratory at Waseda University in Japan developed the first robot to walk on two feet. Kato Ichiro has been working on humanoid robots for a long time, and is known as the "father of humanoid robots". Japanese experts have always been known for their research and development of humanoid robots and entertainment robots. Later, they went further and gave birth to Honda's ASIMO and Sony's QRIO.

In 1973, for the first time in the world, a robot and a small computer worked together to create the robot T3 from the American company Cincinnati Milacron.

In 1978, Unimation Corporation of the United States introduced the universal industrial robot PUMA, which indicates that the industrial robot technology has been fully mature. PUMA still works on the front line of the factory.

In 1984, Engelberg pushed the robot Helpmate, which can deliver meals, medicines, and mail to patients in hospitals. In the same year, he also predicted: "I want the robot to clean the floor, cook, go out and help me wash the car and check the safety."

In 1990, Professor Zhou Haizhong, a famous Chinese scholar, predicted in the article "On Robots" that by the middle of the 21st century, nano-robots will completely change human labor and lifestyle. ^[1]

In 1998, Danish LEGO company launched a robot (Mind-storms) kit, making robot manufacturing like building blocks, relatively simple and arbitrarily assembled, so that the robot began to enter the personal world.

In 1999, Sony Corporation of Japan launched AIBO, a dog-shaped robot, which was sold out immediately. From then on, entertainment robots have become one of the ways for robots to enter ordinary families.

21 Three Laws of Robotics 21st Century

In 2002, the American iRobot company introduced Roomba, a vacuum cleaner robot, which can avoid obstacles, automatically design the route of travel, and automatically drive to the charging stand when the battery is insufficient. Roomba is currently the world's largest sales and most commercial home robot.

In June 2006, Microsoft Corporation of the United States launched Microsoft Robotics Studio, and the trend of modularization and unified platform of robots became more and more obvious. Bill Gates predicted that home robots would soon sweep the world.

In January 2014, the Bacterial Robotics Research Institute of Jeonnam University in South Korea has developed the world's first nano-robot that can treat cancer, which can diagnose and treat highly-prone cancers such as colorectal, breast, gastric and liver cancer. ^[2]