Hello, good evening to all!
This month we are celebrating a symbolic birthday, I'll let you guess which one?
On January 25, 1921, Karel Čapek organized the first performance of the theater play "Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti" - "Rossum's Universal Robots" - "R. U. R." at the National Theater in Prague (It was performed in 1922 in New York and in 1924 on the Champs-Elysees (Paris, France) and in many other cities around the world).
It is on this precise date that the word 'ROBOT' is used for the first time.
Originally Karel Čapek wanted to use the word → 'Labori', which comes from Latin and means 'Work', but it was his brother Josef who came up with the idea of using the word → 'Robota' which in Czech means: 'Hard work', 'forced work', 'drudgery', 'servitude' ...
For the record, Josef Čapek had written a short play: 'Opilec', in 1917, and he used the word 'Automaton', but very quickly the word 'Robot' supplanted 'Automaton', in movies and books, a few years later...
The word 'Robot' sounds like a few other words in other languages:
'Rob' → meaning 'slave' in ancient Slavic language
'Rabota' → which means 'work' in Russian
'Robotnik' → which is the equivalent of 'worker' in Slovak and Polish.
What is this play about?:
"It takes place in the future, in the R. U. R. robot factory located on an island, they are biological machines with human appearance, they were then devoid of sensitivities and feelings. In order to make them less fragile and more versatile, the R. U. R. engineers endow them with a limited (emotional) sensitivity, and a much more developed intelligence. After 10 years of working for Humans, Robots end up revolting and destroying humanity. At the end of the play, after having lost the secret of their manufacture, two of the Robots discover Love, and the last of the Human beings gives them the responsibility of the world".
Yes, it is a story of love and apocalypse, and this story goes back 100 years!
A few years later, filmmaker Fritz Lang used the word 'Robot' in his film "Metropolis" to refer to (the Robot) Maria, in 1927.
In 1942, Isaac Asimov, the author of Science-Fiction books, created the word 'Robotics', which can be found in his book 'Runaround'. It is him also who will establish the 'Three Laws of Robotics'.
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
In the 1950s, Joseph Engelberger created 'Robotic Science':
Articulated structure with one or more functional limbs, thanks to a motor and controlled by a Computer.
(Unlike household appliances that operate without human intervention).
The first industrial robots were manufactured in the 1960s in the USA, despite their very high costs, they were mainly used for : Repetitive, strenuous and toxic tasks for a human operator.
Today, thanks to Computer Science and Electronics, Robots are more precise, faster and have a longer autonomy.
We rather call them: Mechatronics → (Mix of Mechanics, Electronics, Informatics).
We find them in almost all domains:
Industry
Military
Medicine and Surgical Specialty (2000 - 'Da Vinci' Surgical Assistant Robot in Operating Rooms)
Exploration (1996 - 'Sojourner' first Robot to go into space to explore the planet Mars)
Anthropomorphism
Domestic Robots ...
Even the Crypto industry has its own Robots, essentially Trading Bots: Software capable of analyzing the price of Cryptocurrencies and to make orders autonomously in order to generate Profit.
We also find the (ro)'Bots' on social media such as Telegram, Discord ... which allows to distribute various Cryptos!
I think this little story should be known by everyone, and especially by Cryptos-Enthusiasts.
Because without Josef & Karel Čapek, what word would we use today?
Thanks to all of you
Take care of yourself
See you soon
Christophe WILHELM
