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Around 1495 Leonardo da Vinci sketched plans for a humanoid robot
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The life-sized automatons were created including a famous mechanical duck made by Jacques de Vaucanson that could crane its neck, flap its wings and even swallow food.
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The first true robot toy was produced in Japan. The ‘Lilliput’ was a wind-up toy which walked. It was made from tinplate and stood just 15cm tall.
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George Devol and Joe Engelberger design the first programmable robot ‘arm’. This later became the first industrial robot, completing dangerous and repetitive tasks on an assembly line at General Motors
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The IBM 360 becomes the first computer to be mass-produced.
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The first LEGO based educational products are put on the market and Honda launches a project to build a walking humanoid robot.
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On May 11, a computer built by IBM known as Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov. The first Robocup tournament is held in Japan. The goal of Robocup is to have a fully automated team of robots beat the worlds best soccer team by the year 2050.
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Sony releases the first version of AIBO, a robotic dog with the ability to learn, entertain and communicate with its owner. More advanced versions have followed.
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Epsom release the smallest known robot, standing 7cm high and weighing just 10 grams. The robot helicopter is intended to be used as a ‘flying camera’ during natural disasters.
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After being first introduced in 2002, the popular Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner has sold over 2.5 million units, proving that there is a strong demand for this type of domestic robotic technology.
