Exhibition charts 500 years of evolution of robots – Phys.Org

February 7, 2017 by Lynne O'donnell Animatronic baby London 2016, a mechanical human baby with an electronic umbilical cord is displayed, during a press preview for the Robot exhibition held at the Science Museum in London, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. The exhibition which shows 500 years of mechanical and robotic advances is open to the public form Feb. 8 through to Sept. 3. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Inspired by his belief that human beings are essentially terrified of robots, Ben Russell set about charting the evolution of automatons for an exhibition he hopes will force people to think about how androids and other robotic forms can enhance their lives.

Robots, says Russell, have been with us for centuriesas "Robots," his exhibit opening Wednesday at London's Science Museum, shows.

From a 15th century Spanish clockwork monk who kisses his rosary and beats his breast in contrition, to a Japanese "childoid" newsreader, created in 2014 with lifelike facial expressions, the exhibition tracks the development of robotics and mankind's obsession with replicating itself.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's unstoppable Terminator cyborg is there, as is Robby the Robot, star of the 1956 film "Forbidden Planet," representing the horror and the fantasy of robots with minds of their own.

There are also examples of factory production-line machines blamed for taking people's jobs in recent decades; a "telenoid communications android" for hugging during long-distance phone calls to ease loneliness; and Kaspar, a "minimally expressive social robot" built like a small boy and designed to help ease social interactions for children with autism.

"When you take a long view, as we have done with 500 years of robots, robots haven't been these terrifying things, they've been magical, fascinating, useful, and they generally tend to do what we want them to do," said Russell, who works at the science museum and was the lead curator of the exhibition.

And while it's human nature to be worried in the face of change, Russell said, the exhibit should help people "think about what we are as humans" and realize that if robots are "going to come along, you've got a stake in how they develop."

A total of 100 robots are set in five different historic periods in a show that explores how religion, industrialization, pop culture and visions of the future have shaped society.

For Rich Walker, managing director of Shadow Robot Company in London, robotics is about what these increasingly sophisticated machines can do for humans to make life easier, particularly for the elderly or the impaired.

"I'm naturally lazy and got involved so that I could get robots to do things for me," Walker said. His company has developed a robotic hand that can replicate 24 of the 27 natural movements of the human hand.

As humans have a 1 percent failure rate at repetitive tasks, committing errors about once every two hours, the hand could replace humans on production lines, he said.

Walker concedes further erosion of certain types of jobs if inventions such as his are successful, but says having repetitive tasks performed by automatons would free up people to adopt value-added roles.

"The issue is to rebuild the economy so that it has a holistic approach to employment," he said.

This in turn leads to questions, raised at the exhibition as well as by the European Union, of whether or not robots should pay taxes on the value of their output as part of the new industrial revolution.

Explore further: Humans must overcome distrust of robots, say researchers

2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Social pedestrian navigation, such as walking down a crowded sidewalk, is something humans take for granted, but the actual process is quite sophisticated especially if you're a robot.

Remembering robots from film portrayals may help ease some of the anxiety that older adults have about using a robot, according to Penn State researchers.

Most Dutch people feel that the ideal social robot should not resemble a human being too much, as is the case with robots currently being produced in Japan. People do expect a robot to have certain human traits, but the distinction ...

Assembly line workers won't be swapping stories with their robotic counterparts any time soon, but future robots will be more aware of the humans they're working alongside.

Empathy is a basic human ability. We often feel empathy toward and console others in distress. Is it possible for us to emphasize with humanoid robots? Since robots are becoming increasingly popular and common in our daily ...

(Tech Xplore)Roboticists working on a robot's hardware and software can brag a lot. They have made robots which can flip pancakes, make sandwiches, ask children and adults questions, and generate expressions of happiness, ...

As the planet warms due to climate change and hot days become more common, the US electrical grid could be unable to meet peak energy needs by century's end, researchers warned Monday.

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have designed and demonstrated a small voltaic cell that is sustained by the acidic fluids in the stomach. The system can generate enough power to run small sensors or drug ...

Unlock them with an app, drop them off anywhere, and nip past lanes of stationary car traffic: the humble bicycle is seeing a revival in China as a new generation of start-ups help tackle urban congestion and pollution with ...

Bats have long captured the imaginations of scientists and engineers with their unrivaled agility and maneuvering characteristics, achieved by functionally versatile dynamic wing conformations as well as more than forty active ...

Engineers at MIT have fabricated transparent, gel-based robots that move when water is pumped in and out of them. The bots can perform a number of fast, forceful tasks, including kicking a ball underwater, and grabbing and ...

Self-driving car prototypes appear to be getting better at negotiating California streets and highways without a human backup driver intervening, according to data made public Wednesday by California transportation regulators.

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Read this article:

Exhibition charts 500 years of evolution of robots - Phys.Org