robot

WTF Fun Fact 13689 – The Origin of the Word Robot

The word “robot” is a term we’ve made synonymous with machines capable of performing tasks autonomously. Surprisingly, the root of “robot” is less about silicon and circuits and more about human history and linguistics.

The Birth of the Word Robot

The word “robot” made its first appearance in the realm of literature, introduced by Czech playwright Karel Čapek in his 1920 play “R.U.R.” or “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” The term comes from the Czech word “robota,” meaning “forced labor” or “drudgery.” It describes artificially created beings designed to perform work for humans.

The etymology reflects a deep historical context, where “robota” was associated with the burdensome toil of serfs. Through Čapek’s narrative, this concept of labor was reimagined, giving birth to what we now understand as robots.

A Universal Term

From its dramatic debut, “robot” quickly became a universal term. It captured the imagination of the public and scientists alike. In doing so, it became the go-to descriptor for the burgeoning field of machines designed to mimic human actions. The transition from a word describing human labor to one embodying mechanical automatons is a testament to the term’s versatility and the evolution of technology.

What started as a fictional concept in Čapek’s play has exploded into a major field of study and development. Robots now roam factory floors, explore other planets, and even perform surgery. It’s far removed from “forced labor” but linked to the idea of performing tasks on behalf of humans.

The Legacy of “Robot”

The origin of “robot” is a reminder of how art and language can influence technology and society. Čapek’s play not only introduced a new word. It also prompted us to think about the ethical and practical implications of creating beings to serve human needs. The word “robot” now carries with it questions of autonomy, ethics, and the future of work and creativity.

The word “robot” is a linguistic snapshot of human innovation and our relationship with technology.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “The Czech Play That Gave Us the Word ‘Robot’” — MIT Press Reader

WTF Fun Fact 13451 – Shape-Shifting Robot

You’ve seen robotic dogs, humanoid robots that can do backflips, etc. – but have you seen the new shape-shifting robots? Just what the world needs, right? Well…maybe!

Do shape-shifting robots really exist?

They do exist, but they’re small – and they’re certainly not a threat. Although we don’t exactly love the headline from EurekAlert “Watch this person-shaped robot liquify and escape jail, all with the power of magnets.” But whatever. Like all robots, they’re pretty cool, aside from their (granted, far-fetched) potential to destroy us all.

This robot can indeed transform, liquefy itself, slip into the smallest crevices, and then reassemble with absolute precision. The shape-shifting robot creators drew inspiration from a sea cucumber.

What do a sea cucumber and a shape-shifting robot have in common?

Sea cucumbers have a unique ability—they can alter their stiffness rapidly and reversibly. This is the fascinating biological phenomenon that the researchers hoped to replicate in their robotic system.

Traditional robots, with their rigid bodies, lack the flexibility to navigate small spaces. There are “softer” robots, but while they’re more pliable, are often weaker and harder to control. So, to overcome these challenges, the team aimed to create a robot that could oscillate between being a solid and a liquid.

The new breed of robot is an alloy of gallium—a metal with a low melting point—and includes embedded magnetic particles. The particles allow the robot to respond to magnetic fields, which scientists can use to control its movement and induce changes in its state—from solid to liquid and vice versa.

The team from Carnegie Mellon University christened their groundbreaking creation the “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine.” Catchy!

The power of transformation

In a magnetic field, the robot can jump, stretch, climb walls, and even solder a circuit board. Its most impressive trick? The ability to liquefy and squeeze itself out of a mock prison—only to solidify once again on the outside. When in solid state, this robot can bear weights 30 times its own, demonstrating remarkable strength and flexibility.

Interestingly, the shapeshifting robot might have potential applications in the medical field. In a proof-of-concept experiment, the robot successfully removed a ball from a model of a human stomach. It quickly moved to the ball, melted around it, reformed, and exited the model stomach—ball in tow.

Although gallium was the metal of choice in these experiments, other metals could be introduced to adjust the melting point for real-life applications.

Future applications

Looking ahead, the gallium robots could serve a variety of purposes. From assembling and repairing hard-to-reach circuits to acting as a universal screw that melts and reforms to fit any socket, the possibilities seem endless.

The technology might have significant biomedical applications as well. For instance, these robots could deliver drugs inside a patient’s body or remove foreign objects. However, before any in-human application, tracking the robot’s position within a patient’s body is a hurdle scientists need to overcome.

Who knows, maybe a doctor will ask you to swallow a shape-shifting robot someday. What a thing to look forward to!

Wanna see the robot melt and reconstitute? Someone set it to some soothing music on YouTube:

— WTF fun facts

Source: “This Shape-Shifting Robot Can Liquefy Itself and Reform” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 13023 – The Samsung Butt Robot

Putting your phone in your back pocket is dangerous business (at least for the phone). So to ensure their materials were sturdy enough to withstand the crush, Samsung invented a robotic butt. The Samsung butt robot exerts 220 pounds of pressure on their phones during testing.

How Samsung phones are robot butt-tested

Clad in a pair of blue jeans, the butt repeatedly sits on phone to see how they’ll react to the common real-world beating their bound to take.

According to Tech Radar (cited below), whose writer was invited to tour the facility;

“On a recent trip to Korea, we were invited by Samsung to take a tour of its dedicated testing facility, and as we made our way through the company’s labs (each more diabolical than the last) we came to understand just how seriously the company takes its quality control – even if one of these tests does involve an undeniably quirky robot butt (dressed in blue denim jeans, no less) repeatedly sitting on handsets.”

Other Sumsung quality testing

The facility did a number of quality tests on their phones. They tested durability, sound quality, and battery power, among other important functions.

While we’re sure the phones still break from time to time, they have been through a lot. Tech Radar also reported:

“Using a number of different mechanical devices that look like the world’s most brutal skill testers (including auto drop testers, tumble testers and continuous free fall testers), Samsung’s handsets are repeatedly dropped from varying heights and angles onto a variety of hard surfaces, such as metal and marble.”

The butt test is still our favorite and when the first tech writers got a chance to see it around 2014, the company was met with so much public interest that they finally released a video so people could see it for themselves. Enjoy! — WTF fun facts

Source: “Samsung built a robot butt just to test its smartphones’ durability” — Tech Radar

WTF Fun Fact 12592 – The Robot Monk

Softbank’s former line of Pepper robots took on many tasks in Japan, including duties in hospitals, retail stores, and even Buddhist temples. Pepper was even programmed to become a stand-in for a Buddhist monk, news outlets reported in 2017.

While the robot monks can deliver blessings and beat a drum, their real purpose is to preside over funeral services in Japan, which has a significantly increasing elderly population.

The robot funerals not only pick up some slack when there aren’t enough human monks to go around, but they’re economical as well. A robot funeral cost about 1/5 of what a regular one would

It’s a question for the ethicists and theologians.

Another interesting fact is that human Buddhist monks have shown the same respect for robots as well, presiding over ceremonial funerals for obsolete robotic dogs in Japan.

– WTF fun facts

Source: “The Robot Priest” — Tech Top 10 List