What is Robotics?Roboticsis the branch ofmechanical engineering,electrical engineeringandcomputer sciencethat deals with the design, construction, operation, and application ofrobots,as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing.These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, and/or cognition. Many of today's robots are inspired by nature contributing to the field ofbio-inspired robotics.The concept of creating machines that can operateautonomouslydates back toclassical times, but research into the functionality and potential uses of robots did not grow substantially until the 20th century. Throughout history, robotics has been often seen to mimic human behavior, and often manage tasks in a similar fashion. Today, robotics is a rapidly growing field, as technological advances continue; researching, designing, and building new robots serve various practical purposes, whetherdomestically,commercially, ormilitarily. Many robots do jobs that are hazardous to people such as defusing bombs, mines and exploring shipwrecks.EtymologyThe wordroboticswas derived from the wordrobot, which was introduced to the public byCzechwriterKarel apekin his playR.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which was published in 1920.[3]The wordrobotcomes from the Slavic wordrobota, which means labour. The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people calledrobots, creatures who can be mistaken for humans - similar to the modern ideas ofandroids. Karel apek himself did not coin the word. He wrote a short letter in reference to anetymologyin theOxford English Dictionaryin which he named his brotherJosef apekas its actual originator. According to theOxford English Dictionary, the wordroboticswas first used in print byIsaac Asimov, in hisscience fictionshort story "Liar!", published in May 1941 inAstounding Science Fiction. Asimov was unaware that he was coining the term; since the science and technology of electrical devices iselectronics, he assumedroboticsalready referred to the science and technology of robots. In some of Asimov's other works, he states that the first use of the wordroboticswas in his short storyRunaround(Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942).However, the original publication of "Liar!" predates that of "Runaround" by ten months, so the former is generally cited as the word's origin.HistoryIn 1942 the science fiction writerIsaac Asimovcreated hisThree Laws of Robotics.In 1948Norbert Wienerformulated the principles ofcybernetics, the basis of practical robotics.Fullyautonomous robotsonly appeared in the second half of the 20th century. The first digitally operated and programmable robot, theUnimate, was installed in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them. Commercial andindustrial robotsare widespread today and used to perform jobs more cheaply, or more accurately and reliably, than humans. They are also employed in jobs which are too dirty, dangerous, or dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used inmanufacturing, assembly, packing and packaging, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, safety, and the mass production of consumer and industrial goods.DateSignificanceRobot NameInventor

Third century B.C. and earlierOne of the earliest descriptions of automata appears in theLie Zitext, on a much earlier encounter betweenKing Mu of Zhou(1023957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter allegedly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork. Yan Shi

First century A.D. and earlierDescriptions of more than 100 machines and automata, including a fire engine, a wind organ, a coin-operated machine, and a steam-powered engine, inPneumaticaand AutomatabyHeron of AlexandriaCtesibius,Philo of Byzantium, Heron of Alexandria, and others

c. 420 B.C.EA wooden, steam propelled bird, which was able to flyArchytas of Tarentum

1206Created early humanoid automata, programmable automaton band[8]Robot band, hand-washing automaton, automated moving peacocksAl-Jazari

1495Designs for a humanoid robotMechanical knightLeonardo da Vinci

1738Mechanical duck that was able to eat, flap its wings, and excreteDigesting DuckJacques de Vaucanson

1898Nikola Tesla demonstrates first radio-controlled vessel.TeleautomationNikola Tesla

1921First fictional automatons called "robots" appear in the playR.U.R.Rossum's Universal RobotsKarel apek

1930sHumanoid robot exhibited at the 1939 and 1940World's FairsElektroWestinghouse Electric Corporation

1946First general-purpose digital computerWhirlwindMultiple people

1948Simple robots exhibiting biological behaviors.Elsie and ElmerWilliam Grey Walter

1956First commercial robot, from the Unimation company founded byGeorge DevolandJoseph Engelberger, based on Devol's patents.UnimateGeorge Devol

1961First installed industrial robot.UnimateGeorge Devol

1973Firstindustrial robotwith six electromechanically driven axesFamulusKUKA Robot Group

1974The worlds firstmicrocomputercontrolled electric industrial robot, IRB 6 from ASEA, was delivered to a small mechanical engineering company in southern Sweden. The design of this robot had been patented already 1972.IRB 6ABB Robot Group

1975Programmable universal manipulation arm, a Unimation productPUMAVictor Scheinman

The First Robotthe first known robot was created around 400-350 BC by the mathematician Archytas and was an artificial bird.Archytas, who is known as the father of mechanical engineering, constructed his bird out of wood and used steam to power the movements of the robot. This bird was then suspended from a pivot bar. In its best recorded run, it flew about 200 meters before running out of steam. This is not only the first known robot, but was also one of the first recorded instances of a scientist doing research on how birds fly.If youre not familiar with the man, Archytas was a very famous philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, commander, statesman, and strategist in his day. Among his many accomplishments include being named the founder of mathematical mechanics (what we now call mechanical engineering). He was also an elected General for seven consecutive years, which violated the law at the time. However, because he never lost a single battle in his time as strategos, the people decided to continue to elect him as the ruler of their city-state anyway.His mathematical works also heavily influenced Plato and Euclid, among others. Among his mathematical accomplishments were: in geometry, he solved the problem of doubling the cube, as proposed by Hippocrates of Chios. He also made great advancements in musical theory, using mathematics to define intervals of pitch in the enharmonic scale in addition to those already known in the chromatic and diatonic scales. In addition to this, he showed that pitch on a stringed instrument is related to vibrating air.Archytass virtue was also such that it is thought that Plato, a close friend, used Archytas as his model for the Philosopher King. He also seems to have strongly influenced Platos political philosophy as shown in The Republic and other works. For example, How does a society obtain good rulers like Archytas, instead of bad ones like Dionysus II?ICTInformation and communications technology(ICT) is often used as an extended synonym forinformation technology(IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role ofunified communications,and the integration oftelecommunications(telephonelines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessaryenterprise software,middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. The termICTis also used to refer to theconvergenceof audio-visual andtelephone networkswithcomputer networksthrough a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives (huge cost savings due to elimination of the telephone network) to merge the telephone network with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution and management.A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations use information. This means ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots, etc. Therefore, ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other. History of ICTThe phraseInformation and Communication Technologyhas been used by academic researchers since the 1980s,and the termICTbecame popular after it was used in a report to the UK government byDennis Stevensonin 1997 and in the revisedNational Curriculumfor England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000. But in 2012, theRoyal Societyrecommended that the termICTshould no longer be used in British schools "as it has attracted too many negative connotations",and with effect from 2014 the National Curriculum was changed to use the wordcomputingreflecting the addition ofcomputer programmingto the curriculum.A leading group of universities consider ICT to be a soft subject and advise students against studying A-level ICT, preferring instead A-level Computer Science.SOURCES:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/10/the-first-known-robot-was-created-around-400-bc-and-was-a-mechanical-bird/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communications_technology

www.iearn.org/circles/lccourse/2010projects/ICT.docx