Chapter 46: History of Robots

The History of Robots

I’m going to explain it like your favorite teacher — slowly, with real stories, examples from everyday life in Hyderabad and around the world, simple analogies you’ll remember forever, and without hiding the wonder, the fear, the failures, the wars, the ethical nightmares, and the incredible breakthroughs.

Let’s begin with the most important sentence of the whole lesson:

A robot is not just a machine. A robot is humanity’s oldest dream and oldest fear made of metal, code, and electricity.

The dream = “Let something else do the hard, boring, dangerous, or repetitive work so we can live better.” The fear = “What if the thing we created becomes smarter than us, or stops obeying us?”

That tension — dream vs fear — has driven the entire history of robots from mythology to 2026.

1. The Mythical & Pre-Mechanical Era (~3000 BCE – 1800s)

Humans dreamed of artificial beings long before they could build them.

• Ancient myths
  • Greek: Hephaestus (god of blacksmiths) made golden robot servants
  • Jewish folklore: Golem (mud man brought to life with Hebrew words)
  • Indian epics: Yantras (mechanical beings) in Ramayana & Mahabharata (flying chariots, talking parrots made of metal)
• Middle Ages & Renaissance
  • Al-Jazari (1206, Iraq) — built automata: water clocks with moving figures, automatic musicians, elephant clock with human-like movements
  • Leonardo da Vinci (1495) — designed mechanical knight (armored robot that could sit, stand, move arms & jaw)

These were not “robots” yet — they were automata (self-moving machines) powered by water, wind, weights, or clockwork.

Analogy from Hyderabad: Think of the Charminar clock tower (old mechanical clocks) or the automata at Chowmahalla Palace — they moved on their own but had no brain, no decision-making.

2. The First Real “Robot” Word & Early Industrial Machines (1920s–1940s)

• 1920 — Czech writer Karel Čapek coins the word “robot” From Czech “robota” = forced labor / serf work Play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) → robots rebel and destroy humanity → The fear was born on stage before any real robot existed.
• 1940s — Isaac Asimov writes “I, Robot” stories Introduces Three Laws of Robotics (still the most famous ethical rules in robotics):
  1. A robot may not injure a human or allow harm through inaction
  2. A robot must obey human orders (unless conflicts with Law 1)
  3. A robot must protect its own existence (unless conflicts with Laws 1 or 2)

These laws are still debated in 2026 when we talk about AI safety.

3. The First Real Robots – 1950s–1970s (Industrial Era)

1954–1961 — George Devol & Unimate

• First programmable industrial robot
• 1961: Installed at General Motors (USA) — picked up hot metal parts
• Weight: 4,000 pounds, hydraulic arms, programmed by punched cards

1960s–1970s — Industrial robots explode in car factories

• Spot welding, painting, assembly
• Japan leads (Fanuc, Kawasaki, Yaskawa) → by 1980s Japan had 70% of world industrial robots

Indian connection:

• Early 1980s — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) & HMT start using industrial robots
• 1984 — Godrej brings robots to appliance manufacturing

Analogy: These first robots were like very strong, very obedient auto-rickshaw drivers — they could repeat the exact same movement 24/7 with no breaks, no salary, no complaints — but only if the road (program) never changed.

4. The Personal & Service Robot Era – 1980s–2000s

1980s — Heathkit Hero Jr. — first home robot kit (could move, speak, detect light/sound)

1990s–2000s — Sony Aibo (robotic dog), iRobot Roomba (2002) — first mass-market home robot

2000s — Honda ASIMO (2000–2018) — most famous humanoid robot of its time Could walk, run, climb stairs, shake hands, recognize faces

Indian milestones:

• 2004 — DRDO develops DRDO Daksh (bomb disposal robot)
• 2010s — IIT Madras & startups build humanoid & service robots

5. The Modern Explosion – 2010s–2026 (AI + Robotics)

2010s — Deep learning revolution + cheap sensors + powerful CPUs/GPUs

• Boston Dynamics — Spot & Atlas (amazing agility)
• Tesla Optimus (2021–2026) — humanoid for factories & homes
• Figure 01, Agility Robotics Digit, 1X Neo — humanoids entering warehouses & homes

Indian scene (2026):

• GreyOrange — warehouse robots used by Flipkart & Amazon India
• Addverb — robots in Reliance Retail warehouses
• Asimov Robotics (Kerala) & Systemantics (Bengaluru) — collaborative arms
• IIT Hyderabad & IIT Delhi — advanced humanoid & drone research

2023–2026 — Generative AI + robotics

• Robots that understand natural language (“pick up the red cup on the left”)
• Robots that learn by watching videos (Google DeepMind RT-X, OpenAI Figure)
• Robots in hospitals, hotels, elderly care (Japan, South Korea leading)

Quick Timeline – History of Robots (Big Picture)

Final Teacher Words

The history of robots is the history of humans trying to create helpers, companions, servants, and sometimes replacements for ourselves.

Every time you see:

• A robot arm welding a car in Sri City factory
• A delivery robot in Hi-Tech City
• A Roomba vacuuming your house
• A humanoid prototype on YouTube

You are watching the newest chapter of a story that started with myths of golden servants and golems of clay.

In Hyderabad 2026 we live in the middle of this story:

• Robots are already in warehouses (Flipkart, Amazon)
• Robots are coming to hospitals & elderly care
• The question is no longer “Will robots exist?” The question is: “What kind of robots do we want — and how do we make sure they serve humanity instead of the other way around?”

Understood the long, thrilling journey now? 🌟

Want to go deeper?

• The story of Asimov’s Three Laws & why they’re still debated?
• How Hyderabad became a robotics & AI hub in India?
• What humanoid robots will look like in 2030–2040?
• Ethical fears — job loss, robot rights, killer robots?

Just tell me — next class is ready! 🚀