Robot (household)

The invention:



The first available personal robot, Hero 1 could

speak; carry small objects in a gripping arm, and sense light, motion,

sound, and time.



The people behind the invention:



Karel Capek (1890-1938), a Czech playwright

The Health Company, an American electronics manufacturer









Personal Robots



In 1920, the Czech playwright Karel Capek introduced the term

robot, which he used to refer to intelligent, humanoid automatons

that were subservient to humans. Robots such as those described

by Capek have not yet been developed; their closest counterparts

are the nonintelligent automatons used by industry and by private

individuals. Most industrial robots are heavy-duty, immobile machines

designed to replace humans in routine, undesirable, monotonous

jobs. Most often, they use programmed gripping arms to

carry out tasks such as spray painting cars, assembling watches,

and shearing sheep.

Modern personal robots are smaller, more mobile, less expensive

models that serve mostly as toys or teaching tools. In some

cases, they can be programmed to carry out activities such as walking

dogs or serving mixed drinks. Usually, however, it takes more

effort to program a robot to perform such activities than it does to

do them oneself.

The Hero 1, which was first manufactured by the Heath Company

in 1982, has been a very popular personal robot. Conceived

as a toy and a teaching tool, the Hero 1 can be programmed

to speak; to sense light, sound, motion, and time; and

to carry small objects. The Hero 1 and other personal robots are

often viewed as tools that will someday make it possible to produce

intelligent robots.





Hero 1 Operation

The concept of artificial beings serving humanity has existed

since antiquity (for example, it is found in Greek mythology). Such

devices, which are now called robots, were first actualized, in a

simple form, in the 1960’s. Then, in the mid-1970’s, the manufacture

of personal robots began. One of the first personal robots was

the Turtle, which was made by the Terrapin Company of Cambridge,

Massachusetts. The Turtle was a toy that entertained owners

via remote control, programmable motion, a beeper, and blinking

displays. The Turtle was controlled by a computer to which it

was linked by a cable.

Among the first significant personal robots was the Hero 1. This

robot, which was usually sold in the form of a $1,000 kit that had to

be assembled, is a squat, thirty-nine-pound mobile unit containing a

head, a body, and a base. The head contains control boards, sensors,

and a manipulator arm. The body houses control boards and related

electronics, while the base contains a three-wheel-drive unit that

renders the robot mobile.

The Heath Company, which produced the Hero 1, viewed it as

providing entertainment for and teaching people who are interested

in robot applications. To facilitate these uses, the following

abilities were incorporated into the Hero 1: independent operation

via rechargeable batteries; motion- and distance/position-sensing

capability; light, sound, and language use/recognition; a manipulator

arm to carry out simple tasks; and easy programmability.

The Hero 1 is powered by four rechargeable batteries arranged as

two 12-volt power supplies. Recharging is accomplished by means

of a recharging box that is plugged into a home outlet. It takes six to

eight hours to recharge depleted batteries, and complete charging is

signaled by an indicator light. In the functioning robot, the power

supplies provide 5-volt and 12-volt outputs to logic and motor circuits,

respectively.

The Hero 1 moves by means of a drive mechanism in its base. The

mechanism contains three wheels, two of which are unpowered

drones. The third wheel, which is powered for forward and reverse

motion, is connected to a stepper motor that makes possible directional

steering. Also included in the powered wheel is a metal disk with spaced reflective slots that helps Hero 1 to identify its position.

As the robot moves, light is used to count the slots, and the slot

count is used to measure the distance the robot has traveled, and

therefore its position.

The robot’s “senses,” located in its head, consist of sound, light,

and motion detectors as well as a phoneme synthesizer (phonemes

are sounds, or units of speech). All these components are connected

with the computer. The Hero 1 can detect sounds between 200 and

5,000 hertz. Its motion sensor detects all movement within a 15-foot

radius. The phoneme synthesizer is capable of producing most

words by using combinations of 64 phonemes. In addition, the robot

keeps track of time by using an internal clock/calendar.

The Hero 1 can carry out various tasks by using a gripper that

serves as a hand. The arm on which the gripper is located is connected

to the back of the robot’s head. The head (and, therefore, the

arm) can rotate 350 degrees horizontally. In addition, the arm contains

a shoulder motor that allows it to rise or drop 150 degrees vertically,

and its forearm can be either extended or retracted. Finally, a

wrist motor allows the gripper’s tip to rotate by 350 degrees, and the

two-fingered gripper can open up to a maximum width of 3.5

inches. The arm is not useful except as an educational tool, since its

load-bearing capacity is only about a pound and its gripper can exert

a force of only 6 ounces.

The computational capabilities of the robot are much more impressive

than its physical capabilities. Programming is accomplished

by means of a simple keypad located on the robot’s head, which

provides an inexpensive, easy-to-use method of operator-computer

communication. To make things simpler for users who want entertainment

without having to learn robotics, a manual mode is included

for programming. In the manual mode, a hand-held teaching

pendant is connected to Hero 1 and used to program all the

motion capabilities of the robot. The programming of sensory and

language abilities, however, must be accomplished by using the

keyboard. Using the keyboard and the various options that are

available enables Hero 1 owners to program the robot to perform

many interesting activities.





Consequences



The Hero 1 had a huge impact on robotics; thousands of people

purchased it and used it for entertainment, study, and robot design.

The Heath Company itself learned from the Hero 1 and later introduced

an improved version: Heathkit 2000. This personal robot,

which costs between $2,000 and $4,500, has ten times the capabilities

of Hero 1, operates via radio-controlled keyboard, contains a

voice synthesizer that can be programmed in any language, and

plugs itself in for recharging.

Other companies, including the Androbot Company in California,

have manufactured personal robots that sell for up to $10,000.

One such robot is the Androbot BOB (brains on board). It can guard

a home, call the police, walk at 2.5 kilometers per hour, and sing.

Androbot has also designed Topo, a personal robot that can serve

drinks. Still other robots can sort laundry and/or vacuum-clean

houses. Although modern robots lack intelligence and merely have

the ability to move when they are directed to by a program or by remote

control, there is no doubt that intelligent robots will be developed

in the future.