ly forced their acceptance.The idea of punched cards led to the development of Boolean algebra, which uses 1 and 0 as on or off. This concept became the basis of digital computers, which are the brains of robots. The first computers were calculating machines used to tabulate numbers. These machines were used to compile large amounts of information, i.e. 1890 census. The need for increased information lead to increases in the speed and power of these calculating machines. This ever-increasing need was one of the driving forces for the construction of ENIAC , which was the first electronic computer. ENIAC was made originally to compute the angle that an artillery gun should be pointed at in order to hit a certain target. During World War II, this had to be calculated by hand into charts that took forever to make. Since the charts were calculated by hand, they were not always accurate. The ENIAC would make the charts in a lot less time and fairly accurately. The brain of the robot was created and people began to consider the possibilities, and consequences, of artificial intelligence. In 1950, the USAF and M.I.T. developed a system that used a numerical control system on tape that was interpreted by a computer. The computer read the tape and acted as the machine's intelligence and automatic controller. This allowed the machine to vary the tasks performed. This led to the first patent for an industrial robot by George C Devol, Jr in 1954.The advances in computer technology in the 1950s and 1960s created some interesting questions. Are computers immobile robots? Are robots mobile computers? Does a robot have to like a human being? The questions are still not answered, if you go to the toy store a robot looks humanoid. If you want to build a robot from a kit purchased off the web, it most likely will look humanoid.Industrial robots do not have the humanoid appearance; they look more like a small arm. An industrial robot is a r...
