Editing Robot (section)

=== Modern autonomous robots ===
The first electronic autonomous robots with complex behaviour were created by [[William Grey Walter]] of the [[Burden Neurological Institute]] at [[Bristol]], England in 1948 and 1949. He wanted to prove that rich connections between a small number of [[neurons|brain cells]] could give rise to very complex [[behavior]]s – essentially that the secret of how the brain worked lay in how it was wired up. His first robots, named ''Elmer'' and ''Elsie'', were constructed between 1948 and 1949 and were often described as ''tortoises'' due to their shape and slow rate of movement. The three-wheeled tortoise robots were capable of [[phototaxis]], by which they could find their way to a recharging station when they ran low on battery power.

Walter stressed the importance of using purely [[wiktionary:analogue|analogue]] electronics to [[simulate]] brain processes at a time when his contemporaries such as [[Alan Turing]] and [[John von Neumann]] were all turning towards a view of mental processes in terms of [[digital data|digital]] [[computation]]. His work inspired subsequent generations of robotics researchers such as [[Rodney Brooks]], [[Hans Moravec]] and [[Mark Tilden]]. Modern incarnations of Walter's ''turtles'' may be found in the form of [[BEAM robotics]].<ref name="gwonline">{{cite web|url=http://www.ias.uwe.ac.uk/Robots/gwonline/gwonline.html |title=The Grey Walter Online Archive |access-date=25 September 2008 |first=Owen |last=Holland |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009055230/http://www.ias.uwe.ac.uk/Robots/gwonline/gwonline.html |archive-date=9 October 2008 }}</ref>

The first digitally operated and programmable robot was invented by [[George Devol]] in 1954 and was ultimately called the [[Unimate]]. This ultimately laid the foundations of the modern robotics industry.<ref>{{cite journal|access-date=25 September 2008|last=Waurzyniak|first=Patrick|title=Masters of Manufacturing: Joseph F. Engelberger|journal=Society of Manufacturing Engineers|volume=137|issue=1|date=July 2006|url=http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/find-articles.pl?&ME06ART39&ME&20060709|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109053615/http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/find-articles.pl?&ME06ART39&ME&20060709|archive-date=9 November 2011}}</ref> Devol sold the first Unimate to [[General Motors]] in 1960, and it was installed in 1961 in a plant in [[Trenton, New Jersey]] to lift hot pieces of metal from a [[die casting]] machine and stack them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/inductees/03inductees/unimate.html|title=Robot Hall of Fame – Unimate|publisher=Carnegie Mellon University|access-date=26 September 2023}}</ref>

The first [[Palletizer|palletizing robot]] was introduced in 1963 by the Fuji Yusoki Kogyo Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fujiyusoki.com/English/rekishi.htm|title=Company History|publisher=Fuji Yusoki Kogyo Co.|access-date=12 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204034959/http://www.fujiyusoki.com/English/rekishi.htm|archive-date=4 February 2013}}</ref> In 1973, a robot with six electromechanically driven axes was patented<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kuka-robotics.com/germany/en/company/group/milestones/1973.htm |title=KUKA Industrial Robot FAMULUS |access-date=10 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610012645/http://www.kuka-robotics.com/germany/en/company/group/milestones/1973.htm |archive-date=10 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ifr.org/uploads/media/History_of_Industrial_Robots_online_brochure_by_IFR_2012.pdf |title=History of Industrial Robots |access-date=27 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224213437/http://www.ifr.org/uploads/media/History_of_Industrial_Robots_online_brochure_by_IFR_2012.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=History of Industrial Robots|url=https://www.robots.com/education/industrial-history|website=robots.com|access-date=24 August 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708105337/https://www.robots.com/education/industrial-history|archive-date=8 July 2015}}</ref> by [[KUKA]] robotics in Germany, and the [[Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly|programmable universal manipulation arm]] was invented by [[Victor Scheinman]] in 1976, and the design was sold to [[Unimation]].

Commercial and industrial robots are now in widespread use performing jobs more cheaply or with greater accuracy and reliability than humans. They are also employed for jobs which are too dirty, dangerous or dull to be suitable for humans. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly and packing, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, and mass production of consumer and industrial goods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emrotechnologies.com/ |title=About us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109062457/http://emrotechnologies.com/ |archive-date=9 January 2014 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>
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