To celebrate National Robotics Week, we’ve decided to list 10 of our favorite robots of all time!
R2D2 – There are so many reasons to love R2D2 that it’s hard to know where to start. He’s cute, he’s spunky, he’s spirited, and he’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind, without even talking. Not only does this little guy have personality, he’s a great copilot and mechanic. Check out this video of Every Time R2D2 saves the day to see what we mean.
HAL 9000 – As part of Stanly Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke’s 1968 move 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL was ahead of its time. HAL, which stands for Heuristically Programed Algorithmic Computer) was the central brain of the spaceship Discovery, and a primary character in the movie. HAL was such an important character that the American Film Institute listed HAL as the 13th-greatest film villain in it’s 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains list. Here’s a classic scene from the movie.
CHIMP – CHIMP, which stands for CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform, is a disaster response robot created by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). CHIMP has been engineered to excel in unpredictable terrain and dangerous environments, so that humans don’t have to. In 2015, CHIMP finished first in the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge, a two-day event that pitted 24 of the world’s most advanced robots against each other in a test of their ability to respond to disasters. You can learn more about CHIMP here.
Roomba – It’s hard not to like a robot that will help you clean your house, which is probably why over 10 million have been sold to-date. Roomba uses a set of basic sensors that enable it to do things like change direction after encountering an obstacle, detect a dirty spot on the floor, or tell that it’s about to encounter a set of stairs. But, Roomba is capable of doing a lot more than just cleaning your floor! Instructables has 13 different projects for your Roomba.
KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) – A precursor to driverless cars, KITT was a robotic car in the 1980’s show, Knight Rider. KITT was a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am with extra features like a turbo boost, a front-mounted scanner bar that allowed KITT to see, and body armor that was invulnerable to guns, diamond-headed drills, and explosions. Granted, driverless cars have come a long way recently, but today’s driverless cars still don’t measure up to the coolness of KITT.
Da Vinci Surgical System – This robotic surgical system made by the American company Intuitive Surgical operates in hospitals worldwide most commonly used for hysterectomies and prostate removals. By providing surgeons with superior visualization, enhanced dexterity, greater precision and ergonomic comfort, the da Vinci Surgical System makes it possible for more surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures involving complex dissection or reconstruction. Dan Jones, executive director for external affairs at Intuitive, noted that in 2010, 10 years after the Food and Drug Administration approved da Vinci, a total of 600,000 patients had undergone procedures with the machine. A little more than two years later, he added, that total had jumped to 1.5 million.
Mars Rover(s) – It is difficult to choose just one of the famous Mars Rovers, so we decided to include them all! Several rovers have been sent to Mars, with four of them by NASA: Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. At this time, Curiosity is the only one that is operational. “The four science goals of NASA’s long-term Mars Exploration Program are: determine whether life ever arose on Mars, characterize the climate of Mars, characterize the geology of Mars, and prepare for human exploration of Mars.[30]“ One of the most enjoyable and educational aspects of the Rover program is everything NASA is sharing with the public from their findings. They regularly update their website with raw photos, videos explaining how the rover is functioning, as well as maps to show the progress. Explore NASA’s Curiosity Rover site here. You can even send a postcard to Curiosity!
BigDog – Funded by DARPA and built by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, NASA, and Harvard University in 2005, they call the BigDog, “The Most Advanced Rough-Terrain Robot on Earth.” The video of BigDog went viral when it was released and many refer to it as that “creepy robot dog.” It walks, runs, climbs, and carries heavy loads, originally envisioned to be a robotic pack mule for soldiers able to transverse difficult terrain. “BigDog is 3 feet (0.91 m) long, stands 2.5 feet (0.76 m) tall, and weighs 240 pounds (110 kg), about the size of a small mule. It is capable of traversing difficult terrain, running at 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), carrying 340 pounds (150 kg), and climbing a 35 degree incline.”[1] The legs are the most impressive aspect of BigDog, with a variety of sensors in the joints. Check out the video of BigDog in action below!
Data – From Star Trek Next Generation, Data is an artificial intelligence and synthetic life form. He is a self-aware, sapient, sentient, and anatomically fully functional android who serves as the second officer and chief operations officer aboard the Federation starships USS Enterprise-D and USS Enterprise-E. As the series progress, Data became more human like and that was intended from the beginning! Gene Roddenberry told Brent Spiner, the actor who portrayed Data, that his character would become “more and more like a human until the end of the show, when he would be very close, but still not quite there.” Brent Spiner has said to get into the role he used another famous robot, Robby the Robot, as his inspiration.
K-9 – From the British Sci-Fi TV series, Doctor Who, K-9 is the dog-like robot that has traveled alongside the Doctor and his companions throughout the series helping to save the universe. There has been four versions, all very adorable, loyal and smart. Who wouldn’t love to play chess with their dog? Hopefully we’ll see K-9 return to the latest episodes of Doctor Who soon! Want to know about each K-9 version and their adventures? Check out the video below.
What other robots would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments!