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300 BCE (Greece) β Greek engineer Ctesibius builds water clocks with moving figures (early automata).
1495 (Italy) β Leonardo da Vinci sketches a humanoid robot knight powered by pulleys and gears.
1738 (France) β Jacques de Vaucanson creates "The Digesting Duck", a mechanical duck automaton that simulates eating and digestion.
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1801 β Jacquard loom is invented; uses punch cards to automate weaving patterns (early programmable machine).
1898 β Nikola Tesla demonstrates a radio-controlled boat β a precursor to remote-controlled robotics.
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1921 (Czech Republic) β The term "robot" is first used in the play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Δapek.
1942 (USA) β Isaac Asimov formulates the Three Laws of Robotics in his science fiction stories.
1948 β W. Grey Walter builds autonomous robots ("tortoises") that use light and touch sensors β early behavior-based robots.
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1954 β George Devol invents the first programmable robot, Unimate.
1961 β Unimate becomes the first industrial robot used in General Motors factories.
1966 β Shakey the Robot, developed by Stanford Research Institute, becomes the first mobile robot that can reason about its actions.
1980s β Surge in industrial robot use (Japan, USA, Europe); robots are used in welding, painting, and assembly.
1997 β NASA's Sojourner rover explores Mars, marking a milestone in space robotics.
1999 β Sony AIBO, a robotic pet dog, is released.
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2002 β Roomba robot vacuum is introduced by iRobot.
2004 β DARPA Grand Challenge encourages development of autonomous vehicles.
2012 β Boston Dynamics reveals Atlas, a bipedal humanoid robot.
2016 β Sophia, a humanoid robot by Hanson Robotics, is activated; she gains media attention for human-like behavior.
2020s β Robotics integrates AI and machine learning; used in healthcare (surgical robots), logistics (warehouse bots), and service industries.
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Human-robot collaboration (cobots)
AI-integrated smart robotics
Advanced prosthetics and medical robots
Space exploration robots (e.g., NASAβs Perseverance, SpaceX robotics)
Ethical and legal challenges in autonomous robotics