| In fact, robots and sensors form a closely interconnected whole. The robot is like the human torso, responsible for receiving and executing commands sent by the brain; while the sensor is like the human eye, tasked with perceiving the external environment and determining whether the torso’s actions are safe and properly executed.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
This philosophical question, which has puzzled humanity for years, is also one that we often enjoy teasing and discussing casually over tea and dinner. At first glance, it may seem like a nonsensical query, but in reality, it highlights the incredibly close—and often inextricable—relationship between the two entities. In the field of artificial intelligence, too, there’s a similar debate: Which came first—the chicken or the egg? Specifically, does the ever-growing demand for robots drive the development of sensors, or did the invention of sensors first pave the way for their use in robotics? Let’s dive together into the fascinating history and evolution of this “chicken-and-egg” dilemma!
The Development of “Chicken” and “Egg”
The term “robot” first appeared in the 1920s, when the Czech writer Karel Čapek penned the science-fiction play “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots). In this play, Čapek coined the word “Robot” from the Czech term “Robota,” which originally meant “slave” or “laborer.” This is how the term “robot” came into being. Later, with the advent of “programmable material-handling devices”—the precursors to today’s CNC machine tools—the academic Joseph Engelberger, often hailed as the “father of robotics,” conceived the idea of using such devices in industries with relatively high levels of danger. With the concerted efforts of Engelberger and his close friend, the engineer George Devol, the first industrial robot prototype, Unimate 001, was born. At that moment, robots in the broad sense made their debut. Back then, robots lacked many of today’s sophisticated sensors; instead, their operations were controlled entirely by programs, and human operators manually assisted with positioning. In fact, the workers themselves served as the robots’ “sensors” at that time.
The development history of “sensors” is even longer, dating back thousands of years. For example, the mercury thermometer used in ancient Greece and the wind vane from ancient China both qualify as sensors in a broad sense. However, the development of modern electronic sensors began in the early 20th century. As electronic technology advanced, the variety and application scope of sensors continued to expand. The earliest sensors were mechanical, such as pressure gauges and thermometers. With the advancement of electronic technology, electronic sensors like resistive sensors and capacitive sensors emerged. It wasn't until the 1950s, with the advent of semiconductor technology, that sensor performance improved dramatically—leading to the development of photoelectric sensors and pressure sensors, among others. Since then, sensors have been widely adopted across an ever-growing range of fields, from monitoring systems and automatic control systems to robotics, becoming an integral part of modern technology.
By the mid-20th century, specialized robotic sensors had emerged, marking the first time that robots and sensors were brought together into a unified system, coming into public view. Visual sensors were among the first to be integrated into robots; paired with visual-system processors, they enabled robots to acquire, collect, process, and interpret images. After 1970, the University of Tokyo in Japan, in collaboration with Hitachi, Ltd., IBM, and other companies, developed force sensors for use in areas such as fingers, joints, and wrists, thereby creating a haptic sensing system that complemented the visual system. From then on, the development of robots and sensors became inseparable.
Chips are helping robots make rapid progress.
In 1946, when the world’s first computer was born, it was a massive machine that required 18,000 vacuum tubes, occupied an area of 170 square meters, weighed as much as 30 tons, consumed about 150 kilowatts of power, and could perform only 5,000 operations per second. Yet today, just 70 years later, 3.2 GHz mobile processors built using 4-nanometer technology are no longer anything new. The myriad high-precision sensors densely embedded throughout a robot’s body feed vast amounts of data to its “brain.” Thanks to the rapid advancement of computer chips, however, robots have experienced a dramatic leap in computing power, enabling them to handle such enormous data-processing challenges with ease. Moreover, the development of computer chips has not only enhanced robots’ ability to process data but has also made it possible for more sophisticated control programs to run on robots, allowing them to perform an ever-greater variety of highly complex tasks.
Sensors also have their cross-industry applications.
Moreover, advances in sensor technology have benefited many other fields as well. In the past, people lacked awareness about protecting nature, leading to irreversible damage to the environment—for instance, the famed “Foggy City” of London, which was severely affected by extensive coal combustion and has yet to fully recover from the environmental devastation it suffered. The greenhouse effect, frequently discussed in recent years, is also a result of uncontrolled human emissions that have damaged the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Today, with the advent of high-precision sensors, environmental protection agencies can directly obtain emission data, rigorously monitor various types of emissions from enterprises and society, accurately calculate manageable emission limits, and adjust relevant emission policies accordingly. Take, for example, the recently popular concept of “carbon neutrality”: how to achieve carbon neutrality and whether carbon neutrality has actually been attained—all these require concrete data, and only with the help of sensors can we make accurate judgments.
The two complement each other and should not be neglected.
In fact, robots and sensors form a tightly integrated whole. The robot is like the human torso—responsible for receiving and executing commands from the brain; while sensors are akin to the human eyes, tasked with perceiving the external environment and determining whether the torso’s actions are safe and properly executed. An outstanding robotic product not only requires a flexible torso and keen “eyes,” but also a smart “brain” and ample energy supply. Yet even the most precise sensors, if not effectively integrated into superior robots, would remain underutilized—a true case of untapped talent. The future development of robotics involves not only advancements in sensor technology, but also progress in computing power, energy sources, and materials. As sensors and chips continue to evolve and improve, robots of the future will undoubtedly be endowed with even greater creativity!
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