Who Invented Robots?

Who invented robots?

No Name

Dear No Name,

Believe it or not, Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with inventing the first robot. Know, simply enough, as “Leonardo’s robot”, the plans are believed to have been drawn by Da Vinci in 1495. Unfortunately nobody knows whether he actually built or attempted to build his robot.

The first robot known to both have been built and to function was created in 1738 by an inventor named Jacques de Vaucanson. Vaucanson’s robot played the flute. He also created a robotic duck.

That said, George Devol and Joseph Engelberger are widely considered to be the fathers of modern robots. In 1961 the duo invented the Unimate, which was the first production robot. Unimate went to work at General Motors, where it had the task of dumping blazing hot car parts into a cooling liquid.

Anne