10 pop-culture robots that shaped the future10 pop-culture robots that shaped the future.doc

10 pop-culture robots that shaped the future Say laptop or tablet or app to a technophile and you may get them interested. Say robot, and youve got them excited. For centuries, weve been intrigued by the concept of creating mechanized beings that are as much like us as possible. And as our technological know-how marches ever forward, were closer than ever to doing it. From robots you can buy right now to the ones invading the work force to tech giant Googles move into military robotics, our automated friends are no longer just the stuff of science-fiction double features. But like many scientific advances, fantasy was a prime motivator. Googles new battle robots Will your future coworker be a robot? Could robots take over Earth? Both scientific research and science fiction begin with the same two words: What if? says University of Minnesota physics professor physics professor James Kakalios, who teaches a course called Everything I Know About Science I Learned From a Comic Book. So, as we ponder the real-world arrival of robots in our midst -- delivery drones, self-driving cars -- its worth taking a look at 10 of the most influential robots from pop culture that helped inspire us along the way. Leonardos robot Was Leonardo da Vinci the first celebrity to put the concept of a human-like, mechanical companion into the public consciousness? You can argue the answer is yes. Some time around 1495, Leonardo -- the famed painter, sculptor, inventor, engineer and all-around genius -- sketched his idea for a mechanical knight. The result was a suit of armor, automated by a system of pulleys and levers, that he is believed to have displayed at a party at the court of Milan. It could stand, sit, raise its visor and move its arm. When his notes were discovered in the 1950s, researchers re-created the robot, suggesting that his idea would have really worked. The automaton likely was powered by humans, meaning its not technically a robot. But Leonardo later worked on programmabl