#robotics history

[robothistorymonth]

Steel vs. Flesh: China’s Humanoid Robots Make History at First Mixed Half‑Marathon!

Dateline April 19th, 2025: In a curious twist of techno-sporting ambition, Beijing hosted the world’s first humanoid‑robot half‑marathon.

Twenty‑one bipedal machines—ranging from sprightly 1.2 m adolescents to statuesque 1.8 m athletes—lined up alongside 12,000 human runners. A safety divider kept circuits apart from sinew, but the real focus lay on ingenuity: robots were permitted battery‑swap pit stops while traversing the 21.1 km course bet.com.

The mechanical front‑runner, dubbed Sky Project Ultra or Tien Kung Ultra, was the first to breach the finish line—crossing in a commendable 2 h 40 m 42 s, narrowly outrunning all other bots.

Despite the spectacle, critics note that this leap in loco‑motion does not imply sentient superiority. The event was less about robot cognition and more a showcase of locomotion algorithms and hardware resilience . Still, one cannot deny: these metal marathoners have etched a milestone in the annals of robotic athleticism—if not yet in artificial intelligence.

Original article: AP News:

[thursdayisbetterthanfriday]

Shakey: Experiments in Robot Planning and Learning 

Research Lab: Stanford Research Institute Year: 1972

Ever wonder where your GPS gets the code to keep you on route? Meet Shakey - One of the first robots to use AI, and multi-level software development.

[adastra-sf]

The Robot Uprising Began in 1979

edit: based on a real article, but with a dash of satire

source: X

On January 25, 1979, Robert Williams became the first person (on record at least) to be killed by a robot, but it was far from the last fatality at the hands of a robotic system.

Williams was a 25-year-old employee at the Ford Motor Company casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. On that infamous day, he was working with a parts-retrieval system that moved castings and other materials from one part of the factory to another. 

The robot identified the employee as in its way and, thus, a threat to its mission, and calculated that the most efficient way to eliminate the threat was to remove the worker with extreme prejudice.

"Using its very powerful hydraulic arm, the robot smashed the surprised worker into the operating machine, killing him instantly, after which it resumed its duties without further interference."

A news report about the legal battle suggests the killer robot continued working while Williams lay dead for 30 minutes until fellow workers realized what had happened. 

Many more deaths of this ilk have continued to pile up. A 2023 study identified that robots have killed at least 41 people in the USA between 1992 and 2017, with almost half of the fatalities in the Midwest, a region bursting with heavy industry and manufacturing.

For now, the companies that own these murderbots are held responsible for their actions. However, as AI grows increasingly ubiquitous and potentially uncontrollable, how might robot murders become ever-more complicated, and whom will we hold responsible as their decision-making becomes more self-driven and opaque?

[driftsart]

I had this very old Soundwave doodle of him as a World War One British tank, I still think it's a really cool idea lol

[humanoidhistory]

Ed Emshwiller's Christmas cover art for Galaxy Magazine, December 1960.

[gimimaga]

I love how sega is letting my girlies make a comeback (and wish there would be more)

(image made by me, on ibis paint)

They're besties, please let them be besties

Anyways give me your headcanons about this pretty family

[adamfamilysblog]

This is Adam, my youngest son. Today my dad told me I want bananas, apples, mangoes and fruits I told him there is no He asked me why there is no one there. I told him now Netanyahu is closing the crossings and not allowing trucks to enter. I was surprised by what he said He said, O Lord of the Worlds, save us from Netanyahu. He said, O Lord of the Worlds, save us from the occupation. I told him to be patient, my son, for we will have heaven, God willing. He looked at me and smiled .

This is the situation in brief, but the situation here is very difficult.

@dirhwangdaseul @b0nkcreat @tamamita @chokulit @3000s @apas-95 @pitbolshevik @ot3 @punkitt-is-here @vampiricvenus @turtletoria @paper-mario-wiki @valtsv @omegaversereloaded @i-am-a-fish @catsgifsarefun @spongebobssquarepants @postanagramgenerator @feluka @nyancrimew @90-ghost @beserkerjewel @neechees @memingursa @certifiedsexed @afro-elf @11thsense @sawasawako @spacebeyonce @skipppppy @beetledrink @fools-and-perverts2 @dailyquests @evillesbianvillain @wolfertinger666 @taffybuns @ankle-beez @sabertoothwalrus @meshugenist @isuggestforcefem @hotvampireadjacent @marxism-transgenderism @pockystixxs @artimadare @thestalebread @emperorjon @scriptscraps @peeranger @mareofthesky @sharkwave-zee @bumblebeau @rainydaysandfluffyclouds @allblognameswerealreadytaken @clownfuckerfridays @squeak-axolotl @vestaloflight @insane-dinosaur @michaels-reality @beepiesheepie @solacivm @endless-tsundoku @walktovirtue @redux-but-they-have-nice-legs @saintcirce @not-madjust-disappointed @ollibobs1 @urbancelt @freeballing20s @blushknight @phyrric-victory2427 @rayes-rain @insaneseeker @funny-leg @rufuslupislupis @hiimalyssawriter @confusedtravelermari @hydrasaura @a-chilly-pepper @clowndeery @livingincuteness @sunwurm @dansnotavampire @autismango @whatamievendoinghereeven @deathwatch183 @ieatpussyonthereg @lukkimamekala

[diana-andraste]

Mechanical Man Gygan, with a Windmill Girl, 1958

(More on the Windmill Girls, and their morale boosting during World War II, here)

[deepesttheoristcandy]

Nature's masterpiece,Lost in the wilderness, Sun-kissed and soul-fed.

[aster-ish]

Just learned that the word "robot" is derived from the Czech word "robota" which means "forced labor," coined in 1920 for use in the Czech play Rossum's Universal Robots (which! Yes! ROZZUM from The Wild Robot appears to be a reference to)

I'm usually p unwell about robots in literature as it is, but just thinking about it....... their very existence.... inextricably linked to the concept of humanity's greed, arrogance, and cruelty: those themes aren't just a byproduct of what the subject naturally entails, they're implanted deep into the heart of the word itself.........

...and yet, no matter how much we as story writers like to subvert tropes.... no matter how much we as society change, and our stories change with us.... we still can't help but to humanize them. In part because of our pack bonding tendencies, but also because we've seen all too well that a person doesn't need to be artificial to be treated as inhuman. After all, the ones made to do robota were originally humans... Ough.

[textsearchbradleycarlgeigerbrad]

TEXT SEARCH BRADLEY CARL GEIGER AND BRAD GEIGER AND EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED

BRAD GEIGER AND CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

BRADLEY CARL GEIGER AND CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

BRAD GEIGER AND WIKIPEDIA

BRADLEY CARL GEIGER AND WIKIPEDIA

[nyaa]

BLACK HISTORY vol. 1 [Armored Trooper Votoms Series] by Akimoto Kouzi

[driftsart]

Armistice Day 🌹🪖

Two pieces for Armistice Day! Let's honor all the brave men who fought in this war, all the wounded, every race, every man will be celebrated and remembered <3

(I added Blitzwing for you guys :D)

[humanoidhistory]

Elektro the Mechanical Man, featured in the Westinghouse exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. (NYPL)

[state-of-beeing]

Let's Dance<< put on your red shoes and dance the blues let's dance to the song they're playing on the radio

-----

Having a lot of feelings about them. Last session did things to me.

[fauxfickle]

It's really weird to think that there was very brief period time when if you were animatronic enthusiast in the 1970s - 1990s, you didn't have to drive out of state for hours just to see a show, you could just go to a shopping plaza or amusement park. Now, in the US if you want to see a real RAE show, you have either BBWL or Volo. Back then, there were CECs and SPPs in nearly every state, some even right next to each other. Imagine doing a bar crawl but with places with animatronics? We were robbed I tell ya!!! /hj