From ancient machines to intelligent robots — A technical evolution —

Since pre-historic times mankind has dreamt of machines that imitate organisms or even surpass humans in their abilities, and time and again ingenious craftsmen B and later engineers B have attempted to actually build such machines. Today's robots are the latest result of an ongoing technical evolution that has progressed over more than 2000 years. Many robots work in factories where they produce goods in huge quantities and excellent quality at low costs, but recently we can observe the emergence of new classes of robots. These novel Aservice robots@ are not designed to produce goods, but to provide useful services at workplaces or in homes, or simply to entertain and comfort humans. Some fundamental characteristics of past, present and future robots are reviewed. In particular, the humanoid robot HERMES, an experimental robotic assistant of anthropomorphic size and shape, and the key technologies developed for it, are introduced. HERMES provides services, such as transportation and manipulation of objects, and assists humans, e.g., by giving information. It can see, hear, speak, and feel. In a long-term test (6 months) at a museum it chatted with visitors in natural language in German, English and French, answered questions and performed services as requested by them.