Anderson Freeman IIIMrs. BennehaleyEnglish 11121 March 2014RoboticsRobotics can have origins as ancient as man himself. Even during prehistory, man relied on different types of machines to improve life and make it simpler. Over time, humans have improved robotics into the machines we have today. Pulleys, a simple machine dating back to around 4000 BC used to lift heavy objects, evolved into machines such as cranes. The printing press also used a major ancestor of the modern computer. The machines that our ancestors had are the basis of the technology we have today. Some robots are now so advanced that they operate on their own, even replacing some human jobs. The way robotics is advancing today, there's no telling what tomorrow will bring. Around 4000-3000 BC, the first simple machines came into use in Mesopotamia (Nocks). This spread to Europe, Asia and Africa; they were used to aid irrigation for agriculture and to maintain river water levels (Nocks). With simple machines he helped people maintain crops and do so in larger fields. This also gave people the ability to grow different types of crops at the same time. 1500-1400 BC, the Egyptians used inclined planes to help them build the monuments that still stand to this day (Nocks). Now we will move on to the Renaissance. The Renaissance inspired many great inventors including Leonardo da Vinci (Nocks). Leonardo used his sketches to create some of the most complicated robots of the time (Nocks). The things Leonardo designed proved that he was ahead of his time. Some of his sketches are the basis for some of the machines we use today. Another man... in the center of the paper... helped with daily tasks and the daily chorus. One of these inventions was the iRobot, a robot that could vacuum floors by itself. In Japan, they have created humanoid robots that can perform normal human tasks, including driving. “Japanese research consortium demonstrates humanoid robot driving backhoe loader” (Nocks). Robotics has also played an important role in the military advances we have today, for weapons and defenses. Today the military has drones, which are unmanned aerial vehicles, which is a huge increase in safety compared to before. There are also things like claymores and mines, which can be activated simply by contact. During this time during wars instead of entering a blind area and losing lives, soldiers can send tiny planes to find out how many people are on the enemy, because it can read the human body temperature.