My first robot and today’s AI. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.

My first robot was amazing.

It was the 1980s. One of my favorite movies was Short Circuit, the story of an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains human-like intelligence. I was taking a robot design class at our local community college. My favorite song was “Mr. Roboto” by Styx on a red-labelled 45 rpm record.

“I’m not a robot without emotions, I’m not what you see

I’ve come to help you with your problems, so we can be free”

-“Mr. Roboto” by Styx

I was all in on robots. I got my first robot for Christmas in 1986. It was an Omnibot 2000. I remember the site of that tall, blue box on Christmas morning and knew that I was going to be part of a technology revolution. 

The Omnibot 2000 was a robot produced by the Tomy Corporation in the 1980s. It had the ability to move around on wheels and perform simple tasks such as delivering objects or playing pre-recorded messages. It even had a rotating drink tray that was meant to foreshadow the idea, years before the Roomba, that robots could assist humans around the home and be the life of the party. 

The Omnibot 2000 was designed for the home market and considered more of a toy rather than a serious robot. And though I wanted to believe it had a personality and could interact with me, it was driven by a remote control or a cassette tape inserted in its chest that could only record and reenact commands. I spilled a lot as I tried to make my robot coolly pour a glass of water for my brother and sisters. 

The Omnibot 2000 and science fiction films like Short Circuit projected robotic concepts into our minds well before technology existed to support these ideas, decades before the talk of a Tesla Optimus robot working alongside humans or ChatGPT and DALL-E making prose and art. Since this 1980s, the field of robotics has seen significant advancements, including:

• The rise of autonomous robots, which can operate without human supervision, using advanced algorithms to navigate and make decisions
• The development of advanced sensors such as cameras, microphones, and robotic arms that allow robots to perceive and interact with their environment
• The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, which has enabled robots to learn and improve their performance over time
• The widespread use of robots in manufacturing where they have automated repetitive tasks 
• The emergence of new applications for robots in healthcare, agriculture, and space 

Today, robots come in various forms and can be found from factories to hospitals and homes. They are used for a wide range of tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, security, and transportation. Some robots are even designed to look and act like humans. While the Omnibot 2000 was a groundbreaking robot for its time and an amazing companion for me growing up, the robots of today show truly useful capabilities and versatility. 

One can only imagine where the next 40 years will take us – hopefully fewer spilled drinks.