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Concept
Humanoid robot
Summary
A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other purposes. In general, humanoid robots have a torso, a head, two arms, and two legs, though some humanoid robots may replicate only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots also have heads designed to replicate human facial features such as eyes and mouths. Androids are humanoid robots built to aesthetically resemble humans.
The concept of a humanoid robot originated in many different cultures around the world. Some of the earliest accounts of the idea of humanoid automata date to the 4th century BCE in Greek mythologies and various religious and philosophical texts from China. Physical prototypes of humanoid automata were later created in the Middle East, Italy, Japan, and France.
The Greek god of blacksmiths, Hephaestus, created several different humanoid automata in various myths. In Homer's Iliad, Hephaestus created golden handmaidens and imbued them with human-like voices to serve as speaking tools or instruments. Another Greek myth details how Hephaestus crafted a giant bronze automaton named Talos to protect the island of Crete from invaders.
In the 3rd century BCE, a Taoist philosophical text called the Liezi, written by Chinese philosopher Lie Yukou, detailed the idea of a humanoid automaton. The text includes mention of an engineer named Yan Shi who created a life-size, human-like robot for the fifth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, King Mu. The robot was primarily constructed of leather and wood. It was capable of walking, singing, and moving all parts of its body.
In the 13th century, a Muslim engineer named Ismail al-Jazari designed various humanoid automata. He created a waitress robot that would dispense drinks from a liquid reservoir and appear out of an automatic door to serve them.
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