Section outline

    • 🏛️ Ancient Times – The Dream of “Living Machines”

      People in many cultures imagined machines that could move and act like living beings. Let’s look at a few incredible examples:

      🇮🇳 Ancient India – The Mechanical Man of Mithila

      • Ancient Indian texts like the Lokapannatti and legends from Buddhist and Jain literature describe "bhuta vahana yantra" — mechanical beings or automata built using gears and wheels.

      • One fascinating story tells of a king in Mithila (present-day Bihar, India) who created a mechanical man to guard hidden treasures and sacred relics.

      • These automata were said to move, detect intruders, and even punish thieves — clearly showing imagination far ahead of the time.

      🧠 Though these were mythical, they reveal that Indian thinkers were deeply interested in how machines could mimic life!

      🕌 Ancient Islamic World (~1200 CE)

      • Al-Jazari, an inventor and engineer from the Middle East, built water clocks and even a hand-washing robot with moving arms!

      • His designs were powered by gears and flowing water — no electricity!

      🐦 Ancient Greece (~300 BCE)

       

      • Hero of Alexandria built a steam-powered bird and machines that opened temple doors automatically.

        These are considered among the earliest automata.

    • 🧠 1400s – Leonardo da Vinci’s Robot Knight

      He designed a mechanical knight that could sit, wave, and move its head. Modern engineers even built it — and it worked!

      🔧 1700s–1800s – Mechanical Magic

      Inventors in Europe created automata — wind-up toys that could draw, play music, or dance.

      These were the “cool gadgets” of royal courts.

      ⚙️ 1900s – Real Robots Appear

      • 1920: The word “robot” was born in a Czech play R.U.R.

      • 1950s: Robots started helping in factories.

      • 1970s–80s: Robots joined schools, space missions, and industries.

      🚀 2000s & Now – Robots Everywhere!

      From hospitals to homes, from farms to festivals — robots are everywhere:

      • Helping doctors perform precise surgeries

      • Cleaning floors in homes

      • Teaching students in smart classrooms

      • Harvesting crops in farms

      And now, you can build one too!

    • ✅ Summary

      • The idea of self-operating machines is ancient and global.

      • Ancient India imagined mechanical beings to guard treasures.

      • “Robot” became a word in 1920, and modern robots followed soon after.

       

      • Today, robots are everywhere — and anyone can build one, even you!