ABSTRACT
Automata have been built since ancient times, from the Egyptian empire to the Chinese dynasties. These early forms of completely mechanical automation were designed largely to challenge human intelligence and capabilities. Automata were the manifestation of human ambition to control and reproduce life. From these early examples, automaton has evolved more and more toward the idea of an autonomous robot. For example, in 1898, Nikola Tesla registered a patent for a radio-controlled boat, giving birth to the very concept of teleoperation. In 1951, Raymond Goertz designed and patented an automated arm to remotely manipulate radioactive material. From 1966 to 1972, the Stanford Research Institute developed Shakey, one of the earliest examples of an autonomous mobile robot.[1]
In the initial stages of research, robots were conceived mostly as tools, requiring humans to perform two main activities: teleoperation and supervisory control. Teleoperation involves direct control of a robot’s low-level motor functions. Supervision, on the other hand, allows a user to request the execution of high-level tasks, leaving the planning and implementation of low-level operations to the robot itself.[1] Both activities require mediating interfaces, which must be developed with regard to the user experience to enable effective communication between humans and robots.
