Robots are big news today. Tremendous improvements over the last years have opened a new chapter in the interaction of humans and robots. Let’s take a look back at some of the milestones that have helped robotics become what it is today: an innovation driver, also for the logistics industry.

1. THE HISTORY
OF ROBOTICS
1810
Leonardo da Vinci drew
plans for a robotic knight
to entertain audiences, and
designed a robot operated
by pulleys, cables, and gears.
Friedrich
Kaufmann
created the
first humanoid
robot: a soldier
with a trumpet.
Robots are big news today. Tremendous improvements over
the last years have opened a new chapter in the interaction
of humans and robots. Let’s take a look back at some of the
milestones that have helped robotics become what it is
today: an innovation driver, also for the logistics industry.
Jacques de
Vaucanson
designed
The Digesting
Duck, capable
of imitating a
real duck by
flapping its
wings.
1961
20
02
iRobot introduced the first
mass production vacuum
home-cleaner robot and has
sold over 14 million robots
since then.
ROOMBA
19
41
Isaac Asimov coined the word “robotics”
for the first time in the Three Laws of
Robotics.
“ROBOTICS”
PARCEL ROBOT
Amazon
acquired
Kiva, a
company
that builds
mobile robots
that can pick
up a shelf of
goods and
bring the
entire shelf to
the picker who
stays in one
spot.
The first
industrial robot,
Unimate was
sold to perform
useful work in
manufacturing:
transferring
parts from one
point to another
in a General
Motors car
factory.
Opportunity and
Spirit were the
first robots sent
to Mars. They
both had a
planned lifetime
of 90 days but
ran 20 times
longer.
BAXTER
20
03
14
95
ROBOTIC KNIGHT
Thanks to technological breakthroughs that
happen every day, the time has come for robots
to help shaping both the present and the future
of the logistic side of the supply chain.
1737
2000
Honda
introduced
ASIMO
(Advanced Step
in Innovative
Mobility), a
humanoid robot
designed to be a
multi-functional
mobile assistant.
THE DAWN
OF A NEW ERA
IN LOGISTICS
2003
20
11
IBM WATSON
2011
Microsoft
released its
Kinect to the
market. The
first low-cost
computer
electronics
sensor to
empower
robots to
identify and
pick items.
2012
Stanford Racing
Team’s vehicle
“Stanley” wins
the DARPA
“Grand
Challenge”,
driving a
175-mile long
desert track in
less than 7
hours with
no human
intervention,
a boost for
self-driving
cars.
2005
20
13
For more information about the current state of
robotics and automation in the logistics industry
please visit dhl.com/robots.
DHL developed the Parcel
Robot, the first prototype
to unload parcels from a
container.
IBM Watson, the company’s artificial
intelligence system, won against two of
Jeopardy's greatest champions, bringing
a new generation of cognitive technology
to the world.
Rethink Robotics launched
Baxter, the first collaborative
robot designed to work safely
around people, redefining
the way robots will be used.
The Stanford
Cart was the
first robot with
functional
stereo vision to
navigate and
determine
distances
automatically.
1979
1. A robot may not injure a human being
2. A robot must obey orders given it by
3. A robot must protect its own existence
or, through inaction, allow a human being
to come to harm.
human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Law.
Today, the first examples of
collaborative robots at DHL
demonstrate how workers
become empowered to do
more meaningful tasks
alongside their new
colleagues.
Driven by tremendous improvements in robot
capabilities, such as in AI and deep learning,
the world of logistics is set to be transformed.
TODAY