Issac Asimov Inspiration For Modern Robotics

Image by mielconejo (Creative Commons)

Today we celibate the birthday of one of the most accomplished writers of the twentieth century. Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1992. He grew up reading science fiction stories and at age 11 he decided to write his own. Over the course of his life he published hundreds of novels and short stories. Today Asimov provides inspiration for countless writers and as an icon for robotics enthusiasts and inventors alike.

Along with being one of my personal favorite authors, Asimov was also an inspiration for the creation of this blog where I write about my recent progress with the Salvius robot. It was about a year before I created an account on blogger, that I came across this quote while searching the web for something inspirational to say in an English paper. It took me about a year to track it down my original paper to find the quote again but now that I have found it I plan to make it easier to find by placing it in this post. Here it is:

“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.”
― Isaac Asimov

I felt that this one quote wholly embodied what I wanted to do with my robot project. My goal is as it has been for the longest time. I want to make a humanoid robot that can compete with some of the the most advanced robots in the world. I want to compete with those robots not only on a technological basis bot on a public basis because the robot itself means nothing if it remains a private hobby. I want to document my progress and to share it with the world. People are the most important part of robotics. Without people there would be no need for robots nor would there be anyone to make them in the first place. I believe that people can make a difference by contributing knowledge to the internet so that it can be absorbed by the global intellect of every person on earth. Once an idea is out there it can be built upon and it takes on a life of its own. That is my dream for robotics. "I don't believe in personal immortality; the only way I expect to have some version of such a thing is through my books." (Asimov).