2001
In April 2001, the Canadarm2 was launched into orbit and attached to the International Space Station. The
Canadarm2 is a larger, more capable version of the arm used by the Space Shuttle, and is hailed as
"smarter". Also in April, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Global Hawk made the first autonomous non-stop flight over
the Pacific Ocean from Edwards Air Force Base in California to RAAF Base Edinburgh in Southern Australia. The
light was made in 22 hours.
2002
The popular Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, was first released in 2002 by the company iRobot.
2005
In 2005, Cornell University revealed a robotic system of block-modules capable of attaching and detaching,
described as the first robot capable of self-replication, because it was capable of assembling copies of itself if it
was placed near more of the blocks which composed it. Launched in 2003, on 3 and 24 January, the Mars
rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on the surface of Mars. Both robots drove many times the distance originally
expected, and Opportunity was still operating as of mid-2018 although communications were subsequently lost
due to a major dust storm.
2006
In 2006, Cornell University revealed its "Starfish" robot, a four-legged robot capable of self-modeling and learning
to walk after having been damaged.
2007
In 2007, TOMY launched the entertainment robot, i-sobot, a humanoid bipedal robot that can walk like a human
and performs kicks and punches and also some entertaining tricks and special actions under "Special Action
Mode".
2011
Robonaut 2, the latest generation of the astronaut helpers, was launched to the space station aboard Space
Shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission in 2011. It is the first humanoid robot in space, and although its primary
job for now is teaching engineers how dextrous robots behave in space; the hope is that through upgrades and
advancements, it could one day venture outside the station to help spacewalkers make repairs or additions to the
station or perform scientific work.
2017
On 25 October 2017 at the Future Investment Summit in Riyadh, a robot called Sophia and referred to with female
pronouns was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality.
2019
In 2019, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania created millions of nanorobots in just a few weeks using
technology borrowed from semiconductors. These microscopic robots, small enough to be hypodermically injected
into the human body and controlled wirelessly, could one day deliver medications and perform surgeries,
revolutionizing medicine and health.
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