Robert (robot name)

Last updated

Robots named Robert, Robbie/Robby, Rob, and the like, reflect an alliteration trope in science fiction in which robots are given names starting with the letter "r", and particularly with the phoneme "rob". Isaac Asimov noted this in-universe in the short story, "Christmas Without Rodney", in which a character says: "There's no law about it, but you've probably noticed for yourself that almost every robot has a name beginning with R. R for robot, I suppose. The usual name is Robert. There must be a million robot Roberts in the northeast corridor alone". [1] This trope has appeared not only in the English language, but also in languages such as German and Russian. Robots named following this trope include:

Contents

Actual robots

An early nonfictional "robot" named Robert was a briefly popular children's toy introduced at the 1954 New York Toy Fair, called "Robert the Robot". [2] [3]

Fictional characters

Other uses

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>I, Robot</i> Collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov

I, Robot is a fixup collection made up of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950 and were then collected into a 1950 publication Gnome Press in 1950, in an initial edition of 5,000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Asimov</span> American writer and biochemist (1920–1992)

Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much popular science and other non-fiction.

<i>Robot</i> series Series of stories by Isaac Asimov

The Robot series is a series of thirty-seven science fiction short stories and six novels by American writer Isaac Asimov, published from 1940 to 1995. The series is set in a world where sentient positronic robots serve a number of purposes in society. To ensure their loyalty, the Three Laws of Robotics are programmed into these robots, with the intent of preventing them from ever becoming a danger to humanity. Later, Asimov would merge the Robot series with his Foundation series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Laws of Robotics</span> Fictional set of rules by Isaac Asimov

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, which were to be followed by robots in several of his stories. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although similar restrictions had been implied in earlier stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robby the Robot</span> Fictional film and television character

Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction films and television programs, which has given him the distinction as "the hardest working robot in Hollywood".

Terminus may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gynoid</span> Robot resembling a woman

A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like any other robot, the main parts of a Gynoid include sensors, actuators and a control system. Sensors are responsible for detecting the changes in the environment while the actuators, also called effectors, are motors and other components responsible for the movement and control of the robot. The control system instructs the robot on what to do so as to achieve the desired results.

<i>The Complete Robot</i> 1982 short story collection by Isaac Asimov

The Complete Robot (1982) is a collection of 31 of the 37 science fiction short stories about robots by American writer Isaac Asimov, written between 1939 and 1977. Most of the stories had been previously collected in the books I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots, while four had previously been uncollected and the rest had been scattered across five other anthologies. They share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and put together tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics. The stories are grouped into categories.

"Robbie" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was the first of Asimov's positronic robot stories. In 2016, "'Robbie" won a retrospective 1941 Hugo Award for best short story. "Robbie" was the fourteenth story written by Asimov, and the ninth to be published. It was the first story in Asimov's Robot series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Calvin</span> Fictional character from the Foundation-Universe by Isaac Asimov

Dr. Susan Calvin is a fictional character appearing in Isaac Asimov's Robot series of science fiction short stories. According to I, Robot, Susan Calvin was born in the year 1982 and died at the age of 82, either in 2064 or 2065.

This is a bibliography of the books written or edited by Isaac Asimov, arranged alphabetically. Asimov was a prolific author, and he engaged in many collaborations with other authors. This list may not yet be complete. The total number of books listed here is over 500. Asimov died in 1992 at age 72; a small number of his books were published posthumously.

<i>Fireball XL5</i> British childrens TV series

Fireball XL5 is a 1960s British children's science-fiction puppet television series about the missions of Fireball XL5, a vessel of the World Space Patrol that polices the cosmos in the year 2062. Commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac, XL5 defends Earth from interstellar threats while encountering a wide variety of alien civilisations.

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Link</span> Fictional robot from Eando Binder stories

Adam Link is a fictional robot, made in the likeness of a man, who becomes self-aware, and the protagonist of several science fiction short stories written by Eando Binder, the pen name of Earl Andrew Binder and his brother, Otto Binder. The stories were originally published in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories from 1939 to 1942. In all, ten Adam Link stories were published. In The American Robot: A Cultural History, Dustin A. Abnet says that Adam was the "most popular science fiction robot of the era".

William F. Wu is a Chinese-American science fiction, fantasy, and crime author.

Robbie or Robby is most often a given name. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. The name is also a surname, though less often.

Robbie or Robby is a given name and surname.

In a writing career spanding 53 years (1939–1992), science fiction and popular science author Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) wrote and published 40 novels, 383 short stories, over 280 non-fiction books, and edited about 147 others.

References

  1. Isaac Asimov, "Christmas Without Rodney", Robot Visions (1991), p. 398.
  2. Steve Carper. Robots in American Popular Culture (2019).
  3. Sharon M. Scott, Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia (2009), p. 157.