Personal Robots

This book is about the Personal Robots of the 1980's that inspired hopes for the future. This was triggered, in part, by the R2D2 Robot of the Star War series, itself based on the three service droids of the early Science Fiction movie, Silent Running. At the same time, personal computers were emerging as affordable and easier to use. The excitement and the technology reached a tipping point. Before this time, robotics mainly meant large hydraulic units that manufactured cars. Now it came to mean personal companions. The expectations were limitless.