1. R2-D2 Was Inducted Into The Robot Hall Of Fame With HAL 9000
2003 was a historic year for those with an interest in robotics, marking the foundation of the Robot Hall of Fame, created to recognise notable robots in their various scientific fields as well as to celebrate noteworthy achievements in robotics technology. The Hall of Fame was the brainchild of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, who founded it not only as an acknowledgement of the city's achievements in the field of robotics, but with the aim of creating greater awareness of the contributions of robotics to modern society. Five robots were inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in its inaugural year, one of which was R2-D2, who was recognised in the Entertainment field alongside HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series. Hal was the memorable antagonist in 2001: A Space Odyssey, a sentient computer that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's crew. These two fictional characters were the first movie robots to be welcomed into the Hall of Fame, though over the years that followed they were joined by C-3PO, Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 Terminator, Lt. Cmdr. Data of Star Trek fame, Pixar's WALL-E and, interestingly, Huey, Dewey and Louie, the three little bots from Silent Running that inspired George Lucas to create R2 in the first place. Like this list? Do you know any other facts about the brave little astromech? Share any we missed down in the comments.
