Robots

Robots were first built by Humans to improve their lives. It has gotten to the point now that robots outnumber Humans&mdash;or at least, voting humans&mdash;by one. Humanoid robots, over the years while Professor Hubert Farnsworth was working at Mom's robot company, evolved to the sometimes sleek functioning machines in the year 3000. A revolution of robot development was made when fuel efficiency was sacrificed when a new, sportier robot was demanded by Mom. These new "sports utility" (classified this to get them past emission standards) robots came out resulting in increased pollution on Earth. In 3003 a new robot model came out Robot 1-X which unlike past robots, didn't malfuction, wasn't polluting and was kind and not rude.

Robots in society
Robots can acquire wealth, marry, obtain jobs, consume resources, own property and live in robot societies. Each different facet of society in the year 3000 has some form of robot related - to human benefit or not.

Robots in Futurama seem to exist in conflict with the idea of form and function - to which present day industrial design strives. In the year circa 3000 robots consume high volumes of resources (Calculon's luxury Bel-air home) and inhabit land (Robot Arms Apartments). In society they can be found in all levels of society - in the gutter "jacking on" (getting stoned on electricity) and at the top (Hedonism bot appears to be very wealthy, commissioning artistic endeavours on a whim). There is however little social mobility as a robot's function is predetermined by its type.

There appear to be two main types, or castes, of robot:

Laborer Robots
Likely built by Humans, these robots are bound to their programming. They can be easily identified by the fact that their name often reflects their job. They are not all "laborers", per se, but they were built for a specific job, which they perform without question.

Civilian Robots
Possibly built by robots (evidenced by Bender's statement, "We can always build more killbots" (1ACV04)), these are free to do as they please, and in fact, many are homeless. They still seem to pay homage to Mom on Mother's Day, though. Their names tend to have little to do with their occupations.

History of robotics
The following is the history of robots originating from Earth.

Early history (21st century)
The oldest living robot is Calculon, who refreshes his look every now and then to avoid suspicion, and claim to be much younger. Created around the year 2000, he was originally a simple motorized arm working who helped create Project Satan. Project Satan himself, an evil Were-Car, was the first known robot to have a consciousness and mobility.

The actual progress of robots is apparently as unknown as the first man on the Moon, but it is claimed that the original robots were similar to neanderthals, dressed in leopard hides and hitting scraps of metal with clubs.

The Robot Devil has existed since before 2275, but then again it is not certain that he was created on Earth. The same goes for Kwanzaa-bot, who was assembled before 2354.

Sport-Utility Robots (2927 - 3003)
A new break-through in robotics was made in 2927, as Professor Farnsworth invented the first Sport-Utility Robot (SUR). This robot was designed to be big and sporty (classified as a light truck), and is the ancestral prototype of most modern robots, including Bender. The SUR runs on alcohol and pollutes in a manner generally reminiscent of human burps, which caused Global warming, leading to all SURs being doomed to extinction by the president in 3003 at the so-called Big Robot Party. Although they were saved and global warming was stopped for the time being, these robots are now considered obsolete due to their effect on environment.

Sometime in the 3rd millennium, John Quincy Adding Machine became the first robotic President of Earth after promising not to go on a killing spree. However, as with most politicians, he promised more than he could deliver.

By the late 30th century, robots existed in similar numbers to humans on Earth, and the high number of robot voters caused Richard Nixon's head to win the presidential elections of year 3000 by exactly one vote.



Robot 1-X (3003 - )
At Roboticon 3003, Robot 1-X was introduced by MomCorp. This new model is designed not to run on alcohol and exhaust pollution, but rather to run on pollution and exhaust fresh smelling oxygen. Extremely intelligent and obedient, as well as hovering instead of walking, it is mostly considered a laborer robot.

Known Civilian Robots

 * Countess de la Roca
 * Robot Elders
 * Tinny Tim
 * Roberto
 * The Crushinator
 * Vladimir
 * Helper
 * Hedonism Bot

Robot Animals

 * Robo-Puppy

Unknown Status

 * Destructor
 * Robot Mafia
 * Were-Car
 * Killbots
 * Sinclair 2K
 * Lisa
 * Cartridge Unit
 * Bender's First Born Son
 * Angleyne

Appearances

 * All Episodes