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A Robot Is A Machine-Especially One

A robot is a programmable machine capable of performing complex actions automatically, ranging from humanoid forms to industrial and medical applications. The field of robotics encompasses the design, operation, and application of these machines, which can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and are increasingly inspired by nature. While robots enhance efficiency and safety in various sectors, they also raise concerns about technological unemployment and ethical implications in military use.

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9 views1 page

A Robot Is A Machine-Especially One

A robot is a programmable machine capable of performing complex actions automatically, ranging from humanoid forms to industrial and medical applications. The field of robotics encompasses the design, operation, and application of these machines, which can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and are increasingly inspired by nature. While robots enhance efficiency and safety in various sectors, they also raise concerns about technological unemployment and ethical implications in military use.

Uploaded by

hagenobin8
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying

out a complex series of actions automatically.[2] A robot can be guided by an


external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be
constructed to evoke human form, but most robots are task-performing machines,
designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive
aesthetics.

Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as


Honda's Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO) and TOSY's TOSY Ping Pong
Playing Robot (TOPIO) to industrial robots, medical operating robots, patient
assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed swarm robots, UAV drones
such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic nanorobots. By
mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense
of intelligence or thought of its own. Autonomous things are expected to
proliferate in the future, with home robotics and the autonomous car as some of the
main drivers.[3]

The branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and
application of robots,[4] as well as computer systems for their control, sensory
feedback, and information processing is robotics. These technologies deal with
automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or
manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, or cognition.
Many of today's robots are inspired by nature contributing to the field of bio-
inspired robotics. These robots have also created a newer branch of robotics: soft
robotics.

From the time of ancient civilization, there have been many accounts of user-
configurable automated devices and even automata, resembling humans and other
animals, such as animatronics, designed primarily as entertainment. As mechanical
techniques developed through the Industrial age, there appeared more practical
applications such as automated machines, remote-control and wireless remote-
control.

The term comes from a Slavic root, robot-, with meanings associated with labor. The
word "robot" was first used to denote a fictional humanoid in a 1920 Czech-language
play R.U.R. (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti – Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel
Čapek, though it was Karel's brother Josef Čapek who was the word's true inventor.
[5][6][7] Electronics evolved into the driving force of development with the advent
of the first electronic autonomous robots created by William Grey Walter in
Bristol, England in 1948, as well as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools
in the late 1940s by John T. Parsons and Frank L. Stulen.

The first commercial, digital and programmable robot was built by George Devol in
1954 and was named the Unimate. It was sold to General Motors in 1961 where it was
used to lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines at the Inland Fisher
Guide Plant in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey.[8]

Robots have replaced humans[9] in performing repetitive and dangerous tasks which
humans prefer not to do, or are unable to do because of size limitations, or which
take place in extreme environments such as outer space or the bottom of the sea.
There are concerns about the increasing use of robots and their role in society.
Robots are blamed for rising technological unemployment as they replace workers in
increasing numbers of functions.[10] The use of robots in military combat raises
ethical concerns. The possibilities of robot autonomy and potential repercussions
have been addressed in fiction and may be a realistic concern in the future.

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