A robot is a machine. It can sense what is around it. It can decide what to do. Then it does it. A robot has sensors to find out about the world. They can be cameras and touch sensors. A robot has a computer to decide. It has motors, called actuators, to move. The computer uses what the sensors tell it. Then it drives the motors.
A robot vacuum cleaner drives itself around a home. It cleans the floor. Its sensors help it not bump into things. They help it not fall down stairs. A robot vacuum can go back to its charging station by itself.
The first factory robot arm went to work in 1961. It worked at a car plant in New Jersey. The arm was named Unimate. Its job was moving finished metal castings. That was a dirty and dangerous job. People no longer had to do it.
Robots often do jobs that are dangerous, hard or boring for people. Robots do jobs that people would rather leave to machines. That keeps people out of danger. In robotic surgery, a doctor sits at a console. The doctor moves robot arms that hold tiny tools.
Robot rovers with wheels drive around on Mars to explore it. A Mars rover drives to different spots. It uses a robot arm to hold tools up to rocks it wants to study. The Curiosity rover on Mars carries 17 cameras.
Some jobs are easy for people. They are hard to program into a robot. Moving around is one. Seeing is another. Grasping things is a third. A robot that walks on legs can fall over. A hard enough push can topple it.
The word robot comes from a play that was written long ago. The Czech word robota means forced work. Karel Δapek said that his brother Josef, an artist, came up with the word. The play is called R.U.R.
Words to know
- sensors: parts that sense
- actuators: motors that move
- castings: finished metal pieces
- topple: fall over
- rover: wheeled robot
