The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to robotics:

Robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

is a branch of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots, as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing. These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behaviour, and or cognition. Many of today's robots are inspired by nature contributing to the field of bio-inspired robotics. The word "robot" was introduced to the public by Czech writer

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright and critic. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum's Universal ...

in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. The term "robotics" was coined by

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and ...

in his 1941 science fiction short-story " Liar!"

Nature of robotics

Robotics can be described as: * An

applied science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

– scientific knowledge transferred into a physical environment. ** A branch of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

– ** A branch of electrical engineering – ** A branch of

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

– *

Research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

– * A branch of

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

–

Branches of robotics

Adaptive control Adaptive control is the control method used by a controller which must adapt to a controlled system with parameters which vary, or are initially uncertain. For example, as an aircraft flies, its mass will slowly decrease as a result of fuel consumpt ...

– control method used by a controller which must adapt to a controlled system with parameters which vary, or are initially uncertain. For example, as an aircraft flies, its mass will slowly decrease as a result of fuel consumption; a control law is needed that adapts itself to such changing conditions. * Aerial robotics – development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Their flight is controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. *

Android science Android science is an interdisciplinary framework for studying human interaction and cognition based on the premise that a very humanlike robot (that is, an android) can elicit human-directed social responses in human beings. The android's ability ...

– interdisciplinary framework for studying human interaction and cognition based on the premise that a very humanlike robot (that is, an android) can elicit human-directed social responses in human beings. * Anthrobotics – science of developing and studying robots that are either entirely or in some way human-like. *

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

– the

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as the a ...

of machines and the branch of

that aims to create it. *

Artificial neural network Artificial neural networks (ANNs), usually simply called neural networks (NNs) or neural nets, are computing systems inspired by the biological neural networks that constitute animal brains. An ANN is based on a collection of connected units ...

s – a mathematical model inspired by biological neural networks. *

Autonomous car A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input.Xie, S.; Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Ding, Z.; Arvin, F.,Distributed Motion Planning for S ...

– an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car * Autonomous research robotics – *

Bayesian network A Bayesian network (also known as a Bayes network, Bayes net, belief network, or decision network) is a probabilistic graphical model that represents a set of variables and their conditional dependencies via a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Bay ...

– *

BEAM robotics BEAM robotics (from biology, electronics, aesthetics and mechanics) is a style of robotics that primarily uses simple analogue circuits, such as comparators, instead of a microprocessor in order to produce an unusually simple design. While not as ...

– a style of robotics that primarily uses simple analogue circuits instead of a microprocessor in order to produce an unusually simple design (in comparison to traditional mobile robots) that trades flexibility for robustness and efficiency in performing the task for which it was designed. *

Behavior-based robotics Behavior-based robotics (BBR) or behavioral robotics is an approach in robotics that focuses on robots that are able to exhibit complex-appearing behaviors despite little internal variable state to model its immediate environment, mostly gradually ...

– the branch of robotics that incorporates modular or behavior based AI (BBAI). *

Bio-inspired robotics Bio-inspired robotic locomotion is a fairly new subcategory of bio-inspired design. It is about learning concepts from nature and applying them to the design of real-world engineered systems. More specifically, this field is about making robots th ...

– making robots that are inspired by biological systems. Biomimicry and bio-inspired design are sometimes confused. Biomimicry is copying the nature while bio-inspired design is learning from nature and making a mechanism that is simpler and more effective than the system observed in nature. *

Biomimetic Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...

– see

Bionics Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The word ''bionic'', coined by Jack E. Steele in August 1 ...

. * Biomorphic robotics – a sub-discipline of robotics focused upon emulating the mechanics, sensor systems, computing structures and methodologies used by animals. *

– also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. *

Biorobotics Biorobotics is an interdisciplinary science that combines the fields of biomedical engineering, cybernetics, and robotics to develop new technologies that integrate biology with mechanical systems to develop more efficient communication, alter g ...

– a study of how to make robots that emulate or simulate living biological organisms mechanically or even chemically. * Cloud robotics – is a field of robotics that attempts to invoke cloud technologies such as cloud computing, cloud storage, and other Internet technologies centered around the benefits of converged infrastructure and shared services for robotics. * Cognitive robotics – views animal

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thoug ...

as a starting point for the development of robotic information processing, as opposed to more traditional

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

techniques. * Clustering – *

Computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematical models, computer simulations, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to ...

– study of brain function in terms of the information processing properties of the structures that make up the nervous system. *

Robot control Robotic control is the system that contributes to the movement of robots. This involves the mechanical aspects and programmable systems that makes it possible to control robots. Robotics could be controlled in various ways, which includes using ma ...

– a study of controlling robots *

Robotics conventions There are many conventions used in the robotics research field. This article summarises these conventions. Line representations Lines are very important in robotics because: * They model joint axes: a revolute joint makes any connected rigid ...

– * Data mining Techniques – *

Degrees of freedom Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...

– in mechanics, the degree of freedom (DOF) of a mechanical system is the number of independent parameters that define its configuration. It is the number of parameters that determine the state of a physical system and is important to the analysis of systems of bodies in mechanical engineering, aeronautical engineering, robotics, and structural engineering. *

Developmental robotics Developmental robotics (DevRob), sometimes called epigenetic robotics, is a scientific field which aims at studying the developmental mechanisms, architectures and constraints that allow lifelong and open-ended learning of new skills and new knowle ...

– a methodology that uses metaphors from neural development and developmental psychology to develop the mind for autonomous robots *

Digital control Digital control is a branch of control theory that uses Digital data, digital computers to act as system controllers. Depending on the requirements, a digital control system can take the form of a microcontroller to an Application-specific integ ...

– a branch of control theory that uses digital computers to act as system controllers. *

Digital image processing Digital image processing is the use of a digital computer to process digital images through an algorithm. As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing. It allow ...

– the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. *

Dimensionality reduction Dimensionality reduction, or dimension reduction, is the transformation of data from a high-dimensional space into a low-dimensional space so that the low-dimensional representation retains some meaningful properties of the original data, ideally ...

– the process of reducing the number of random variables under consideration, and can be divided into feature selection and feature extraction. *

Distributed robotics Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

– *

Electronic stability control Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction ( skiddi ...

– is a computerized technology that improves the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction (skidding). *

Evolutionary computation In computer science, evolutionary computation is a family of algorithms for global optimization inspired by biological evolution, and the subfield of artificial intelligence and soft computing studying these algorithms. In technical terms, ...

– * Evolutionary robotics – a methodology that uses evolutionary computation to develop controllers for autonomous robots *

Extended Kalman filter In estimation theory, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is the nonlinear version of the Kalman filter which linearizes about an estimate of the current mean and covariance. In the case of well defined transition models, the EKF has been considered t ...

– * Flexible Distribution functions – * Feedback control and regulation – *

Human–computer interaction Human–computer interaction (HCI) is research in the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people ( users) and computers. HCI researchers observe the ways humans interact with computers and design ...

– a study, planning and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers * Human robot interaction – a study of interactions between humans and robots *

Intelligent vehicle technologies Intelligent vehicle technologies comprise electronic, electromechanical, and electromagnetic devices - usually silicon micromachined components operating in conjunction with computer-controlled devices and radio transceivers to provide precision r ...

– comprise electronic, electromechanical, and electromagnetic devices - usually silicon micromachined components operating in conjunction with computer controlled devices and radio transceivers to provide precision repeatability functions (such as in robotics artificial intelligence systems) emergency warning validation performance reconstruction. **

Computer vision Computer vision is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate t ...

– **

Machine vision Machine vision (MV) is the technology and methods used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance, usually in industry. Machine vision refers to m ...

– * Kinematics – study of

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

, as applied to robots. This includes both the design of linkages to perform motion, their power, control and stability; also their planning, such as choosing a sequence of movements to achieve a broader task. *

Laboratory robotics Laboratory robotics is the act of using robots in biology, chemistry or engineering labs. For example, pharmaceutical companies employ robots to move biological or chemical samples around to synthesize novel chemical entities or to test pharma ...

– the act of using robots in biology or chemistry labs * Robot learning – learning to perform tasks such as obstacle avoidance, control and various other motion-related tasks *

Direct manipulation interface In computer science, human–computer interaction, and interaction design, direct manipulation is an approach to interfaces which involves continuous representation of objects of interest together with rapid, reversible, and incremental actions ...

– In computer science, direct manipulation is a human–computer interaction style which involves continuous representation of objects of interest and rapid, reversible, and incremental actions and feedback. The intention is to allow a user to directly manipulate objects presented to them, using actions that correspond at least loosely to the physical world. * Manifold learning – * Microrobotics – a field of miniature robotics, in particular mobile robots with characteristic dimensions less than 1 mm *

Motion planning Motion planning, also path planning (also known as the navigation problem or the piano mover's problem) is a computational problem to find a sequence of valid configurations that moves the object from the source to destination. The term is used ...

– (a.k.a., the "navigation problem", the "piano mover's problem") is a term used in robotics for the process of detailing a task into discrete motions. *

Motor control Motor control is the regulation of movement in organisms that possess a nervous system. Motor control includes reflexes as well as directed movement. To control movement, the nervous system must integrate multimodal sensory information (both f ...

– information processing related activities carried out by the central nervous system that organize the musculoskeletal system to create coordinated movements and skilled actions. *

Nanorobotics Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to m ...

– the emerging technology field creating machines or robots whose components are at or close to the scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). * Passive dynamics – refers to the dynamical behavior of actuators, robots, or organisms when not drawing energy from a supply (e.g., batteries, fuel, ATP). *

Programming by Demonstration In computer science, programming by demonstration (PbD) is an end-user development technique for teaching a computer or a robot new behaviors by demonstrating the task to transfer directly instead of programming it through machine commands. The te ...

– an End-user development technique for teaching a computer or a robot new behaviors by demonstrating the task to transfer directly instead of programming it through machine commands. * Quantum robotics – a subfield of robotics that deals with using

quantum computers Quantum computing is a type of computation whose operations can harness the phenomena of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement. Devices that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers. Though ...

to run robotics algorithms more quickly than

digital computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...

can. *

Rapid prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design ( CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D print ...

– automatic construction of physical objects via additive manufacturing from virtual models in computer aided design (CAD) software, transforming them into thin, virtual, horizontal cross-sections and then producing successive layers until the items are complete. As of June 2011, used for making models, prototype parts, and production-quality parts in relatively small numbers. *

Reinforcement learning Reinforcement learning (RL) is an area of machine learning concerned with how intelligent agents ought to take actions in an environment in order to maximize the notion of cumulative reward. Reinforcement learning is one of three basic machine ...

– an area of machine learning in computer science, concerned with how an agent ought to take actions in an environment so as to maximize some notion of cumulative reward. *

Robot kinematics In robotics, robot kinematics applies geometry to the study of the movement of multi-degree of freedom kinematic chains that form the structure of robotic systems. The emphasis on geometry means that the links of the robot are modeled as rigid ...

– applies geometry to the study of the movement of multi-degree of freedom kinematic chains that form the structure of robotic systems. *

Robot locomotion Robot locomotion is the collective name for the various methods that robots use to transport themselves from place to place. Wheeled robots are typically quite energy efficient and simple to control. However, other forms of locomotion may be more ...

– collective name for the various methods that robots use to transport themselves from place to place. * Robot programming – *

Robotic mapping Robotic mapping is a discipline related to computer vision and cartography. The goal for an autonomous robot is to be able to construct (or use) a map (outdoor use) or floor plan (indoor use) and to localize itself and its recharging bases or ...

– the goal for an autonomous robot to be able to construct (or use ) a map or floor plan and to localize itself in it *

Robotic surgery Robotic surgery are types of surgical procedures that are done using robotic systems. Robotically assisted surgery was developed to try to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical procedures and to enhance the capabi ...

– computer-assisted surgery, and robotically-assisted surgery are terms for technological developments that use robotic systems to aid in surgical procedures. ** Robot-assisted heart surgery – * Sensors – (also called detector) is a converter that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an (today mostly electronic) instrument. *

Simultaneous localization and mapping Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is the computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of an agent's location within it. While this initially appears to be a ch ...

– a technique used by robots and autonomous vehicles to build up a map within an unknown environment (without a priori knowledge), or to update a map within a known environment (with a priori knowledge from a given map), while at the same time keeping track of their current location. *

Software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ' ...

– the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the design, development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software. *

Speech processing Speech processing is the study of speech signals and the processing methods of signals. The signals are usually processed in a digital representation, so speech processing can be regarded as a special case of digital signal processing, applied ...

– study of speech signals and the processing methods of these signals. The signals are usually processed in a digital representation, so speech processing can be regarded as a special case of digital signal processing, applied to speech signal. Aspects of speech processing includes the acquisition, manipulation, storage, transfer and output of digital speech signals. *

Support vector machine In machine learning, support vector machines (SVMs, also support vector networks) are supervised learning models with associated learning algorithms that analyze data for classification and regression analysis. Developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories ...

s – supervised learning models with associated learning algorithms that analyze data and recognize patterns, used for classification and regression analysis. *

Swarm robotics Swarm robotics is an approach to the coordination of multiple robots as a system which consist of large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. ″In a robot swarm, the collective behavior of the robots results from local interactions between ...

– involves large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. Their actions may seek to incorporate

emergent behavior In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

observed in social insects (

swarm intelligence Swarm intelligence (SI) is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence. The expression was introduced by Gerardo Beni and Jing Wang in 1989, ...

). ** Ant robotics – swarm robots that can communicate via markings, similar to ants that lay and follow pheromone trails. *

Telepresence Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance or effect of being present via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location. Telepresence requires that the user ...

– refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location. * Ubiquitous robotics – integrating robotic technologies with technologies from the fields of ubiquitous and pervasive computing,

sensor network Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to networks of spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors that monitor and record the physical conditions of the environment and forward the collected data to a central location. WSNs can measure environmental c ...

s, and

ambient intelligence In computing, ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. Ambient intelligence was a projection on the future of consumer electronics, telecommunications and computing ...

Contributing fields

Robotics incorporates aspects of many disciplines including

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects ...

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

and

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

. The design and control of robots relies on many fields knowledge, including: * General **

Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

– **

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

– ***

Biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch ...

– **

Computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

– ***

Computational linguistics Computational linguistics is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, comput ...

– ***

Cloud computing Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over m ...

– *** Cybernetics – *** Modal logic – **

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

– ***

Acoustical engineering Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typic ...

– ***

Automotive engineering Automotive engineering, along with aerospace engineering and naval architecture, is a branch of vehicle engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software, and safety engineering as applied to the design, manufac ...

– ***

Chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

– ***

Control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

– *** Electrical engineering – ***

Electronic engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

– ***

Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

– ***

Mechatronics engineering Mechatronics engineering also called mechatronics, is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that focuses on the integration of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering systems, and also includes a combination of robotics, electronics, ...

– *** Microelectromechanical engineering – *** Nanoengineering – ***

Optical engineering Optical engineering is the field of science and engineering encompassing the physical phenomena and technologies associated with the generation, transmission, manipulation, detection, and utilization of light. Optical engineers use optics to solve ...

– ***

Safety engineering Safety engineering is an engineering discipline which assures that engineered systems provide acceptable levels of safety. It is strongly related to industrial engineering/systems engineering, and the subset system safety engineering. Safety eng ...

– ***

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

– ** Fiction – Robotics technology and its implications are major themes in science fiction and have provided inspiration for robotics development and cause for ethical concerns. Robots are portrayed in short stories and novels, in movies, in TV shows, in theatrical productions, in web based media, in computer games, and in comic books. ''See

List of fictional robots and androids Robots and androids have frequently been depicted or described in works of fiction. The word "robot" itself comes from a work of fiction, Karel Čapek's play, '' R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)'', written in 1920 and first performed in 192 ...

.'' *** Film – ''See Robots in film.'' ***

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

– fictional autonomous artificial servants have a long history in human culture. Today's most pervasive trope of robots, developing self-awareness and rebelling against their creators, dates only from the early 20th century. ''See

Robots in literature Artificial humans and autonomous artificial servants have a long history in human culture, though the term Robot and its modern literary conception as a mobile machine equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence are more fairly recent. The lit ...

.'' ***

The Three Laws of Robotics in popular culture References to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics have appeared in a wide variety of circumstances. In some cases, other authors have explored the Laws in a serious fashion. Other references, like those made in the satirical newspaper ''The Onion ...

** Military science – **

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

– *** Cognitive science – ***

Behavioral science Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through naturalist ...

– ** Philosophy – ***

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

– **

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

– *** Dynamics – *** Kinematics – * Fields of application – additionally, contributing fields include the specific field(s) a particular robot is being designed for. Expertise in surgical procedures and anatomy, for instance would be required for designing

robotic surgery Robotic surgery are types of surgical procedures that are done using robotic systems. Robotically assisted surgery was developed to try to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical procedures and to enhance the capabi ...

applications.

Related fields

Building automation Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, ...

– **

Home automation Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home, called a smart home or smart house. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It ...

– * Assistive technology * Cloud robotics

Robots

Types of robots

Autonomous robot An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. The first autonomous robots environment were known as Elmer and Elsie, which were constructed in the late 1940s by W. Grey Walter. They were the first robots in history ...

s – robots that are not controlled by humans: * Aerobot – robot capable of independent flight on other planets * Android – humanoid robot; resembling the shape or form of a human *

Automaton An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

– early self-operating robot, performing exactly the same actions, over and over *

Animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy ...

– an robot that is usually used for theme parks and movie/tvs show set. *

Autonomous vehicle Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...

– vehicle equipped with an autopilot system, which is capable of driving from one point to another without input from a human operator * Ballbot – dynamically-stable mobile robot designed to balance on a single spherical wheel (i.e., a ball) *

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

– also known as a cybernetic organism, a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts * Explosive ordnance disposal robot – mobile robot designed to assess whether an object contains explosives; some carry detonators that can be deposited at the object and activated after the robot withdraws *

Gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Name A gyno ...

– humanoid robot designed to look like a human female *

Hexapod Hexapod may refer to: Things with six limbs, e.g. a hexapod chair would have six not the traditional four limbs Biology * Hexapoda, a subphylum of arthropods including the insects * Hexapodidae, a family of crabs Technology * Hexapod (robotics), ...

(walker) – a six-legged walking robot, using a simple insect-like locomotion * – reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks **

3D printer 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

* Insect robot – small robot designed to imitate insect behaviors rather than complex human behaviors. * Microbot – microscopic robots designed to go into the human body and cure diseases *

Military robot Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military applications, from transport to search & rescue and attack. Some such systems are currently in use, and many are under development. History Broa ...

– exosuit which is capable of merging with its user for enhanced strength, speed, handling, etc. *

Mobile robot A mobile robot is an automatic machine that is capable of locomotion.Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control of Networked Mobile Robots with Applications to Object Transportation IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 202 ...

– self-propelled and self-contained robot that is capable of moving over a mechanically unconstrained course. **

Cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...

– robot-controlled guided missile that carries an explosive payload. * Music entertainment robot – robot created to perform music entertainment by playing custom made instrument or human developed instruments. *

Nanobot Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to m ...

– the same as a microbot, but smaller. The components are at or close to the scale of a

nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-re, ...

(10⁻⁹ meters). *

Prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

robot – programmable manipulator or device replacing a missing human limb. *

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, U ...

– a robot with wheels designed to walk on other planets' terrain *

Service robot Service robots assist human beings, typically by performing a job that is dirty, dull, distant, dangerous or repetitive. They typically are autonomous and/or operated by a built-in control system, with manual override options. The term "service ro ...

– machines that extend human capabilities. *

Snakebot The SnakeBot, also known as a snake robot, is a biomorphic hyper-redundant robot that resembles a biological snake. Snake robots come in many shapes and sizes, from as long as four stories (earthquake SnakeBot developed by SINTEF) to a medica ...

– robot or robotic component resembling a

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

or elephant's trunk, where many small

actuator An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve. In simple terms, it is a "mover". An actuator requires a control device (controlled by control signal) a ...

s are used to allow continuous curved motion of a robot component, with many degrees of freedom. This is usually applied to snake-arm robots, which use this as a flexible manipulator. A rarer application is the

snakebot The SnakeBot, also known as a snake robot, is a biomorphic hyper-redundant robot that resembles a biological snake. Snake robots come in many shapes and sizes, from as long as four stories (earthquake SnakeBot developed by SINTEF) to a medica ...

, where the entire robot is mobile and snake-like, so as to gain access through narrow spaces. *

Surgical robot Robotic surgery are types of surgical procedures that are done using robotic systems. Robotically assisted surgery was developed to try to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical procedures and to enhance the capabil ...

–

remote manipulator A remote manipulator, also known as a telefactor, telemanipulator, or waldo (after the 1942 short story " Waldo" by Robert A. Heinlein which features a man who invents and uses such devices), is a device which, through electronic, hydraulic, or ...

used for keyhole surgery *

Walking robot Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

– robot capable of locomotion by

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

. Owing to the difficulties of balance, two-legged walking robots have so far been rare, and most walking robots have used insect-like multilegged walking gaits.

By mode of locomotion

Mobile robots may be classified by: * The environment in which they travel: ** Land or home robots. They are most commonly wheeled, but also include legged robots with two or more legs (

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20 ...

, or resembling animals or insects). ** Aerial robots are usually referred to as

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

(UAVs). ** Underwater robots are usually called

autonomous underwater vehicles In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

(AUVs). ** Polar robots, designed to navigate icy,

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

filled environments * The device they use to move, mainly: **

Legged robot Legged robots are a type of mobile robot which use articulated limbs, such as leg mechanisms, to provide locomotion. They are more versatile than wheeled robots and can traverse many different terrains, though these advantages require increased ...

– human-like legs (i.e. an android) or animal-like

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element c ...

s ** Tracks **

Wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

ed robot

Robot components and design features

Actuator An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve. In simple terms, it is a "mover". An actuator requires a control device (controlled by control signal) a ...

–

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

that translates control signals into mechanical movement. The control signals are usually electrical but may, more rarely, be pneumatic or hydraulic. The power supply may likewise be any of these. It is common for electrical control to be used to modulate a high-power pneumatic or hydraulic motor. **

Linear actuator A linear actuator is an actuator that creates motion in a straight line, in contrast to the circular motion of a conventional electric motor. Linear actuators are used in machine tools and industrial machinery, in computer peripherals such as ...

– form of

that generates a

linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

movement directly. *

Delta robot A delta robot is a type of parallel robot that consists of three arms connected to universal joints at the base. The key design feature is the use of parallelograms in the arms, which maintains the orientation of the end effector. In contrast, ...

– tripod linkage, used to construct fast-acting manipulators with a wide range of movement. *Drive power – energy source or sources for the robot actuators. *

End-effector In robotics, an end effector is the device at the end of a robotic arm, designed to interact with the environment. The exact nature of this device depends on the application of the robot. In the strict definition, which originates from serial ro ...

– accessory device or tool specifically designed for attachment to the robot wrist or tool mounting plate to enable the robot to perform its intended task. (Examples may include gripper, spot-weld gun, arc-weld gun, spray- paint gun, or any other application tools.) *

Forward chaining Forward chaining (or forward reasoning) is one of the two main methods of reasoning when using an inference engine and can be described logically as repeated application of '' modus ponens''. Forward chaining is a popular implementation strategy ...

– process in which events or received data are considered by an entity to intelligently adapt its behavior. * Haptic – tactile feedback technology using the operator's sense of touch. Also sometimes applied to robot manipulators with their own touch sensitivity. *

(platform) – movable platform using six

linear actuator A linear actuator is an actuator that creates motion in a straight line, in contrast to the circular motion of a conventional electric motor. Linear actuators are used in machine tools and industrial machinery, in computer peripherals such as ...

s. Often used in

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

s and fairground rides, they also have applications as a robotic manipulator. : See

Stewart platform A Stewart platform is a type of parallel manipulator that has six prismatic actuators, commonly hydraulic jacks or electric linear actuators, attached in pairs to three positions on the platform's baseplate, crossing over to three mounting poi ...

* – control of mechanical force and movement, generated by the application of liquid under pressure. ''c.f.

pneumatics Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ...

.'' *

Kalman filter For statistics and control theory, Kalman filtering, also known as linear quadratic estimation (LQE), is an algorithm that uses a series of measurements observed over time, including statistical noise and other inaccuracies, and produces estima ...

– mathematical technique to estimate the value of a sensor measurement, from a series of intermittent and noisy values. *

Klann linkage The Klann linkage is a planar mechanism designed to simulate the gait of legged animal and function as a wheel replacement, a leg mechanism. The linkage consists of the frame, a crank, two grounded rockers, and two couplers all connected by p ...

– simple linkage for

walking robot Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

s. * – ''gripper''. A robotic 'hand'. ** – articulated robot or manipulator based on a number of kinematic chains, actuators and joints, in parallel. ''c.f.

serial manipulator Serial manipulators are the most common industrial robots and they are designed as a series of links connected by motor-actuated joints that extend from a base to an end-effector. Often they have an anthropomorphic arm structure described as having ...

.'' **

Remote manipulator A remote manipulator, also known as a telefactor, telemanipulator, or waldo (after the 1942 short story " Waldo" by Robert A. Heinlein which features a man who invents and uses such devices), is a device which, through electronic, hydraulic, or ...

– manipulator under direct human control, often used for work with hazardous materials. ** – articulated robot or manipulator with a ''single'' series kinematic chain of actuators. ''c.f.

parallel manipulator A parallel manipulator is a mechanical system that uses several computer-controlled serial chains to support a single platform, or end-effector. Perhaps, the best known parallel manipulator is formed from six linear actuators that support a mo ...

.'' * Muting – deactivation of a presence-sensing safeguarding device during a portion of the robot cycle. * Pendant – Any portable control device that permits an operator to control the robot from within the restricted envelope (space) of the robot. * – control of mechanical force and movement, generated by the application of compressed gas. ''c.f.

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid coun ...

.'' *

Servo Servo may refer to: Mechanisms * Servomechanism, or servo, a device used to provide control of a desired operation through the use of feedback ** AI servo, an autofocus mode ** Electrohydraulic servo valve, an electrically operated valve that c ...

– motor that moves to and maintains a set position under command, rather than continuously moving *

Servomechanism In control engineering a servomechanism, usually shortened to servo, is an automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to correct the action of a mechanism. On displacement-controlled applications, it usually includes a built-in e ...

– automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to correct the performance of a mechanism * Single point of control – ability to operate the robot such that initiation or robot motion from one source of control is possible only from that source and cannot be overridden from another source * Slow speed control – mode of robot motion control where the velocity of the robot is limited to allow persons sufficient time either to withdraw the hazardous motion or stop the robot *

Stepper motor A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any po ...

– motor whose rotation is divided into intervals called 'steps'. The motor can then rotate through a controlled number of steps which allows an exact awareness of the rotated distance. * – movable platform using six

s, hence also known as a

Subsumption architecture Subsumption architecture is a reactive robotic architecture heavily associated with behavior-based robotics which was very popular in the 1980s and 90s. The term was introduced by Rodney Brooks and colleagues in 1986.Brooks, R. A., "A Robust Pro ...

– robot architecture that uses a modular, bottom-up design beginning with the least complex behavioral tasks * Teach mode – control state that allows the generation and storage of positional data points effected by moving the robot arm through a path of intended motions

Specific robots

Aura (satellite) Aura (EOS CH-1) is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the Earth's ozone layer, air quality and climate. It is the third major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) following on Ter ...

– robotic spacecraft launched by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

in 2004 which collects atmospheric data from Earth *

Chandra X-ray Observatory The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources ...

– robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 1999 to collect astronomical data *

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

Robonaut A robonaut is a humanoid robot, part of a development project conducted by the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. Robonaut differs from other current space-faring robots in that, while ...

– development project conducted by NASA to create humanoid robots capable of using space tools and working in similar environments to suited astronauts *

Unimate Unimate was the first industrial robot, which worked on a General Motors assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey, in 1961.Mickle, Paul"1961: A peep into the automated future" ''The Trentonian''. Accessed A ...

– the first off-the-shelf

industrial robot An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include robot welding, welding, painting, assembly, Circu ...

, of 1961

Real robots by region

=Robots from Australia

= * GuRoo * UWA Telerobot

=Robots from Britain

= *

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted wit ...

eSTAR Estar may refer to: *Estar, West Virginia, unincorporated community in West Virginia, United States *Estar Avia, passenger charter airline based in Russia *eSTAR project, multi-agent system that aims to implement a true heterogeneous network of ro ...

Freddy II Freddy (1969–1971) and Freddy II (1973–1976) were experimental robots built in the Department of Machine Intelligence and Perception (later Department of Artificial Intelligence, now part of the School of Informatics at the University of Ed ...

* George * Robop *

Shadow Hand A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two- dimensional silhouett ...

* Silver Swan * Talisman UUV *

Wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is mad ...

* Ameca

=Robots from Canada

= * ANAT AMI-100 * ANATROLLER ARE-100 * ANATROLLER ARI-100 * ANATROLLER ARI-50 * ANATROLLER Dusty Duct Destroyer *

Canadarm2 The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, su ...

Dextre Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), is a two armed robot, or telemanipulator, which is part of the Mobile Servicing System on the International Space Station (ISS), and does repairs that would otherwise r ...

* hitchBOT

=Robots from China

= * FemiSapien * Meinü robot * RoboSapien * Robosapien v2 * RS Media * Sanbot robot * Xianxingzhe * Xiaoyi (Robot)

=Robots from Croatia

= *

DOK-ING DOK-ING d.o.o. is a Croatian company which manufactures electric vehicles, unmanned multi-purpose vehicles and robotic systems, established in 1992. History The electric motors for their vehicles are largely supplied by the Pula-based company ...

EOD * TIOSS

=Robots from Czech Republic

= * SyRoTek

=Robots from France

= * Air-Cobot – collaborative mobile robot able to inspect aircraft during maintenance operations * Digesting Duck *

Jessiko Jessiko is a long autonomous robot fish developed by French start-up Robotswim, located in Palaiseau, Paris area. History Jessiko project was launched in 2005 by Christophe Tiraby, a French engineer. In March 2009, Christophe Tiraby founded ...

Nabaztag Nabaztag ( Armenian for "hare", նապաստակ (''napastak'')) is a Wi-Fi enabled ambient electronic device in the shape of a rabbit, invented by Rafi Haladjian and Olivier Mével, and manufactured by the company Violet. Nabaztag was design ...

* Nao

=Robots from Germany

= * BionicKangaroo – biomimetic robot model designed by Festo * Care-Providing Robot FRIEND *

LAURON LAURON is a six-legged walking robot, which is being developed at the FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik in Germany. The mechanics and the movements of the robot are biologically-inspired, mimicking the stick insect Carausius Morosus. The developm ...

* Marvin

=Robots from Italy

= *

iCub iCub is a 1 metre tall open source robotics humanoid robot testbed for research into human cognition and artificial intelligence. It was designed by the RobotCub Consortium of several European universities and built by Italian Institute o ...

– * IsaacRobot *

WalkMan Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for ...

* Leonardo's robot

=Robots from Japan

= *

AIBO AIBO (''stylized aibo, Artificial Intelligence Robot'', homonymous with , "pal" or "partner" in Japanese) is a series of robotic dogs designed and manufactured by Sony. Sony announced a prototype Aibo in mid-1998, and the first consumer model w ...

* ASIMO * EMIEW * EMIEW 2 *

Enon Enon may refer to: Places United States *Enon, Kentucky *Enon, Moniteau County, Missouri * Enon, St. Charles County, Missouri *Enon, North Carolina *Enon, Ohio *Enon Valley, Pennsylvania *Enon, Virginia *Enon, West Virginia Elsewhere * Ænon, w ...

* Evolta *

Gakutensoku Gakutensoku (學天則, Japanese for "learning from the laws of nature"), the first robot to be built in the East, was created in Osaka in the late 1920s. The robot was designed and manufactured by biologist Makoto Nishimura (1883–1956, fat ...

HAL 5 The Hybrid Assistive Limb (also known as HAL) is a powered exoskeleton suit developed by Japan's Tsukuba University and the robotics company Cyberdyne. It is designed to support and expand the physical capabilities of its users, particularly pe ...

HOAP The HOAP series robots are an advanced humanoid robot platform manufactured by Fujitsu Automation in Japan. HOAP is an abbreviation for "Humanoid for Open Architecture Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture i ...

* Ibuki * KHR-1 *

Omnibot The Omnibot (オムニボット) is a toy robot originally manufactured by Tomy in the mid-1980s. The name then came to apply to the successful line of robots manufactured by the company. The initial Omnibot was announced with expectations of rest ...

Plen PLEN is a small desktop toy humanoid robot that can replicate complex human movements. It is controlled remotely by use of a Bluetooth enabled phone. When programmed, it is able to use a skateboard, rollerskates, pick up, kick and throw small thi ...

* QRIO * R.O.B. *

SCARA The SCARA is a type of industrial robot An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include robo ...

* Toyota Partner Robot * Wakamaru

=Robots from Mexico

= * Don Cuco El Guapo

=Robots from the Netherlands

= * Adelbrecht *

Flame A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density the ...

* Phobot *

Senster The Senster was a work of robotic art created by Edward Ihnatowicz. It was commissioned by Philips to be exhibited in the Evoluon, in Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of N ...

=Robots from Russia (or former Soviet Union)

= *

Lunokhod 1 ''Lunokhod 1'' ( Russian: Луноход-1 ("Moonwalker 1"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 203 ("Device 8EL No. 203")) was the first of two robotic lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program. The ...

Lunokhod 2 ''Lunokhod 2'' (russian: Луноход-2 ("Moonwalker 2"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 204 ("Device 8EL No. 204")) was the second of two unmanned lunar rovers that landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of the Lunokhod prog ...

* Teletank

=Robots from South Korea

= *

Albert Hubo Albert HUBO is a humanoid robot, based on the HUBO HUBO ( ko, 휴보; designated KHR-3) is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KA ...

* EveR-1 *

HUBO HUBO ( ko, 휴보; designated KHR-3) is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and released on January 6, 2005. According to Hub ...

* MAHRU * Musa

=Robots from Spain

= * Maggie *

REEM REEM is the latest prototype humanoid robot built by PAL Robotics in Spain. It is a 1.70 m high humanoid robot with 22 degrees of freedom, with a mobile base with wheels, allowing it to move at 4 km/hour. The upper part of the robot consists of a t ...

* Tico

=Robots from Switzerland

= * Alice mobile robot – * E-puck mobile robot – * Pocketdelta robot – *

Shameer shami robot Shameer may refer to: * Shameer Aziq, Singapore international footballer * Shameer Mon, former Indian athlete * Shameer Muhammed, Indian film editor and producer * Shameer Rasooldeen, Sri Lankan business person, journalist and a television news anch ...

–

=Robots from the United States

= * Albert One – * Allen – *

ATHLETE An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

– *

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

– * Baxter – * Ballbot – * avbotz Baracuda XIV – * Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton – *

BigDog BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped military robot that was created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was funded by DARPA, but the ...

– *

Boe-Bot BOE–Bot is short for Board of Education robot. It is the trade name of a robot kit that is used in junior high, high school and college robotics classes. It consists of a main circuit board (the Board of Education) and breadboard, a plug–in B ...

– * CISBOT – * Coco – * Cog – *

Crusher A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust. Crushers may be used to reduce the size, or change the form, of waste materials so they can be more easily disposed of or recycled, or to redu ...

– *

Dragon Runner Dragon Runner is a military robot built for urban combat. At 20 pounds (9 kg) it is light enough to be carried and thrown. The original project was funded by the United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in conjunction with Carneg ...

– * EATR – *

Elektro Elektro is the nickname of a robot built by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in its Mansfield, Ohio facility between 1937 and 1938. Seven feet tall (2.1 m), weighing 265 pounds (120.2 kg), humanoid in appearance, he could walk by voice ...

– *

Entomopter An Entomopter is an aircraft that flies using the wing-flapping aerodynamics of an insect. The word is derived from ''entomo'' (meaning insect: as in entomology) + ''pteron'' (meaning wing). Entomopters are type of ornithopter, which is the broade ...

– * Haile – *

Hardiman Hardiman was the first attempt to build a practical powered exoskeleton, by General Electric between 1965 and 1971. The machine was intended to allow the wearer to lift loads of 1500 pounds (680 kg) with ease. The project was led by the ...

– *

HERO A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

– *

Johns Hopkins Beast The Johns Hopkins Beast was a mobile automaton, an early pre- robot, built in the 1960s at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The machine had a rudimentary intelligence and the ability to survive on its own. As it wandered t ...

– * Kismet – * Leonardo – * LOPES – * LORAX – *

Nomad 200 A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In t ...

– *

Nomad rover The Nomad rover is an unmanned vehicle designed as a test for such a vehicle to ride on other planets. From June 15 to July 31 of 1997 on a mission, Carnegie Mellon University deployed the robotic rover Nomad to traverse the Atacama Desert of Nor ...

– * Octobot (robot) – *

Opportunity rover ''Opportunity'', also known as MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B) or MER-1, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until 2018. ''Opportunity'' was operational on Mars for sols (). Launched on July 7, 2003, as part of NASA' ...

– *

Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly The PUMA (''Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly'', or ''Programmable Universal Manipulation Arm'') is an industrial robotic arm developed by Victor Scheinman at pioneering robot company Unimation. Initially developed for General Motor ...

– * Push the Talking Trash Can – * RB5X – *

– *

Shakey the Robot Shakey the Robot was the first general-purpose mobile robot able to reason about its own actions. While other robots would have to be instructed on each individual step of completing a larger task, Shakey could analyze commands and break them down ...

– * Sojourner – *

Spirit rover Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids ...

– *

Turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...

– *

– * Zoë – *

Pleo PLEO is an animatronic pet dinosaur toy manufactured by Innvo Labs, a company located in Hong Kong and Nevada. The toy has the appearance and (imagined) behavior of a week-old baby '' Camarasaurus'' dinosaur. It was designed by Caleb Chung, th ...

–

=Robots from Vietnam

= *

TOPIO TOPIO ("TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot") is a bipedal humanoid robot designed to play table tennis against a human being. It has been developed since 2005 by TOSY, a robotics firm in Vietnam. It was publicly demonstrated at the Tokyo International ...

–

=International robots

= *

European Robotic Arm The European Robotic Arm (ERA) is a robotic arm that is attached the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) of the International Space Station. Launched to the ISS in July 2021; it is the first robotic arm that is able to work on the Russian Segment of ...

– *

Curiosity Rover ''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and ...

for

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigati ...

space mission –

Fictional robots by region

=Fictional robots from the United Kingdom

From British literature

HAL 9000 HAL 9000 is a fictional artificial intelligence character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's '' Space Odyssey'' series. First appearing in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', HAL ( Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic compute ...

''(

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

)'' –

From British radio

Marvin the Paranoid Android Marvin the Paranoid Android is a fictional character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship ''Heart of Gold''. Originally built as one of many failed prototypes of Sir ...

''(

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...

)'' –

From British television

Kryten Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf''. The name ''Kryten'' is a reference to the head butler in the J.M. Barrie play '' The Admirable Crichton''. Originally referred to as a Series III mec ...

''(

Rob Grant Robert Grant is an English comedy writer, television producer and co-creator of ''Red Dwarf''. Since ''Red Dwarf'', Grant has written two television series, ''The Strangerers'' and '' Dark Ages'', and four solo novels, his most recent being ''Fa ...

, Doug Naylor, David Ross,

Robert Llewellyn Robert Llewellyn (born 10 March 1956) is a British actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He plays the mechanoid Kryten in the sci-fi television sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and formerly presented the engineering gameshow '' Scrapheap Challenge''. ...

)'' – *

Talkie Toaster This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf''. Major characters Overview Details Alter egos Ace Rimmer Arnold "Ace" Rimmer is an alter-ego of Arnold Rimmer, also played by Chris Barrie. Ace first appears in the episo ...

– ''(

, Doug Naylor,

John Lenahan John Lenahan (born 1961 in Philadelphia, US) is an American illusionist and entertainer resident in the UK since 1984. A successful corporate entertainer, he came to greater fame as a result of a 1994 appearance on the BBC One show '' How Do Th ...

, David Ross)'' *

K-9 (Doctor Who) K9, occasionally written K-9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines ( dogs, the name being a pun on the pronunciation of "canine") in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', first appearing in 19 ...

– * Robotboy – ('' Bob Camp'', ''Charlie Bean'', ''Heath Kenny'', ''Prof Moshimo'', ''Laurence Bouvard'') * K.T., Eric and Desiree in

Robert's Robots ''Robert's Robots'' is a British children's television show that ran from 1973–1974 on ITV. Robert Sommerby is the inventor of the robots, and he lives with Aunt Millie. Cast The cast included John Clive, Nigel Pegram, Sylvester McCoy, Chris ...

=Fictional robots from the Czech Republich

From Czech plays

Daemon Daimon or Daemon (Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy. The wo ...

– ''(

)'' * Helena – ''(Karel Čapek)'' * Marius – ''(

)'' * Primus – ''(Karel Čapek)'' *

Radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

– ''(

)'' *

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla ha ...

– ''(Karel Čapek)''

=Fictional robots from France

From French ballets

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-� ...

– ''( Arthur Saint-Leon,

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets '' Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera '' Lakm ...

)''

From French literature

* Hadaly – ''(

Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (7 November 1838 – 19 August 1889) was a French symbolist writer. His family called him Mathias while his friends called him Villiers; he would also use the name Auguste wh ...

)''

=Fictional robots from Germany

From German film

* Maschinenmensch – ''(

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

, Thea von Harbou,

Brigitte Helm Brigitte Helm (born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm, 17 March 1906 – 11 June 1996) was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double named Futura, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film, ''Metropolis''. Early life and ...

)''

From German literature

* Maschinenmensch – ''( Thea von Harbou)'' * Olimpia – ''( E. T. A. Hoffmann)''

=Fictional robots from Japan

From anime

* Braiger – ''( Shigeo Tsubota,

Tokichi Aoki was a Japanese composer, music educator, conductor and clarinetist. Biography Setoguchi was born on 28 June 1868, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, in what is now the city of Tarumizu. In 1882, Setoguchi enlisted as a clarinetist in the militar ...

)'' * Combattler V – ''(

Tadao Nagahama __notoc__ Tadao Nagahama (長浜忠夫 ''Nagahama Tadao''; September 26, 1936 – January 14, 1980) was a Japanese director of both puppet shows and animation. He is best known as the director of Sunrise and Toei Company's Robot Romance Trilog ...

Saburo Yatsude () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...

)'' * Daimos – ''(

)'' * Groizer X – ''(

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

)'' *

Mechander Robo was an anime series aired in 1977 in Japan. There were 35 episodes aired at 25 minutes each. It is also known as ''Gasshin Sentai Mechander Robo'', ''Mekander'', ''Mechander'', ''Combiner Battle Team Mekander Robot'', ''Combining Squadron Me ...

– ''( Jaruhiko Kaido)'' *

Raideen is a super robot anime series. Produced by Tohokushinsha, Asahi News Agency and Soeisha (later renamed as Sunrise), it aired on Nihon Educational Television (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 March 1976, with a total of 50 episodes. The ...

– ''(

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the '' Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College ...

)'' * Trider G7 – ''(

Hajime Yatate is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff. Name "Hajime Yatate" is considered to be named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's '' Oku no Hosomichi'': Credited series This collective entity is credited as the ...

)'' * Voltes V – ''(

)''

From manga

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 ''tankōbon'' v ...

– ''(

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him suc ...

)'' *

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and p ...

– ''(

Fujiko Fujio was a manga writing duo formed by Japanese manga artists and . They formed their partnership in 1951, and used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1954 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987, upon Fujimoto's illness. The pair was best known ...

)'' *

Getter Robo is a Japanese mecha media franchise created by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. An anime television series produced by Toei Animation was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974, to May 8, 1975, with a total of 51 episodes. The manga was seria ...

– ''(

Ken Ishikawa was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator (with Go Nagai) of the ''Getter Robo'' anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations. According to Nagai, he considered Ishikawa his greatest friend and all ...

)'' *

Grendizer , known as '' Grandizer'' in the United States, is a Japanese Super Robot anime television series and manga created by manga artist Go Nagai. It is the third entry in the '' Mazinger'' series, however it is non-canon due to '' Mazinger ...

– ''(

)'' *

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazi ...

– ''(

)'' * Tetsujin 28 – ''( Mitsuteru Yokoyama)''

=Fictional robots from the United States

From American comics

Amazo Amazo () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #30 (June 1960) as an adversary of the Jus ...

– ''(

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for ...

)'' * Annihilants – ''(

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

)''

From American film

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to a ...

– ''(

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

, Anthony Daniels)'' * ED-209 – ''(

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

, Craig Hayes,

Phil Tippett Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951) is an American movie director and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, ...

)'' * Fix-Its – ''(Burton Weinstein, Robert Cooper, Tony Hudson)'' *

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, ...

– ''(

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director and Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture for h ...

, Harry Bates,

Edmund H. North Edmund Hall North (March 12, 1911 – August 28, 1990) was an American screenwriter who shared an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola in 1970 for their script for ''Patton''. North wrote the screenplay for the 1951 s ...

, Lock Martin)'' * Johnny Five – ''(

Tim Blaney Timothy Patrick Blaney (born April 23, 1959) is an American puppeteer and voice actor. He has provided the voices for Frank the Pug in ''Men in Black (1997 film), Men in Black'', ''Men in Black II'', and ''Men in Black: International'', and the ...

, Syd Mead)'' *

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...

– ''(

, Kenny Baker,

Ben Burtt Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director and editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series, '' Invasion of the Bod ...

)'' *

Robby the Robot Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film ''Forbidden Planet''. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction films and television programs, which has given him the ...

– ''( Fred M. Wilcox,

Robert Kinoshita Robert Kinoshita (February 24, 1914 – December 9, 2014) was an American artist, art director, set and production designer who worked in the American film and television industries from the 1950s through the early 1980s. Biography Kinoshita wa ...

Frankie Darro Frankie Darro (born Frank Johnson, Jr.; December 22, 1917 – December 25, 1976) was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles ...

Marvin Miller Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players ...

)'' *

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton), who ...

– ''(

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

Gale Anne Hurd Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of Valhalla Entertainment (formerly Pacific Western Productions), and a former recording secretary for the Producers Guild of America. Early life H ...

)'' *WALL-E and EVE – ''(

Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's '' A Bug's Life'' (1998), directing ''Finding Nemo'' (2003) ...

, Elissa Knight)''

From American literature

Adam Link Adam Link is a fictional robot, made in the likeness of a man, who becomes self-aware, and the protagonist of several science fiction short stories written by Eando Binder, the pen name of Earl Andrew Binder and his brother, Otto Binder. The st ...

– ''(

Eando Binder Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando nam ...

)'' *

Gnut Gort is a fictional humanoid robot that appeared first in the 1951 20th Century Fox American science fiction film '' The Day the Earth Stood Still'' and later in its 2008 remake. His depiction varies between film adaptations, however, the origi ...

– ''( Harry Bates)'' * Robbie – ''(

)'' *

The Steam Man of the Prairies ''The Steam Man of the Prairies'' by Edward S. Ellis was the first U.S. science fiction dime novel and archetype of the Frank Reade series. It is one of the earliest examples of the so-called "Edisonade" genre. Ellis was a prolific 19th-century a ...

– ''( Edward S. Ellis)'' * Tik-Tok – ''(

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not inclu ...

)''

From American television

* Bender Bending Rodriguez – ''(

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip '' Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), '' F ...

David X. Cohen David Samuel Cohen (born July 13, 1966), better known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He began working on ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', has written for ''The Simpsons'', and served as the head writer, showrunner and executive pro ...

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on '' Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible' ...

)'' *Bobert – ''(

Ben Bocquelet Benjamin Bocquelet (born June 27, 1980) is a French-British animator, writer, director and producer, best known as the creator of the hit Cartoon Network animated series ''The Amazing World of Gumball.'' He was also the director of a short film ...

, Kerry Shale)'' * Cambot –

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

, Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo ''(

Joel Hodgson Joel Hodgson (born February 20, 1960) is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K'') and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson. In 2007, ''MST3K'' was list ...

, Trace Beaulieu,

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced the r ...

Josh Weinstein Josh Weinstein (born May 5, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans School; Weins ...

, Jim Mallon, Patrick Brantseg)'' *

Data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

– ''(

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series '' Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and '' S ...

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role fo ...

)'' *

Grounder ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'' is an animated series that was based on the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series produced by Sega of America, DIC Animation City, Bohbot Entertainment and the Italian studio Reteitalia S.p.A. in associati ...

and Scratch – ''(Phil Hayes,

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and '' Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', ''Transforme ...

)'' *GIR – ''(

Jhonen Vasquez Jhonen C. Vasquez (; born September 1, 1974) is an American cartoonist, animator, screenwriter, music video director, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the comic book ''Johnny the Homicidal Maniac''—along with its spin-off comics ...

, Rosearik Rikki Simons) '' * Jenny Wakeman – ''(

Rob Renzetti Robert John Renzetti is an American animator and author. Renzetti is known for creating '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' and the ''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' series '' Mina and the Count'' for Nickelodeon, directing ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''The Powerpu ...

Janice Kawaye Janice Hiromi Kawaye (born April 4, 1970) is an American voice actress known for her roles as Jenny Wakeman in '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'', and Lysithea in the '' Fire Emblem'' series. Early life Kawaye was born in Los Angeles, California ...

) '' *

Robot B-9 The Robot Model- B-9, also known simply as the Robot, is a fictional character in the television series ''Lost in Space''. His full designation was only occasionally mentioned on the show. History Although a machine endowed with superhuman str ...

– (''

Irwin Allen Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen, June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film gen ...

'',

, Bob May,

Dick Tufeld Richard Norton Tufeld (December 11, 1926 – January 22, 2012) was an American actor, announcer, narrator and voice actor from the late 1940s until the early 21st century. He was a well-known presence on television as an announcer, but his ...

) *XR – ('' Larry Miller'')

History of robotics

History of robots

Future of robotics

Artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the ability of an intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of some artificial intelligence research and a common topic in science fict ...

Soft robotics Soft robotics is a subfield of robotics that concerns the design, control, and fabrication of robots composed of compliant materials, instead of rigid links. In contrast to rigid-bodied robots built from metals, ceramics and hard plastics, the ...

Robotics development and development tools

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed und ...

– current platform of choice for small-scale robotic experimentation and

physical computing Physical computing involves interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them. While this definition is broad enough to encompass systems such as smart automotive traffic control systems or factory automation processes, it ...

. * CAD/CAM ( computer-aided design and

computer-aided manufacturing Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) also known as computer-aided modeling or computer-aided machining is the use of software to control machine tools in the manufacturing of work pieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most ...

) – these systems and their data may be integrated into robotic operations. *

Cleanroom A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space, which maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientif ...

– environment that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors; often used in robot assembly. * Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio *

Player Project The Player Project (formerly the Player/Stage Project) is a project to create free software for research into robotics and sensor systems. Its components include the ''Player'' network server and the ''Stage'' robot platform simulators. Althoug ...

Robot Operating System Robot Operating System (ROS or ros) is an open-source robotics middleware suite. Although ROS is not an operating system (OS) but a set of software frameworks for robot software development, it provides services designed for a heterogeneous comp ...

Gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th ce ...

, a

robotics simulator A robotics simulator is a simulator used to create an application for a physical robot without depending on the physical machine, thus saving cost and time. In some case, such applications can be transferred onto a physical robot (or rebuilt) with ...

Robotics principles

– intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. *

– extent to which a robot can move itself; expressed in terms of

Cartesian coordinates A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured i ...

(x, y, and z) and angular movements ( yaw, pitch, and roll). * Emergent behaviour – complicated resultant behaviour that emerges from the repeated operation of simple underlying behaviours. * Envelope (Space), Maximum – volume of space encompassing the maximum designed movements of all robot parts including the end-effector, workpiece, and attachments. *

Humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20 ...

– resembling a human being in form, function, or both. *

Roboethics Robot ethics, sometimes known as "roboethics", concerns ethical problems that occur with robots, such as whether robots pose a threat to humans in the long or short run, whether some ''uses'' of robots are problematic (such as in healthcare or as ...

Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story " Runaround" (included in the 1950 colle ...

– coined by the science fiction author

, one of the first serious considerations of the

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

and robopsychological aspects of robotics. * Tool Center Point (TCP) – origin of the tool coordinate system. *

Uncanny valley In aesthetics, the uncanny valley ( ja, 不気味の谷 ''bukimi no tani'') is a hypothesized relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The concept suggests that humanoid object ...

– hypothesized point at which humanoid robot behavior and appearance is so close to that of actual humans yet not precise or fully featured enough as to cause a sense of revulsion.

Robotics companies

Robotics organizations

FIRST First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) – organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields. It founded various robotics competitions for elementary and high school students. *

IEEE Robotics and Automation Society The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) is a professional society of the IEEE that supports the development and the exchange of scientific knowledge in the fields of robotics and automation, including applied and theoretical issues. ...

* Robotics Institute *

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as ...

Robotics competitions

Robot competition * National ElectroniX Olympiad * ABU Robocon *

BEST Robotics BEST (''Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology'') is a national six-week robotics competition in the United States held each fall, designed to help interest middle school and high school students in possible engineering careers. The games a ...

Botball Botball is an educational robotics program that focuses on engaging middle and high school aged students in team-oriented robotics competitions. Thousands of children and young adults participate in the Botball program. It has been active since 1 ...

DARPA Grand Challenge The DARPA Grand Challenge is a prize competition for American autonomous vehicles, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the most prominent research organization of the United States Department of Defense. Congress has authorized ...

– prize competition for American

autonomous vehicles Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control ...

, funded by the

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

, the most prominent research organization of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

. ** DARPA Grand Challenge (2004) ** DARPA Grand Challenge (2005) **

DARPA Grand Challenge (2007) The third driverless car competition of the DARPA Grand Challenge was commonly known as the DARPA Urban Challenge. It took place on November 3, 2007 at the site of the now-closed George Air Force Base (currently used as Southern California Log ...

DARPA Robotics Challenge The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) was a prize competition funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Held from 2012 to 2015, it aimed to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that could do "complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, ...

– prize competition funded by the US

. Held from 2012 to 2014, it aims to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that can do "complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments." ** Initial task requirements **# Drive a utility vehicle at the site **# Travel dismounted across rubble **# Remove debris blocking an entryway **# Open a door and enter a building **# Climb an industrial ladder and traverse an industrial walkway **# Use a tool to break through a concrete panel **# Locate and close a valve near a leaking pipe **# Connect a fire hose to a standpipe and turn on a valve ** Teams making the finals **# SCHAFT **# IHMC Robotics **# Tartan Rescue **# MIT **# RoboSimian **# Team TRACLabs **# WRECS **# TROOPER * Defcon Robot Contest * Duke Annual Robo-Climb Competition *

Eurobot Eurobot is an international robotics contest dedicated to universities and robotics clubs. History Eurobot, whose first edition took place in May 1998 in Paris was created by Nicolas Goldzahl (president of VM Productions) with the help of the ...

European Land-Robot Trial The European Land-Robot Trial (ELROB) is a European event which demonstrates the abilities of modern robots. The ELROB is not a competition, like the US DARPA Grand Challenge, but a pure demonstration of what European robotics is able to achiev ...

* FIRST Junior Lego League *

FIRST Lego League The ''FIRST'' LEGO League Challenge (formerly known as ''FIRST'' LEGO League) is an international competition organized by ''FIRST'' for elementary and middle school students (ages 9–14 in the United States and Canada, 9–16 elsewhere). Each y ...

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that wei ...

FIRST Tech Challenge FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other te ...

International Aerial Robotics Competition The International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC) began in 1991 on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and is the longest running university-based robotics competition in the world. Since 1991, collegiate teams with the backing o ...

* Micromouse *

RoboCup RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1996 by a group of university professors (including Hiroaki Kitano, Manuela M. Veloso, and Minoru Asada). The aim of the competition is to promote robotics and AI research by of ...

* Robofest *

RoboGames RoboGames (previously ROBOlympics) is an annual robot contest held in San Mateo, California. The last RoboGames was held April 27–29, 2018. On July 22, 2022, Robogames 2023 was announced for April 6-9, once again in San Mateo, California. Comp ...

RoboSub RoboSub is a competition whose goal is to advance the development of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) by challenging a new generation of engineers to perform realistic missions in an underwater environment. It was launched in 1997 and is co-spo ...

* Student Robotics * UAV Outback Challenge * World Robot Olympiad

People influential in the field of robotics

* Asimov, Isaac – science fiction author who coined the term "robotics", and wrote the three laws of robotics. * Čapek, Karel – Czech author who coined the term "

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

" in his 1921 play,

Rossum's Universal Robots ''R.U.R.'' is a 1920 science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. "R.U.R." stands for (Rossum's Universal Robots, a phrase that has been used as a subtitle in English versions). The play had its world premiere on 2 January 1921 in H ...

Robotics in popular culture

Droid Droid or DROID may refer to: * A robot, or specifically android (robot) Entertainment * Droid (band), an American metal band * ''Droid'' (film), a 1988 science fiction film * Droid (''Star Wars''), science fictional machines from the ''Star ...

* List of fictional cyborgs *

* List of fictional gynoids *

Real Robot Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as and , are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are ...

Super Robot Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as and , are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are ...

* Robot Hall of Fame * Waldo – a short story by

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

, that gave its name to a popular nickname for

References

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR)

International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR)

Robotics and Automation Society (RAS)
at

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

Robotics Network
at IET
Robotics Division
at

Robotics and Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech

Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon

Robotics at Imperial College London
{{Outline footer

-Robotics Robotics

Nature of robotics

Branches of robotics

Contributing fields

Related fields

Robots

Types of robots

By mode of locomotion

Robot components and design features

Specific robots

Real robots by region

=Robots from Australia

=Robots from Britain

=Robots from Canada

=Robots from China

=Robots from Croatia

=Robots from Czech Republic

=Robots from France

=Robots from Germany

=Robots from Italy

=Robots from Japan

=Robots from Mexico

=Robots from the Netherlands

=Robots from New Zealand

=Robots from Portugal

=Robots from Qatar

=Robots from Russia (or former Soviet Union)

=Robots from South Korea

=Robots from Spain

=Robots from Switzerland

=Robots from the United States

=Robots from Vietnam

=International robots

Fictional robots by region

=Fictional robots from the United Kingdom

=Fictional robots from the Czech Republich

=Fictional robots from France

=Fictional robots from Germany

=Fictional robots from Japan

=Fictional robots from the United States

History of robotics

Future of robotics

Robotics development and development tools

Robotics principles

Robotics companies

Robotics organizations

Robotics competitions

People influential in the field of robotics

Robotics in popular culture

See also

References

External links