ROBOT

ROBOT This article is about mechanical robots. For other

uses of the term, see robot (disambiguation). For software agents, see Bot.

ASIMO (2000) at the Expo 2005, a humanoid robot Articulated welding robots used in a factory A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent

that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming.[citation needed] Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled. The word robot first appeared in the play Rossum's Universal Robots by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in 1920

Complex mechanisms and automata date back to ancient Egypt and were experimented with by varying thinkers over the centuries including Leonardo Da Vinci, Jacques de Vaucanson, and the Japanese Karakuri zui (Illustrated Machinery) in 1796. The 19th and early 20th century saw the development of remote and radio-controlled devices and even machines that tried to mimic more human-like features. The first electronic autonomous robots were created by William Grey Walter in Bristol, England, in 1948. The first digital and programmable robot was invented by George Devol in 1954.

Robots are used in an increasingly wide variety of tasks such as vacuuming floors, mowing lawns, cleaning drains, building cars, in warfare, and in tasks that are too expensive or too dangerous to be performed by humans such as exploring outer space or at the bottom of the sea.Robots range from humanoids such as ASIMO and TOPIO to Nano robots, Swarm robots, Industrial robots, military robots, mobile and servicing robots. The branch of technology that deals with robots is robotics.

The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to as bots.[1] There is no consensus on which machines qualify as robots but there is general agreement among experts, and the public, that robots tend to do some or all of the following: move around, operate a mechanical limb, sense and manipulate their environment, and exhibit intelligent behavior — especially behavior which mimics humans or other animals.