A robot is a mechanical device that can perform preprogrammed physical tasks. A robot may act under the direct control of a human (eg. the robotic arm of the space shuttle) or autonomously under the control of a pre-programmed computer. Robots may be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for humans to implement directly (e.g. the space shuttle arm) or may be used to automate repetitive tasks that can be performed more cheaply by a robot than by the employment of a human (e.g. automobile production).

The word robot is also used to describe an intelligent mechanical device in the form of a human. This form of robot (culturally referred to as androids) is common in science fiction stories. However, such robots are yet to become common-place in reality and much development is yet required in the field of artificial intelligence before they even begin to approach the robots of science fiction.

Finally,bots are sometimes referred to as robots, because they perform mundane, repetitive tasks.

Definition

The word robot is used to refer to a wide range of machines, the common feature of which is that they are all capable of movement and can be used to perform physical tasks. Robots take on many different forms, ranging from humanoid, which mimic the human form and way of moving, to industrial, whose appearance is dictated by the function they are to perform. Robots can be grouped generally as mobile robots (eg. autonomous vehicles), manipulator robots (eg. industrial robots) and Self reconfigurable robots, which can conform themselves to the task at hand.

Robots may be controlled directly by a human, such as remotely-controlled bomb-disposal robots, robotic arms, or shuttles, or may act according to their own decision making ability, provided by artificial intelligence. However, the majority of robots fall in-between these extremes, being controlled by pre-programmed computers. Such robots may include feedback loops such that they can interact with their environment, but do not display actual intelligence.

The word robot is also used in a general sense to mean any machine which mimics the actions of a human (biomimicry), in the physical sense or in the mental sense.

The word robot comes from the Czech word robotnik, or worker, and robota, industrial labor.