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Robots: Facts about machines that can walk, talk or do tasks that humans can't (or won't)
Discover interesting facts about what defines robots, what they can do, and if they'll replace humans.
QUICK FACTS
Origin of the word "robot"': The 1920 play "Rossum's Universal Robots," by Karel Čapek
The first robot: Unimate, created in 1954 by American George Devol
The largest humanoid robot: Mononofu, a humanoid vehicle that is 27.75 feet (8.46 meters) tall
The smallest humanoid robot: Mitsuya Tatsuhiko's tiny humanoid robot, which measures just 2.27 inches (57.676 millimeters) tall
The most powerful robot: Titan, a robot arm that can lift 2,220 pounds (1,000 kilograms)
Robots are machines that can automatically perform both simple and complex actions. They are often programmed by a computer, but there's no single definition of a robot. Robots include a wide variety of machines, such as the giant arms used to make cars, automatic vacuum cleaners, humanoid machines that look like people and do backflips, and robotic dogs.
As technology develops and gets more powerful, we're seeing more advanced robots. In fact, some robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can have normal conversations.
Robots have been around for decades, and you're likely reading this article on a computer or a phone that may have been assembled by a robot.
5 fun facts about robots
- The definition of robotics is older than actual robots. In fact, the ancient Greek writer Homer described "intelligent machines" such as wheeled tripod machines in "The Iliad" around 2,800 years ago.
- Scientists have made robot "animals," that can swim like fish, hop like kangaroos, scuttle like cockroaches or scale walls.
- Robots have been designed to do almost every task people do. For instance, the SwagBot herds cows, Proteus delivers Amazon packages, and the humanoid RoboThespian mops floors and mows the lawn.
- A robot has become a citizen. The humanoid robot Sophia was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia in October 2017.
- NASA's Voyagers 1 and 2 robotic spacecraft have left the solar system and entered interstellar space in 2012 and 2018, respectively. That means Voyager 1, at 15.6 billion miles (25.6 billion kilometers) away from Earth and counting, is the most distant man-made object in the known universe.
Everything you need to know about robots
What are robots?
At heart, robots are programmable machines. Some are simple, while others are powered by advanced AI systems that can respond somewhat naturally to questions from humans and carry out tasks on their own.
Most experts say there are nine types of robots:
Industrial robots are used in manufacturing and assembly lines and are programmed to carry out specific tasks.
Collaborative robots work with humans, in tasks like manufacturing or testing.
Service robots help deliver things like medicine or perform customer service.
Mobile robots can navigate spaces to transport things in warehouses or to move supplies.
Autonomous mobile robots are similar but can navigate more intelligently and can quickly adapt to difficult environments.
Nanobots are tiny, microscopic robots that are used mostly in research. But in theory, and in some experimental operations, they are able to travel inside the human body to deliver medicine or perform treatments in specific parts of the body.
Humanoid robots have a roughly human body shape and can mimic human movements. One example of this can include another type of robot: educational robots that are used to aid learning in classrooms.
Lastly, there are medical robots that can help perform surgery, do remote consultations, or help care for patients.
What's the most advanced robot?
Ameca may be the world's most human-like robot. Designed by Engineered Arts, Ameca has a "skeleton" powered by air pressure but uses a squishy material for its human-like face. This allows Ameca to smile, frown or use other facial expressions when answering questions. Ameca can talk to people in a natural-sounding way and perform movements in response.
Other advanced robots include Hanson Robotics' Sophia, which can hold realistic conversations with people. Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot also has impressive abilities: The two-legged robot can run, jump and even perform backflips. Atlas is designed to navigate difficult terrain so it can perform search-and-rescue operations or complete construction tasks.
What's the most famous robot?
One of the most famous real-world robots is arguably Sophia. Sophia has been interviewed on television and was made a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Other famous robots include Spot, the Boston Dynamics dog look-alike, and SoftBank's Pepper, a perky robot assistant with a friendly face and a chest-mounted screen that works as a hotel concierge. And Robonaut 2, designed by NASA and General Motors, is the first humanoid robot to enter space; the astrobot worked as an assistant on the International Space Station.
R2-D2, the astromech droid from the "Star Wars" movies, may be one of the most famous robots in fiction. This little droid emitted iconic bleeps and whistles in a galaxy, far, far away and was joined by the equally famous humanoid robot C3-PO.
What is AI in robotics?
AI is often used to help robots "learn" how to do their tasks. A robot doesn't need AI to exist, but AI can make robots smarter and more independent.
AI is what gives robots their "vision" to sense what's around them.
A technology called generative AI allows robots to respond to different questions and requests. Examples of these AI include Google Gemini and ChatGPT that can respond to questions like "can you make me a picture of a dog on the moon?" and create that image for you.
Robotics provides the body for a robot, while AI provides the brain. However, most robots don't use AI yet, but rather traditional computer programming to tell the robot how to interact with its environment.
Can robots replace human workers?
Robots have already replaced humans in some factories. For example, robots power assembly lines for making cars and other products. As more robots are used to build things, millions of people could lose their manufacturing jobs.
At the same time, when more tasks become automatic, that usually leads to new jobs. For example, robots need software developers to create code to run the robots and technicians to maintain them. Overall, many experts say the benefits of using robots outweigh the harms. Robots are being designed to do dangerous tasks, like searching for people after earthquakes, or to help make life easier for humans by collecting their groceries, cleaning their homes, or helping take care of sick people.
Robot pictures
Discover more about robots
—8 of the weirdest robots in the world right now
—12 pivotal moments in the history of robotics, from Isaac Asimov to self-driving cars
—The 7 most disturbing humanoid robots
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Roland Moore-Colyer is a freelance writer for Live Science and managing editor at consumer tech publication TechRadar, running the Mobile Computing vertical. At TechRadar, one of the U.K. and U.S.’ largest consumer technology websites, he focuses on smartphones and tablets. But beyond that, he taps into more than a decade of writing experience to bring people stories that cover electric vehicles (EVs), the evolution and practical use of artificial intelligence (AI), mixed reality products and use cases, and the evolution of computing both on a macro level and from a consumer angle.
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