Real-World Robots
Real robots use computers to control moving parts for physical jobs. Examples include robot vacuums, factory arms and doctor-controlled surgery arms. Robots use software and are not living things.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe a robot as a machine whose computer controls moving parts to do a physical job
- Name at least three real robots and describe their jobs
- Explain that robots are not living things with human feelings, even when software selects an action
1 · Read
You have learned that computers follow instructions. A robot is a machine whose computer controls moving parts to do a physical job. People write its software, the instructions its computer uses. Some robots use sensors to detect things around them.
A robot vacuum moves across a floor and collects dust. A factory robot arm can join metal car parts by welding. A surgery robot arm helps a doctor move tools with care. In this example, the doctor guides the arm with controls.
Robots are not alive and do not have human feelings. Software can use sensor information to select an action. Some robots also follow a person's controls. Selecting an action does not make a robot a person.
A robot's computer controls moving parts for a job. It uses software and may follow a person's controls. Robots are not alive.
Match a robot to a job was written for this dataset.
More to read
Match a robot to a job
A dusty floor and a car factory need different helpers. A robot vacuum travels over the floor to collect dust. A factory robot arm can hold tools that weld metal parts together.
A surgery robot arm has another job. A doctor can use controls to guide its tools during an operation. Being a robot does not mean working without a person's controls.
For each robot, ask two questions: What moves? What job does that movement help with? The computer controls the moving parts using software.
Sensors can give the computer more information. Suppose a vacuum's rule says to turn away when it detects a chair. That rule helps us predict its next move. Without knowing its rule, we should not assume what every vacuum will do.
These machines can carry out tasks without being alive or having human feelings.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.