Scientists Say Tech

Scientists Say: Robot

These machines — by definition — get the job done

on rugged, reddish-brown terrain under a pinkish sky, a shiny metal rover stands beside a smaller drone-sized helicopter

NASA’s robotic explorer, the Perseverance rover, took this selfie on Mars in April 2021. In the background stands its robotic helicopter sidekick, Ingenuity.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

By Katie Grace Carpenter

Robot (noun, “ROW-bot”)

A robot is a physical machine built to carry out tasks on its own. Robots follow sets of coded instructions to get their jobs done. Those tasks can include everything from household chores to surgery.

Robots come in many sizes and designs. The term “robot” can refer to different kinds of machines among different people and different industries. Still, most robots share some common features.

Robots generally carry out tasks automatically and independently. This ability usually comes from a computer program. Programs give robots instructions for doing a task.  

Robots also sense things about what’s around them. They do this by carrying tools called sensors. Sensors might be thermometers, microphones or motion detectors.

Robots also interact with things around them. For example, robotic arms attached to space stations allow astronauts to make repairs without ever donning a spacesuit.

Many industries use robots. In manufacturing, robots can carry out repeated tasks on assembly lines. Robots attach wheels to cars or screw on toothpaste caps. Some restaurants even have burger-flipping and sushi-making robots at work in their kitchens. 

Robots also explore places too dangerous or difficult for humans to reach. They scout our deepest oceans as well as other planets. In 2011, NASA sent a robot named Curiosity to explore Mars. It has been sending data back to Earth since it landed in 2012. In 2021, the robot Perseverance joined it. Robotic aircraft and submarines — known as drones — can explore anything from backyards and battle zones to the deep sea.

Like robots, computer ‘bots’ carry out tasks. The difference is that ‘bots’ are just computer programs. Actual robots are physical machines.

In a sentence

A new robot pill contains a tiny spring-loaded needle that can deliver medication directly through the stomach lining.

Check out the full list of Scientists Say.

Power Words

More About Power Words

astronaut: Someone trained to travel into space for research and exploration.

bot: (short for web robot) A computer program designed to appear that its actions come from some human. The goal is to have it interact with people or perform automated tasks such as finding and sharing online information through social-media accounts.

computer program: A set of instructions that a computer uses to perform some analysis or computation. The writing of these instructions is known as computer programming.

data: Facts and/or statistics collected together for analysis but not necessarily organized in a way that gives them meaning. For digital information (the type stored by computers), those data typically are numbers stored in a binary code, portrayed as strings of zeros and ones.

manufacturing: The making of things, usually on a large scale.

Mars: The fourth planet from the sun, just one planet out from Earth. Like Earth, it has seasons and moisture. But its diameter is only about half as big as Earth’s.

NASA: Short for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Created in 1958, this U.S. agency has become a leader in space research and in stimulating public interest in space exploration. It was through NASA that the United States sent people into orbit and ultimately to the moon. It also has sent research craft to study planets and other celestial objects in our solar system.

physical: (adj.) A term for things that exist in the real world, as opposed to in memories or the imagination. It can also refer to properties of materials that are due to their size and non-chemical interactions (such as when one block slams with force into another).

planet: A large celestial object that orbits a star but unlike a star does not generate any visible light.

robot: A machine that can sense its environment, process information and respond with specific actions. Some robots can act without any human input, while others are guided by a human.

sensor: A device that picks up information on physical or chemical conditions — such as temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, humidity, pH, light intensity or radiation — and stores or broadcasts that information. Scientists and engineers often rely on sensors to inform them of conditions that may change over time or that exist far from where a researcher can measure them directly.

tool: An object that a person or other animal makes or obtains and then uses to carry out some purpose such as reaching food, defending itself or grooming.

About Katie Grace Carpenter

Katie Grace Carpenter is a science writer and curriculum developer, with degrees in biology and biogeochemistry. She also writes science fiction and creates science videos. Katie lives in the U.S. but also spends time in Sweden with her husband, who’s a chef.

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