robot

Introduction
Industrial robots
Robot toys
Robotics research
The future

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm as the robot Maria, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge stand in a dramatic scene from Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, with a large pentagram in the background.

Learn about Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

A red and black humanoid robot lies on its back on a blue padded surface, appearing damaged.

Humanoid robot wearing a red martial arts uniform and a number 115 bib performs a wide martial arts stance on a blue indoor sports floor.

See how mechatronics help engineers create high-tech products such as industrial robots

How does a robotic pipeline for bacterial genetics help scientists at University College Cork?

Learn about an origami robot that forms itself, execute a variety of tasks, and then disappears by degradation

At a Glance

robot summary

Related Questions

How are industrial robotic arms different from humanoid robots?
How can automation change the kinds of jobs available in factories?
How can machine learning help a robot adapt to changing conditions?
How can programmable robots make several styles of products in a factory?
How can robotics improve productivity and product quality?
How did Heron of Alexandria’s automatic devices work?
How did Isaac Asimov popularize the term robotics?
How did Joseph Engelberger help bring Unimate to factories?
How did MIT’s Kismet robot respond to people’s speech and facial expressions?
How did Rodney Brooks design robots that connected sensor inputs directly to motor actions?
How do Mars rovers navigate when messages from Earth take a long time to arrive?
How do industrial robot arms use links and joints to move?
How do lidar systems help robots measure their surroundings?
How do robots help inspect manufactured parts for quality?
How do robots load and unload machines during manufacturing?
How do robots move materials between conveyor belts in factories?
How do robots perform spot welding on automobile bodies?
How do sensors help robots detect their surroundings?
How does Masahiro Mori’s uncanny valley theory explain reactions to humanoid robots?
How does a robot control system use sensor information to direct movement?
How does a robot gripper or other end effector help it complete a task?
How does a robot’s mechanical structure affect its movement?
How does computer vision help robots identify objects and inspect products?
What are Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics?
What is an android robot?
What is the difference between a robot arm-and-body section and a robot wrist?
What job did the first Unimate robot perform at a General Motors factory?
What types of manufacturing jobs are well suited to industrial robots?
When are hydraulic actuators used instead of electric motors in robots?
Which main parts do most robots need to operate?
Who invented the Unimate industrial robot?
Why are robots often used for spray painting and other hazardous factory tasks?
Why are snap-fit parts easier for robots to assemble than screws and nuts?
Why did Isaac Asimov create the Three Laws of Robotics for his stories?
Why do factory robots need specially designed grippers for some parts?
Why do robot camera systems sometimes struggle in unplanned environments?
Why do safety and cybersecurity matter for autonomous robots?
What is artificial intelligence?
What is robotics?
Who coined the term robot?
What are the main components of a robot?
What is a computer?
Who invented the computer?
What can computers do?
Are computers conscious?
When did science begin?
Where was science invented?

Technology Engineering Mechanical Engineering

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External Websites

The Royal Society Publishing - Philosophical Transactions B - Artificial evolution of robot bodies and control: on the interaction between evolution, learning and culture
Harvard Business Review - What Is a Robot, Anyway?
MTSU Pressbooks Network - Robotics and Controls Engineering - Industrial Robots
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - A history of robots: from science fiction to surgical robotics
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Robot
ABC listen - Future Tense - Robots in the home Â– friend or foe?
MIT OpenCourseWare - Robot Mechanisms

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

robot - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
robot - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

robot

technology

Written by

Hans Peter Moravec

Principal research scientist, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Author of Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind.

Hans Peter Moravec

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 6, 2026 •History

robot, any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner. By extension, robotics is the engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, and operation of robots. The concept of artificial humans predates recorded history (see automaton), but the modern term robot derives from the Czech word robota (“forced labor” or “serf”), used in Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (1920). The play’s...

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