Robot vs. Robotics
“the box is locked! the lights are on! it’s robot fighting time!”
Classic example of this problem; at Robogames 2008 I was flying around a Wowwee dragonfly, a fun remote controlled toy – not a robot by any means, and a TV crew notices it. They come over to ask me about it, and then the big question came. They asked “What is a robot?”
The classic question has quite a few answers and is still hotly debated. So it’s difficult to give a quick, pat, simple answer when you’re pressed for one.
Robot – The word comes from Josef Čapek and comes from the Czech word “robota” which roughly means boring work. A robot by this early definition was a human analog that did this drudgery for humans.
In modern terms Robot has come to mean quite a bit more. Robots are expected to be able to:
- Move in their environment
- Sense their environment
- Manipulate objects
- And do so in a way that seems intelligent
Intelligence is where it becomes tricky. Drivers and builders can manipulate a robot to behave intelligently, but that doesn’t mean the robot itself is smart and self-aware.
Having seen quite a few robots and having built them myself, I have a problem with this modern definition. It implies artificial intelligence which is still out of reach for humans to create at this point. With this definition in mind, often a pre-programmed mechanical device will be called a robot, and R/C combat vehicles or toys won’t be considered robots.
This is where I think a second category comes into play; where something mechanical in nature that expresses these behaviors, but is not a robot, can be considered robotic instead. Take combat robots as an example with the definition:
- Move in their environment (check no problems here)
- Have some way of sensing their environment most of the time not, but a select few have had ways of sensing objects
- Ability to manipulate objects (heck yah heavyweight robot flying your way!)
- Do so in a way that seems intelligent.
Here’s the clincher; does it seem intelligent when observed? Umm, yeah, a person is driving it remotely and most builders and drivers are pretty smart. So what’s the difference between someone controlling a robotic device in real time opposed to someone controlling a robotic device with pre-programmed movements? It seems to me the only difference is when the human puts their intelligence thought into the machines actions. That’s a fine line if you ask me.
