“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.