what is a robot/what is not a robot

[fuzion22]

for my robotics paper, i'm specifying what is and what is not a robot. i've allready covered what is a robot, but for the average person to understand robotics, i'm trying to show examples of machines that are not robots so people don't get confused.  i need examples please. it would greatly help me out. thanks for your time.

[Admin]

for reference to your previous post: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=521.msg3025#msg3025

machines that arent robots? hmmmmm a crowbar. my bicycle. but not my stove. i think its safe to say that if it doesnt have a feedback mechanism (aka sensor and control loop), its not a robot.

[fuzion22]

stove? my general understanding is that a robot is a computer controlled machine that is capable of motion and uses sensors to interact with its environment?

how is a stove considered somewhat of a robot?

[Admin]

stoves, even the older ones, have temperature sensors.

you set it to a temperature, and it uses a feedback control loop to make sure it stays at that temperature. ovens, air conditioners, and refridgerators have this feature, too.

[Hal9000]

Does a robot neccessarily need electricity/computer control? After all, automatons seem to have some very robotic qualites........in my mind at least.

http://www.oldtoyz1.com/drummer%20automaton.jpg

It isn't maybe as black and white as it was maybe 10 years back, or more.

[Admin]

but they dont sense the environment any more than a watch does . . .

[annoyin_kid]

i reckon a robot is something that can respond to its environment and respond to do that by doing something.

i looked on wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot )and found this:

A robot is an artificial or virtual agent which in the physical form gives the appearance of being alive.

The artificial form (the physical agent) is an electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device or group of devices that can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks while interacting with its surrounding environment using sensors. A telerobot may act under the direct control of a human, such as the robotic arm on a space shuttle, or autonomously under the control of a programmed computer. Robots may be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for humans, such as radioactive waste clean-up, or may be used to automate mindless repetitive tasks that should be performed with more precision by a robot than by a human, such as automobile production.

The virtual form is a software-based agent.

Physical robots take on many different forms, ranging from humanoid, which mimic the human form and way of moving, to industrial, whose appearance is dictated by the function they are to perform. Robots can be grouped generally as mobile robots (eg. autonomous vehicles), manipulator robots (eg. industrial robots) and self reconfigurable robots, which can conform themselves to the task at hand. Robots may be controlled directly by a human, such as remotely-controlled bomb-disposal robots and robotic arms; or may act according to their own decision making ability, provided by artificial intelligence. However, the majority of robots fall in-between these extremes, being controlled by pre-programmed computers. Such robots may include feedback loops such that they can interact with their environment, but do not display actual intelligence. "Robot" is also used in a general sense to mean any machine that mimics the actions of a human (biomimicry), in the physical sense or in the mental sense.

[Hal9000]

but they dont sense the environment any more than a watch does . . .

So i'd say a watch is a robot.

[annoyin_kid]

So i'd say a watch is a robot.

no because it doesn't sense it's environment