Lecture

What is a Robot

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Description

This lecture explores the concept of robots, defined as mechatronic devices designed to automatically perform tasks imitating human actions. It covers various definitions from sources like Larousse, Wikipedia, and the Oxford English Dictionary, distinguishing robots from automatons. The lecture is provided by EPFL and Inria.

In MOOC

The Thymio robot as a tool for discovering digital science

This course is intended for anyone who wants to master the Thymio educational robot, but it is especially designed for primary and secondary school teachers who want to learn about this tool and use it in the classroom. It allows teachers to acquire the basics of computer science and robotics, by proposing adapted problem situations, and by providing pedagogical tracks for the animation in class. It responds to the new programs for the introduction of digital sciences in schools in France and Switzerland an

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Mechanical engineering

Robotics: Topics in robotics

Related concepts (18)

Robot

A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke human form, but most robots are task-performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive aesthetics.

Robotics

Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of electronics and communication, computer science and engineering. Robotics involves the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrates fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information engineering, mechatronics engineering, electronics, biomedical engineering, computer engineering, control systems engineering, software engineering, mathematics, etc.

Autonomous robot

An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. The first autonomous robots environment were known as Elmer and Elsie, which were constructed in the late 1940s by W. Grey Walter. They were the first robots in history that were programmed to "think" the way biological brains do and meant to have free will. Elmer and Elsie were often labeled as tortoises because of how they were shaped and the manner in which they moved. They were capable of phototaxis which is the movement that occurs in response to light stimulus.

Science fiction

Science fiction (sometimes shortened to SF or sci-fi) is a genre of speculative fiction, which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers.

Humanoid

A humanoid (ˈhjuːmənɔɪd; from English human and -oid "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it is now considered rare.

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