Chapter 17. Robotics 101

As soon as we say the word robot, thoughts of science fiction start to surround us. We may recall the cartoon serial The Jetsons or think of the movie Terminator. But, as a matter of fact, robots as a species do not belong to science fiction anymore. They are as real as they can get. Look around you and point out any object; it probably wouldn't have been made without a robot. The modern era has been shaped by robots.

But then, you can also take a step back and think, wait a minute, aren't the things he is talking about called machines and not robots? Well, yes, you are very correct, yet very mistaken at the same time. It is cartoons and science fiction that have imparted an image of a human-like robot that is called a robot. But robots are much more than that.

Unfortunately, we do not have a concrete, universally agreed definition of robots, but, as I like to say, Any machine capable of performing physical as well as intellectual tasks can be called a robot.

Now, you...