What Is a Robot?

Hello, robots!

A robot is a machine. People build robots to help do jobs.

🤖 Some robots are big. Some are very small.

Robots do not grow like plants or animals. People make them.

What can robots do?

Robots can do many helpful jobs:

• A robot can clean the floor.
• A robot can build cars in a factory.
• A robot can explore faraway places, like space.

A robot is good at doing the same job again and again.

The parts of a robot

Many robots have these parts:

• Sensors — these are like eyes and ears. They help the robot see and feel.
• Motors — these make the robot move. They turn wheels and arms.
• A tiny computer brain — this tells the robot what to do.

The computer brain is not a real brain. It just follows steps, like a recipe.

Robots follow instructions

A robot does what it is told to do. We give it instructions.

Telling a computer or robot what to do, step by step, is called coding. You can learn more in Coding.

A robot only does its job. It cannot decide to play or rest on its own.

Robots are not people

A robot is not alive. It does not think or feel like you.

You can feel happy, hungry, or sleepy. A robot cannot.

Robots help us, but people are in charge.

When you grow up, you can learn how robots think. Robots that learn are part of Artificial Intelligence.