Guide Note

Although it is a common belief that a robot is a machine that looks like a human being and can perform tasks like a human being,¹ it is not actually necessary for a device to look humanoid to be a considered a robot. It is more important that a device can be programmed, or even reprogrammed, to perform multifunctional tasks to be considered a robot.²

Fast Facts

1. The word “robot” was first introduced by Czech playwright Karel Capek in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)³
2. The first industrial robots were created in the late 1950s³
3. The robotic arm is the most common type of robotic device ⁴
4. Robots may be used on land, in the sea or in outer space
5. A non-organic entity, a robot is created through artificial methods
6. Has the ability to interact with its environment through independent or manipulated means
7. Has the ability to make decisions or choices
8. Is capable of coordinated movements which may include side-to-side, up-and-down and 360 degree rotation

1. 1953: The Mechanical Hound, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
2. 1962: Rosie the Maid in The Jetsons
3. 1963: SHROUD (Synthetic Human, Radiation Output Determined) and SHOCK (Synthetic Human Object, Casualty Kinematics), V.by Thomas Pynchon
4. 1977, 1980 and 1983: C-3PO and R2D2 in the original Star Wars trilogy
5. 1978: Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by [Douglas Adams]
6. 1978-1980: The Cylons in Battlestar Galactica
7. 1986: Bishop in Aliens
8. 1987-1994: Lt. Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
9. 1991: T-101 and T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
10. 1999-2003: The Sentinels in the Matrix triology
11. 2002 and 2005: R4-P17 and the Droid Army in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith
12. 2008: WALL-E, EVE and M-O in Disney/Pixar's WALL-E

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.