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Reviewed in POC · content version 2

Review Robot

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Definition

A robot is a machine that can sense, compute, and act in the physical world, and the word is often used loosely in older conversations about artificial intelligence.
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Plain-Language Explanation

A robot is a programmable physical mechanism that can sense, compute, and act in its environment with some degree of autonomy. Different robots vary widely in form and purpose.
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Why It Matters

Robots turn software decisions into physical action. That makes sensing limits, safe states, human control, maintenance, and environmental conditions central to system design.
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Example

A mobile warehouse robot reads location sensors, plans a route, carries a shelf, and stops when a person enters its safety zone.
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Common Misconception

A robot does not have to look human, and not every automated machine is a robot. The term usually involves programmable physical action in an environment.
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Remember It This Way

A robot senses, computes, and acts in the physical world.
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Related Terms

* [[sensor|Sensor]] * [[autonomous-system|Autonomous System]] * [[android|Android]] * [[ai-agent|AI Agent]]
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Sources

* [ISO, “ISO 8373:2021 Robotics — Vocabulary”](https://www.iso.org/standard/75539.html) — establishes the current international vocabulary standard for robotics. * [ISO, “Smart Manufacturing”](https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/store/en/PUB100459.pdf) — reproduces the ISO 8373 boundary around a programmable, actuated mechanism with a degree of autonomy.
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Learn More

* Compare [[sensor|Sensor]], [[autonomous-system|Autonomous System]], [[android|Android]], and [[ai-agent|AI Agent]] to place Robot in the surrounding system. * Follow the cited source material above for the method, standard, or research context behind this draft.
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