Robot

From SaschaWiki

The formal definition of robot is a self-using tool. The defining characteristic of a robot is that having received instructions, it can perform its function with a minimum of interaction from the user. Since their widespread apperance in the 1950s robots have gradually redefined the nature of human society, first in industrial tasks, then in hazardous ones, and finally appearing in the home at the start of the 21st Century.

Robots are ubiquitous in modern society, from the simplistic robot clothing to sophisticated analysis machines, and a wide range in between. The most sophisticated robots, like androids and clusters are controlled by a positronic AI brain rather than the cheaper microchips.

Between the 2000s and the 2040s more or less any mechanical construct which was either controlled by computer or bore some vague resemblance to something that might be controlled by a computer was referred to as a robot, but usage in the media has tightened in recent years. A robot-like tool which is controlled by a human remotely is called a rukbot or r-cbot.

A robot which is designed to look like a human, either vaguely or exactly, is called an android.

Slang terms for robots include bots, metals and robbies.