7-meter tall Optimus Prime
7-meter tall Bumblebee
A robot is a progammable machine that imitates the actions or appearance of an intelligent creature. Robots can be made in many different ways using all sorts of materials. Most robots share 3 main parts: the control system, the sensors and the actuators.
a) Control System
The "brain" of the robot as it determines its behavior. A robot can be pre-programmed or autonomous. A pre-programmed robot repeats itself and does not respond to feedback from its environment and will only function in a specific scenario. more complex robots are autonomous; they are able to respond appropiately to the change in the environment. They have a set of sensors that will send information to the control system about their surroundings.
b) Sensors
Sensors act like our human senses. Different sensors have various functions:
i) Cameras can give sight to robots and allow them to "see", allowing the robots to judge aspects of the environment that can only be determined by vision, such as color, shape, size or distance.
ii) Microphones allow robots to detect sound. It can be reprogrammed to be voice-controlled when equipped with a microphone.
iii) Buttons give robots the sense of touch. When a robot is equipped with buttons on its fingertips, it is able to sense objects when it touches them.
iv) A thermometer or barometer give the robot the ability to sense tempearature and pressure.
c) Actuators
Also known as effectors, actuators are the parts of the robot that actually do the work. Actuators receive their command from the control system and respond accordingly. They are usually specific to the task the robot is programmed to do. For example, a Mars rover is equipped with a drill, a shovel, a hammer and a spectometer to analyze Mars' soil. A singing robot is equipped with a speaker to produce sound.
