The quick answer
A robot is a machine that can do jobs on its own. It senses the world with sensors, decides what to do with a computer program, and acts with motors, wheels or arms.
TankiRanki, is a robot just a metal person with flashing lights and a funny voice?
RankiSome robots in films look like that. But most real robots look nothing like people. Let’s find out what makes a robot a robot!
Sense, think, act
A robot is a machine that can do jobs on its own. Every robot does three things. It senses, it thinks and it acts.
- Sense: work like eyes, ears and fingers. They tell the robot what is around it.
- Think: a small computer inside decides what to do next.
- Act: make wheels turn, arms move or hands grab.
Imagine a robot that cleans the floor. Its sensors feel a wall. The computer decides to turn. The motors spin the wheels the other way. Then it starts again, over and over.
Robots follow a program
A robot cannot think for itself the way you can. It follows a . A program is a list of exact instructions written by people. The instructions are written in a special language called .
If the instructions are wrong, the robot gets it wrong too. Tell a robot to walk ten steps forward, and it will. It will even walk into a puddle, if nobody told it to stop. Some new robots can learn from practice, but people still decide their jobs.
TankiSo a robot is only as clever as the people who program it?
RankiPretty much. Robots are brilliant helpers, but people are still the bosses.
Where robots work
Robots are great at jobs that are boring, heavy, dirty or dangerous for people. They never get tired or bored.
- In factories, robot arms build cars and pack boxes.
- At home, some robots clean floors or cut the grass.
- In hospitals, robots help doctors with very careful operations.
- Under the sea, robots explore places that are too deep for divers.
Robots even explore other planets. A is a robot car that drives around on another world. Rovers on Mars take photos, drill into rocks and send messages back to Earth.
Where the word comes from
The word robot is just over 100 years old. It comes from a play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. He wrote it in 1920.
In the play, factories make machines that look like people and do all the work. Karel’s brother Josef came up with the name for them. In Czech, the word means hard work that people are forced to do.
Try it
Play the be-a-robot game
You need
What to do
- Hide the soft toy somewhere in the room.
- Your friend is the robot. The robot can only do exactly what you say.
- Give one instruction at a time, like “Take 2 steps forward” or “Turn left”.
- Keep the path clear, so the robot cannot trip over anything.
- If the robot goes the wrong way, fix your instructions and try again.
- Swap roles. Who wrote the best program?
TankiSo a robot is a machine that senses, thinks and acts. And it needs really clear instructions.
RankiExactly. Now, Robot Tanki, please walk to the kitchen and fetch me a biscuit!
Big words
- sensors
- Parts of a robot that notice light, sound, touch or distance.
- motors
- Parts that turn electricity into movement, like spinning wheels.
- program
- A list of exact instructions that tells a computer what to do.
- code
- The special language people use to write computer programs.
- rover
- A robot car that drives around and explores another world.
- robota
- A Czech word for hard work that people are forced to do.
Quick quiz
1. What are the three things every robot does?
Robots sense the world, decide what to do, and then move.
2. What is a program?
A program is a list of instructions written by people in code.
3. Where does the word robot come from?
The word robot first appeared in a play by Karel Čapek, written in 1920.
For parents and teachers
The be-a-robot game is a great first step into computational thinking: breaking a task into small, exact steps and fixing mistakes. You can extend it with arrow cards drawn on paper, or talk about which jobs robots should do and which ones need human kindness and judgement.
Pictures marked “AI generated” were made with AI tools. Ranki and Tanki are AI generated characters. Found a mistake? Write to info@pr-geo.com and we will fix it.
