Stage 00 · Robotics Orientation · Lesson 1 · 35–45 min
What Is a Robot?
Ask ten people what a robot is and you'll get ten answers: a metal humanoid from a film, a factory arm, a robot vacuum, even ChatGPT. Before we build arms and write control code, we need one clear, practical definition we can use in the lab. It will help us decide what parts to buy, what code to write, and where to look when something goes wrong.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to look at any machine (a ceiling fan, a traffic signal, a washing machine, a robot arm) and say how “robot-like” it is, with reasons.