Robot – A machine with life

We all grow up listening to the term “Robot” and wondering what a “robot” is. Our neighbor's kid once asked his mom, “Mom, who makes the robot, is it God or is it man”? His question gave rise to other series of questions in my mind. Are today's kids thinking about the robots in right perspective? What is a robot? Why do we need robots? Can robot become superior than mankind? Do kids have sufficient knowledge to know 'what is feasible' and 'what is not' about the robot?

I went on hunting the answers for these questions and finally decided to put forward what I think is a robot. I look at the robot as a machine with life. It's life has its own life cycle. To elaborate on this, let's first consider the first term, machine. A machine is a body. The body includes body parts, senses, memory and intelligence. Now let's consider the second term, Life. When a human lives a life, one lives it with some goals. According to goals, one takes actions. With one's actions, one produces results and get feedback/reactions. According to the results of actions/feedback/reactions, one's life moves forward. Robot is also built with some goal(s) and follows the same kind of life cycle. A picture of robot's life cycle is given below. 

Consider the case of a biped. The goal of the biped is to walk. However, if the biped faces an obstacle, its senses react. With correct reaction, the biped keeps itself aligned with the goal. The same is the case with a robotic car following a line. If the car drifts away from the line, its senses and intelligence brings it back on the line. The senses process a lot of information about the surrounding world of the robot, memory stores this information and intelligence helps the robot to steer according to the information.

Some goals are human's personal goals, which one sets for oneself, for example - educational goals, financial goals (like buying a house). Some goals are set for the human by someone else - for example, professional goals. Have you thought about who sets the goals for robots? Who determines the course of actions and reactions? The answer is a “human being”. That gives a feeling that human being is a boss of robot, isn't it? Yes, that is true. Human being makes a robot with electro-mechanical devices (motors, gears, wheels, multiplexers etc.). Human applies senses to robot using sensors (ultrasonic sensor, light sensor, sound sensor, touch sensor etc.). Human also builds memory in the robot using semiconductor memory. Finally, a human designs a computer program and upload in the robot to control its actions and reactions according to the desired goal. Below is a figure, that shows the way I imagine a robot.

When we want to get some accurate and repetitive tasks done, robot is the right way to go. Also, when an environment is hazardous for human being to survive, having a robot makes sense. Thus, Robot in a way is a superhero for mankind.