Robot

The Encyclopedia Galactica defines a robot as a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. The Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as 'Your plastic pal who's fun to be with.'

— The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

Basic Information

A robot is a machine capable of complex movements. Robots are often controlled by an artificial intelligence.

See Robot Roll Call for a list of robot-related tropes.

List of Real-World Robots

• ACM-R5
• AirJelly
• AirPenguin
• Air Ray
• AquaJelly
• AquaPenguin
• Aqua Ray
• BigDog
• EATR
• Funktiontide
• GroundBot
• LittleDog
• RHex
• RiSE

List of Fictional Robots

• Sentry Gun
• Tetra Vaal

See Also

• Robonomics - a robot-based economic system
• Robot Roll Call
• Robot War
• Von Neumann Probe
• What Measure Is A Non Human

• News: Development of Brain-Machine Interface Technology
• Event/News: Inventor unveils anatomically correct fem-bot
• News: Is A Terminator Scenario Possible?
• News: Japan Child Robot Mimicks Infant Learning
• News: Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans
• News: Research Show Robots Forming Human-like Societies
• News: What's Behind Japan's Love Affair with Robots?

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia entry

Game and Story Use

• Robots make useful antagonists in a combat since unlike with humans, the PCs can shoot them up without worrying about the morality of it (if the PCs worry about that kind of thing… still avoiding a murder or manslaughter charges is worth something, too).
• Robots can also make very disturbing enemy combatants, since they usually don't have a sense of compassion, are relentless, and if you destroy them, you only cause some equipment damage to the enemy instead of a "real" casualty.
• Modern-day dictatorships require large armies or police forces to maintain their power. And from the point of view of the dictator, these are unreliable - they might refuse orders that violate their conscience or try to gain power themselves. In a science fiction setting, these might be replaced with robot forces, and a dictator only needs a small number of well-paid specialists to maintain his power. This will likely make the regime more ruthless, and the opposition will find its job a lot harder since they can no longer convince the police or military to stand on their side…
• Military robots raise hacking and other EW/ECM techniques to a whole new level of importance - a skilled PC (or NPC villain, depending whose robots they are) can turn the balance of power on its head in seconds. A gunfight involving robots is also a really bad time to lose your IFF tag…
• You can recycle most of the ideas and tropes surrounding robots by replacing them with golems in a fantasy setting. Really, they are pretty much the same thing - except that the former is created by technology, and the latter by magic.