Joan Cartan-Hansen, Host: A
robot is a machine designed to

automatically perform a complex
series of actions.

How much do you know about
robots?

[MUSIC]

Student 1: Thank you MiP.
What's our assignment for

science this week?
Student 2: We're supposed to

learn about robots.
Student 1: Great.

Can you help us learn about
robots?

Cartan-Hansen: Robots are
human-made machines that perform

work and other actions.
Some work automatically.

Some by remote control.
Robot comes from the Czech word,

Robotta.
It was first used in a play in

the 1920s.
Inventors have been building

self-operating machines for
centuries.

These automata were run by
clocks, or moving water.

The first electronic robots were
created in England in the 1940s.

By the 1960s, robots were used
to move things around, like in a

car plant.
Robots generally have three main

parts.
A controller or a brain, this is

the part that tells the robot
what to do, or where to go.

Next are the mechanical parts.
These are the motors, wheels,

gears, grabbers, whatever, that
make the robot do its work to

grab or turn or to lift.
The third are the sensors.

These are the devices that allow
the robot to figure out size and

space, where to go or how
tightly to grip.

Together, these three basic
parts make up a robot.

Robots are sometimes used where
work is repetitive, that is, the

same task being done over and
over again.

They are also used in places
that would be dangerous for

people.
NASA uses all sorts of different

robots to help us explore space.
Rovers on Mars are mini

laboratories helping humans
learn about the Martian soil.

These robots at the Johnson
Space Center help teach new

astronauts how to do things in
space.

Robots come in all shapes and
sizes.

Some are as small as insects.
These are called nano-bots or

kilobots.
Some scientists are designing

robots that show emotion, and
some are working on robots that

think.
Scientists are just starting to

figure out all the different
things robots can do.

So whether they are helping us
out at home or traveling deep

into space, robots are changing
our lives.

Student 1: Well, that was very
interesting.

MiP, stop bothering the Roomba,
you know that can't dance.

Cartan-Hansen: If you want to
learn more about robotics, check

out the science trek website.
You'll find it at science trek

dot org.

[MUSIC]

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