Robotics is a broad field that encompasses the industries of artificial intelligence, mechanical construction (especially servos and sensors), and electronics. Although it is a matter of opinion, the key element that distinguishes robots from ordinary machines is that robots are expected to have at least some degree of autonomy. When a robot begins to exhibit a certain very high level of sophistication, there are some that may call it an android. Especially if it has one or more features normally ascribed to humans.

Robots come in many types and forms. Some are used in industrial settings such as automobile manufacturing these are controlled by computers. There are home use robots that can cut your grass or vacuum your carpet. An extremely popular kind of robot is the hobby robot. These also come in a number of types. Some are radio controlled but the best types are the ones that can navigate obstacles on their own. They are called autonomous robots. Different types of electronic circuits control these

The circuits are made up of different electronic components with the main component being the integrated circuit chip or IC chip. These chips come in many forms and have different functions. Some control how the electric current is applied to the other components. There are circuits that have just a few components to those that have a hundred or more. There is a large amount of information available to the beginner and the advanced robot hobbyist on the web.

Robots have historically made great progress in the industrial sector, but not the consumer or home market. We have robots that help paint cars, move boxes in automated warehouses, record and transmit data from planets in our solar system; but it is only recently that robots have made inroads into our homes. Currently they are entering our personal lives mainly in the form of robots that vacuum and toy robots. The success of the vacuum robots is due to iRobot, the manufacturer of the popular iRoomba robot, while the newfound success of toy robots is credited to Mark Tilden and his line of Robosapien robots which are distributed by WowWee Toys International. A new entry has thundered into the field with the appearance of the highly complex Pleo artificial pet. Created by inventor of the best selling Furby, Caleb Chung, his new company Ugobe is poised to go down in history as the first company to create a personal robot that people could believe was a pet.

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