Chapter 1 WHAT IS ROBOTICS A tiny object the width of a human hair motors through a mouse's stomach acid It uses bubbles to push itself forward Then it delivers medicine to heal sores in the mouse's stomach This tiny object is a robot This illustration shows a tiny robot attaching to a red blood cell
Big and Small Robots Robots are machines that can sense and react to the world around them Humans build and program robots Humans control some robots Others can perform tasks on their own Some robots look a lot like people Others are simply giant arms used in factories Tiny robots called nanorobots can move in very small spaces Many robots do work that is too dangerous or difficult for people to do A robot that looks like a person is called a humanoid robot
