Alex Rohrbach, Sri Rao
Speaking to founders and investors, we heard a range of definitions for robotics. Unfortunately, we found inconsistent definitions tended to create confusion and lead to poor decisions.
Origins of the term “Robot”
The term ‘robot’ was first used to denote a fictional humanoid in a 1920 Czech-language play called Rossum’s Universal Robots. The word “robot” comes from the Czech word “robota”, or forced labor. In the play, the “robots” are not mechanical devices, but artificial biological organisms that resemble humans.
These Czech origins indicate that robots were seen as a labor substitute and reflected human characteristics.
Merriam Webster reinforces these points by defining a robot as “a machine that resembles a living creature in being capable of moving independently (as by walking or rolling on wheels) and performing complex actions (such as grasping and moving objects).”
But not all robot definitions require robots to have a “humanoid” or “living creature” quality.
For example, the Robotics Industries Association defines a robot as “a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.”
The website Mirror Review explains, “Robots are autonomous or semi-autonomous that can manipulate the physical environment through their moving parts or suggestions. At a basic level, robots need only to sense something and put what they are sensing through a decision algorithm and act.”
Mirror Review alludes to the Sense-Plan-Act framework. This robotics framework summarizes the three critical capabilities that every robot must do to operate efficiently: gather information, create a plan, and act in the real world.
Our Definition of “Robot”
At Union Labs, we like to define a robot as:
A machine capable of achieving a primary purpose with autonomy by collecting inputs from the external environment (sense) to make dynamic decisions (plan) performed in the physical world (act).
We can summarize this as a checklist of five criteria:
- Machine form: A physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action (non-human given)
- Autonomy in achieving primary purpose: Ability to accomplish a fundamental task without human control end-to-end
- Input-based: Scans, senses, and/or collects information from external environment to inform decision making (can include uploaded data)
- Dynamic decision maker: Ability to make decisions under uncertainty in order to complete task and refines decisions as new information received
- Acts in physical world: Moves self and/or other objects in physical world
Let’s apply this checklist to a few examples:
Is a home printer a robot? Probably not.
While a printer appears to satisfy four of the five criteria, it is hard to describe a printer as a dynamic decision maker operating under uncertainty to complete a task.
Is Siri a robot? No.
We define robots as physical machines interacting in the real world. Siri is a virtual assistant operating in the virtual world.
Is a 2021 Tesla Model S with Full-Self Driving (FSD) a robot? No.
Tesla states that cars using FSD require active driver supervision and are not fully autonomous today.
FSD is classified as Level 2 Autonomy. At Level 2 Autonomy as defined by SAE, the car can handle acceleration, braking, and steering. While driving may feel “hands-off”,” the driver needs to constantly supervise driving and be ready to take control.
Is the Cruise taxi-service in San Francisco a robot? Yes.
If we define the primary purpose of the Cruise vehicle as transporting passengers from point A to B in downtown San Francisco, it meets the definition.
If we defined the primary purpose of the Cruise vehicle has transporting passengers from point A to B anywhere in California, it would not need the definition.
By narrowing the “primary purpose” criteria, we allow some machines that otherwise would not have met our definition to meet our definition.
Other machines that meet our definition of a robot include Roomba vacuums, Boston Dynamics BigDogs, and Coco deliverers.
Now that we have a definition for robots, let’s understand how robots create value.
>> Chapter III: Chapter III: Value Creation Framework
<< Chapter I: Introduction to Robotics Value Creation
