Common industrial robots are generally heavy rigid devices limited to manufacturing. They operate in precisely structured environments and perform single highly repetitive tasks under preprogrammed control. There were an estimated 720,000 industrial robots in 1998 . Teleoperated robots are used in semi-structured environments such as undersea and nuclear facilities. Discuss your thoughts with your team members.
Robots are especially valuable to space exploration.
Not only can they travel to environments too hostile or too distant for human explorers, but they can also enhance the work schedule of a manned space mission. There is often a variable time delay for instructions between the operator and the robot. These robots need to be dexterous, lightweight and have flexible manipulators. They are usually deployed in hostile environments with excessive heat, radiation, a vacuum and variable lighting. These robots must be able to recover from unplanned events including system faults and errors.