page_title: Robot
section_title: Industrial robots (manipulating)
hierarchical_section_title: Robot / Modern robots / Industrial robots (manipulating)
caption_attribution_description: Factory Automation with industrial robots for metal die casting in foundry industry, robotics in metal manufacturing
context_page_description: A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer— capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Robots can be guided by an external control device or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed on the lines of human form, but most robots are machines designed to perform a task with no regard to their aesthetics.
  Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility and TOSY's TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot to industrial robots, medical operating robots, patient assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed swarm robots, UAV drones such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic nano robots. By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense of intelligence or thought of its own. Autonomous things are expected to proliferate in the coming decade, with home robotics and the autonomous car as some of the main drivers.
context_section_description: Industrial robots usually consist of a jointed arm (multi-linked manipulator) and an end effector that is attached to a fixed surface. One of the most common type of end effector is a gripper assembly.
  The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of a  manipulating industrial robot in ISO 8373:
  "an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications."
  This definition is used by the International Federation of Robotics, the European Robotics Research Network (EURON) and many national standards committees.
caption: A pick and place robot in a factory
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