Android An android was an advanced form of robot , equipped with a self - aware artificial intelligence and made to imitate humanoid lifeform s . ( ) The film " The Day the Earth Stood Still " , which Charles Tucker showed to the cogenitor " Charles " in 2153 , included an android character which the Human characters in the film were afraid of . " Charles " asked why this was so , and Tucker explained that the people of Earth at the time had a hard time trusting things that they didn ' t understand . ( ) In the 23rd century , the crew of the encountered several kinds of android during the course of their mission . ( " et al " ) However , the first truly successful androids in the Federation were the Soong - type android s created by Doctor Noonien Soong . Most notable of these was Lieutenant commander Data , who served as operations officer on board the and . ( ) Types of androids . Automated Personnel Units . In 2372 , the found a deactivated android which , upon repair by B ' Elanna Torres , identified itself as Automated Personnel Unit 3947 . It used Torres ' goodwill to gain sympathy for his " people " , who were on the verge of extinction after the death of their creators , the Pralor . It was later found that a people known as the Cravic had also made Automated Personnel Units , and that the Cravic were also extinct . Originally , the two peoples had been at war , using the Automated Units to battle . However , when the war ended and it was time to dismantle the APUs , the robots , not understanding anything except war and self - preservation , wiped out their creators and resumed their war . ( ) Exo III androids . A sapient species on the planet Exo III , now known only as " the " , discovered how to build sophisticated androids thousands of years ago . They made their machines more and more complex , eventually conferring upon them the ability to feel emotions . Their greatest technical achievement was perhaps the android duplicator , a mechanism that could manufacture an exact android duplicate of a naked living being , including that person ' s memories . The Old Ones built their machines too well ; according to a surviving machine , Ruk , the Old Ones became afraid of their machines and began to deactivate them . Their survival threatened , the machines overcame their programming and slew their builders . Ruk and all other known Exo III - type androids were destroyed in 2266 . ( ) Ilia probe . The Ilia probe was an android created by " V ' Ger " to gather information about the carbon unit s aboard the refit . It was a highly complex construct built out of the body of the Deltan , Lieutenant Ilia . As a side effect of being made out of a living humanoid , it retained many aspect ' s of Ilia ' s personality , including pheromone s , memories , and ultimately her emotion s . It contained molecule - sized microprocessors and billions of connected mechanisms . ( ) Mudd ' s androids . A Class K planet was inhabited by thousands of advanced androids originally from the Andromeda Galaxy . Their makers had established outposts throughout their own galaxy , and had built only a handful of outposts in the Milky Way Galaxy ; however , when the sun of their home star system went , most of their civilization was destroyed . The remaining makers died out over time , leaving only distant outposts of androids . These androids had their first encounter with native life in the Milky Way when infamous criminal Harcourt Fenton " Harry " Mudd , having escaped from imminent execution on Deneb V on charges of fraud , fled known space and crash land ed on their planet in 2268 . Mudd was hardly an ideal model of Humanity , and the androids decided that Humans were a form of galactic pest that needed to be contained for their own protection ( and the protection of the galaxy ) . These androids could have an operational lifespan of up to 500 , 000 years , and had access to advanced medical technology which could let them transplant humanoid brains into android bodies to grant them virtual immortality . Mudd was detained , albeit in very comfortable surroundings , as the androids were quite happy to build replicas of any person he wanted , and provide him with any wish he could want ( except freedom ) . When the androids attempted to abduct the , the crew was able to escape by discovering the weakness of these androids ; their minds were so highly logical that by intentionally acting as illogically and unpredictably as possible , the confused androids would be overloaded and incapacitated . ( ) Sargon - type androids . Sargon - type androids were humanoid android s which were created to hold the minds of Sargon , his wife Thalassa , and their friend Henoch , who were the lone survivors of their race . They had placed their minds in spheres , becoming beings of pure energy . The android bodies would have given them mobility and allow them to leave their planet . They borrowed Human bodies to build the androids . The plan failed when Henoch , enamored with the return of physical sensation , tried to destroy Sargon and keep possession of his host , Spock . Although Henoch ' s plan was foiled , Sargon and Thalassa ultimately did not use the android bodies , as they decided they did not have the discipline to use their mental powers in the physical realm . ( ) Soong - type androids . There were several Soong - type androids .