Robots are everywhere these days!  Have you ever wondered what they are all about?  For the most part, they are just like us - most of the time they have a body complete with muscles, a power source, sensors and a brain.   They are designed to be as much like us as possible.

That is why researchers are trying to figure out how to give them things like intelligence, perception, understanding of intent and other non-physical attributes that will allow them to work together with humans in a natural way. But, we don't always want them to be exactly like us.  Instead, robots are often designed to do things that humans don't do well, dislike or put them in danger.  In fact, one of the main applications for robots today is in manufacturing where there are repetitive tasks that need to be done that would often make a human very bored.  Turns out robots don't get bored!

We also design robots to go places we can't, like Mars.  The environment on Mars is very hars, and getting there takes too long for humans right now.  So NASA sent a robot to Mars to take a look around and it send back information to let us know what it was like.

Did you know you can build your own robot at home?  Check out this project to learn how.  You can also find out all about robotics by reading some of our articles on the subject.  You can also learn about robots by visiting a robotics lab on the internet.  Whatever you decide to do, just explore and learn more!