TL;DR Robotics is about building machines that sense, decide, and act in the physical world using mechanical design, electronics, and intelligent algorithms.
Robotics explores how we design and build machines that can understand their environment, make decisions, and perform tasks with precision. It sits at the intersection of engineering and intelligence, shaping everything from manufacturing to healthcare to everyday consumer devices.
Robots are machines that can perform practical actions on their own or with guidance, often using sensors to understand their surroundings. They can help with repetitive jobs, lift heavy things, explore dangerous places, or simply make life easier. Modern robots are becoming more adaptable because they now include forms of artificial intelligence that enable them to learn from experience and respond to changing situations.
Robotics integrates mechanics, embedded systems, real-time control, sensing, and increasingly advanced AI models. Core components include kinematics, dynamics, SLAM, perception pipelines, computer vision, sensor fusion, motion planning, and model-based or RL-driven control. The field continues to shift toward data-centric autonomy, leveraging large models, simulation-to-real workflows, high-precision localization, and scalable robot software stacks.
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Mechanical structure and actuation
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Sensors for perception and environment mapping
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Control systems and motion planning
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Autonomy and decision-making algorithms
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Human-robot interaction and safety
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Applications across industry, healthcare, research, and home use
ELI5 A robot is an intelligent machine that uses eyes, ears, and a computer brain to figure out what is happening and then move around or perform tasks without someone telling it every tiny step.