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, 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; the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction and application of robots, as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, information processing is robotics.

These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, or cognition. Many of today's robots are inspired by nature contributing to the field of bio-inspired robotics; these robots have created a newer branch of robotics: soft robotics. From the time of ancient civilization there have been many accounts of user-configurable automated devices and automata resembling animals and humans, designed as entertainment; as mechanical techniques developed through the Industrial age, there appeared more practical applications such as automated machines, remote-control and wireless remote-control. The term comes from a Czech word, meaning "forced labor". U. R. by the Czech writer, Karel Čapek but it was Karel's brother Josef Čapek, the word's true inventor. Electronics evolved into the driving force of development with the advent of the first electronic autonomous robots created by William Grey Walter in Bristol, England in 1948, as well as Computer Numerical Control machine tools in the late 1940s by John T. Parsons and Frank L. Stulen.

The first commercial and programmable robot was built by George Devol in 1954 and was named the Unimate. It was sold to General Motors in 1961 where it was used to lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey. Robots have replaced humans in performing repetitive and dangerous tasks which humans prefer not to do, or are unable to do because of size limitations, or which take place in extreme environments such as outer space or the bottom of the sea. There are concerns about the increasing use of their role in society. Robots are blamed for rising technological unemployment as they replace workers in increasing numbers of functions; the use of robots in military combat raises ethical concerns. The possibilities of robot autonomy and potential repercussions have been addressed in fiction and may be a realistic concern in the future; the word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are referred to as bots.

There is no consensus on which machines qualify as robots but there is general agreement among experts, the public, that robots tend to possess some or all of the following abilities and functions: accept electronic programming, process data or physical perceptions electronically, operate autonomously to some degree, move around, operate physical parts of itself or physical processes and manipulate their environment, exhibit intelligent behavior behavior which mimics humans or other animals. Related to the concept of a robot is the field of Synthetic Biology, which studies entities whose nature is more comparable to beings than to machines; the idea of automata originates in the mythologies of many cultures around the world. Engineers and inventors from ancient civilizations, including Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ptolemaic Egypt, attempted to build self-operating machines, some resembling animals and humans. Early descriptions of automata include the artificial doves of Archytas, the artificial birds of Mozi and Lu Ban, a "speaking" automaton by Hero of Alexandria, a washstand automaton by Philo of Byzantium, a human automaton described in the Lie Zi.

Many ancient mythologies, most modern religions include artificial people, such as the mechanical servants built by the Greek god Hephaestus, the clay golems of Jewish legend and clay giants of Norse legend, Galatea, the mythical statue of Pygmalion that came to life. Since circa 400 BC, myths of Crete include Talos, a man of bronze who guarded the island from pirates. In ancient Greece, the Greek engineer Ctesibius "applied a knowledge of pneumatics and hydraulics to produce the first organ and water clocks with moving figures." In the 4th century BC, the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical steam-operated bird he called "The Pigeon". Hero of Alexandria, a Greek mathematician and inventor, created numerous user-configurable automated devices, described machines powered by air pressure and water; the 11th century Lokapannatti tells of how the Buddha's relics were protected by mechanical robots, from the kingdom of Roma visaya. In ancient China, t

CSIRO Publishing is an Australian-based science and technology publisher. It publishes books and magazines across a range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, chemistry and animal sciences, natural history and environmental management, it produces interactive learning modules for primary school students and provides writing workshops for researchers. CSIRO Publishing operates within the Commonwealth Industrial Research Organisation, it was established as a stand-alone business unit in 1995. CSIRO Publishing publishes books in a number of categories, including: Animals: behaviour. Built Environment: architecture. Food and Agriculture: agribusiness. Gardening and Horticulture: fruit and flowers. Health: environmental health. Marine and Freshwater: coastal science. Natural Environment: biodiversity and ecology. Physical Sciences: astronomy. Plant Science: algae and lichens. Science in Society: children's books. CSIRO Publishing authors include or have included: Michael Braby Robin Brimblecombe, Kara Rosemeier Harold Cogger Stephen Debus Roger Farrow Michelle Gleeson Jenny Gray Gisela Kaplan David Lindenmayer Peter Menkhorst et al.

The Australian Bird Guide Robert Whyte, Greg Anderson CSIRO Publishing publishes the following journals and magazines: Official website

Eric Ruuth was a Swedish nobleman and the owner of Marsvinsholm Castle. He served as the Governor-General of Swedish Pomerania from 1792 to 1796. With his coal mine he started the company that would become Höganäs AB, he was born on October 1746 to Gustaf Ruuth of Finland and Baroness Ebba Christina Siöbladh. She was the daughter of Baron Carl Georg Siöblad, Lord of Marsvinsholm and Countess Beata Elisabeth Stenbock. From 1782 to 1786 he made extensive renovations at Marsvinsholm Castle. In 1786 he invited a Swiss cheesemaker to Marsvinsholm Castle. A few years Swiss style cheese were being produced in Sweden, he served as the Governor-General of Swedish Pomerania from 1792 to 1796. He was made a Swedish count in 1792, he died on May 25, 1820 Hunnestad Monument