A robotic arm is a type of mechanical arm, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm; the arm may be the sum total of the mechanism or may be part of a more complex robot. The links of such a manipulator are connected by joints allowing either rotational motion or translational (linear) displacement. The links of the manipulator can be considered to form a kinematic chain. The terminus of the kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the end effector and it is analogous to the human hand. However, the term "robotic hand" as a synonym of the robotic arm is often proscribed.
The Canadarm while deploying a payload from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle
Humans+ exhibit
uArm Metal Commercial Robot Arm
MeArm Open Source Robot Arm
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke human form, but most robots are task-performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive aesthetics.
ASIMO (2000) at the Expo 2005
Articulated welding robots used in a factory are a type of industrial robot.
KITT (a fictional robot) is mentally anthropomorphic; it thinks like a human.
iCub is physically anthropomorphic; it looks like a human.
