Pop Culture & Sci-Fi Robots
This protocol droid fluent in "over six million forms of communication" was built by a young Anakin Skywalker.
C-3PO
Released by iRobot in 2002, this disc-shaped autonomous vacuum became the first wildly successful domestic robot.
Roomba
This round, personality-filled AI sphere is your guide—and eventual accidental villain—in the puzzle game Portal 2.
Wheatley
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you, there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do..."
Africa by Toto
If you ask this Apple virtual assistant to "open the pod bay doors," she might tell you she can't do that.
Siri
What is the only mammal capable of true, sustained flight?
Bat
This basic sensor bounces high-frequency sound waves off objects to measure distance, just like a bat uses echolocation.
Ultrasonic Sensors
To program a robot to turn exactly 90 degrees, you are using this branch of math that studies angles and shapes.
Geometry
A robotic arm uses this simple machine—consisting of a beam and a pivot point—to lift heavy objects.
Lever
This type of wearable robotic suit gives humans superhuman strength and protects factory workers from heavy lifting injuries.
Exoskeleton
In the 1999 animated film, Vin Diesel voiced this massive, metal visitor who befriends a boy named Hogarth.
Iron Giant
This multi-armed surgical system, named after a Renaissance polymath, allows doctors to perform minimally invasive surgeries.
da Vinci Surgical System
In Minecraft, this utility mob is built using iron blocks and a carved pumpkin to defend villagers from zombies.
Iron Golem
"I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust..."
Imagine Dragons
Amazon uses thousands of orange, wheeled robots in these massive buildings to carry shelves of products directly to human workers.
Fulfillment Centers/Warehouses
What is the highest-grossing Us made animated movie of all time?
Zootopia 2
Robots use this type of sensor to detect the brightness of a surface, allowing them to follow a black tape line on a white floor.
Light Sensors
This basic physical force, defined as resistance when two surfaces rub together, can slow a robot's wheels down.
Friction
These toothed wheels mesh together to change the speed, direction, or power of a robot's motor.
Gears
Tech companies are developing these automated aircraft to drop fast-food orders and Amazon packages right into your backyard.
Delivery Drones
This waste-allocation robot spends 700 years cleaning up a deserted Earth before falling in love with EVE.
WALL-E
This robotics company, acquired by Hyundai, is famous for its viral videos of agile robots like Atlas and Spot.
Boston Dynamics
In the Fallout games, this hovering, multi-armed robotic butler can tidy your house or shoot lasers at enemies.
Mister Handy
"You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow..."
Lose Yourself by Eminem
This type of uncrewed aerial vehicle, often flown with a remote control, is used for aerial photography and drone racing.
Drone
What ancient civilization built the Machu Picchu citadel in Peru?
Incas
Found in smartphones and robots, this sensor measures changes in tilt and acceleration to help a robot keep its balance.
Gyroscope
This law of physics states that for every action by a robot's motor, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton's 3rd Law of Motion
To climb up a steep ramp, a wheeled robot relies on this simple machine, which is basically a flat surface tilted at an angle.
Inclined Plane
This broad field of computer science involves building smart programs that allow robots to think, learn, and make decisions like humans.
AI
He is the leader of the Autobots in the Transformers franchise.
Optimus Prime
This acronym describes robots designed to work safely alongside human factory workers on a shared assembly line.
Cobots
This friendly, screen-faced robot companion from Apex Legends uses a grappling hook and ziplines to navigate the battlefield.
Pathfinder
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know.
Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter
Many modern supermarkets use a tall, gray robot named "Marty" to scan the aisles looking for these safety hazards.
Spills
What is the name of the fictional kingdom where Disney's Tangled takes place?
Corona
This type of simple switch sensor tells a robot it has physically run into a wall or obstacle.
bumper switch (or limit switch/touch sensor)
This electrical measurement, is the pressure from a power source (like a robot's battery) that pushes electrons through a circuit.
Voltage
This simple machine, which uses a grooved wheel and a rope, is used by cranes and elevator robots to lift heavy loads vertically.
Pulley
Medical researchers hope to use these microscopic robots to travel through blood vessels and blast away cancer cells from the inside.
Nanobots
This fictional defense network becomes self-aware on August 29, 1997, and initiates Judgement Day in the Terminator universe.
SkyNet
This quadrupedal, canine-like robot by Boston Dynamics is used for inspecting industrial sites and navigating hazardous terrain.
Spot
In Overwatch 2, this gentle, nature-loving combat robot can transform into a tank or configuration assault turret, and is always accompanied by a small bird named Ganymede.
Bastion
"We're soaring, flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach..."
Breaking Free from High School Musical
Which company has made driverless cars a popular alternate to Uber in Large Cities
Waymo
Which artist holds the record for the most Grammy wins in history?
Beyonce
Thermal cameras allow rescue robots to see this, helping them locate humans trapped in dark or smoky buildings.
Heat
Robots that work underwater must be built to withstand this force, which increases the deeper the robot dives.
Water Pressure
Many robots use this rotating simple machine with a helical ridge to hold their metal frames tightly together.
Screw
This term describes a group of many small robots working together in sync, mimicking the behavior of ants or a flock of birds.
Swarm