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SENSOR: A device that measures something on a robot’s own body or the world around it. See also “GPS,” “LIDAR,”
“Radar”.
SERIAL ROBOT: A robot that consists of a series of links connected to each other with joints that are powered by
motors. Popular in industrial automation as pick-and-place robots. See also “Manipulator” and “SCARA.”
SERIES ELASTIC ACTUATOR: An actuator that, in addition to a motor and gearbox, uses a spring to make the device
less rigid. By measuring the deflection of the spring, the actuator can determine the forces applied to it. This means
that a robot can control its movements by sensing forces rather than just going from one position to another, making
it potentially safer for interacting with humans.
SLAM: Simultaneous localization and mapping. SLAM is a technique that robots use to create a map of an unknown
environment that they find themselves in. The concept behind SLAM is that a robot needs a map to know where it
is, but to make a map, the robots need to know where it is. SLAM attempts to tackle both problems at the same
time by combining remote sensing (like LIDAR) and sensors on the robot itself that track motion and orientation (like
accelerometers or IMUs).

SWARM ROBOTICS: The study of the collective behavior of dozens or hundreds of robots, drawing parallels with ant
colonies and other swarms found in nature.
SERVO: An electric motor that has some mechanism for providing feedback about how much it has moved. Servos are
distinct from motors in that a servo is aware of its position as opposed to just on or off, and are used when accurate
position control is necessary.
SINGULARITY: A point in space where a robot manipulator may become uncontrollable. Alternately, a point in human
history when robots achieve greater-than-human superintelligence and take over the world.
SOCIAL ROBOTS: Robots that are not content in just serving their human masters but also want to befriend them.
SONAR: A type of sensor that uses ultrasound to detect objects and measure the distance to them. Cheaper than
radar and LIDAR, but not as good.
STOCHASTIC: A fancy word for random, stochastic refers to a process whose outcome can’t be deterministically
predicted and requires statistical tools to studied and accounted for.
SUBSUMPTION ARCHITECTURE: A divide-to-conquer approach to robotics programming popularized in the 1980s.
Based on simple modules whose collective action generates more complex behavior.

T

TELEOPERATION: The act of operating a robot remotely, based on information from cameras and other sensors on the
robot. See also “Haptics.”
TELEPRESENCE: Similar to teleoperation, except the robot is intended (on some level) to act as a surrogate for the
human operating it. It’ll let you be at the office without actually going there, but it won’t do your work for you.
THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS: Formulated by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in 1942. They are: First Law: A robot may
not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second Law: A robot must obey
the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Third Law: A robot
must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
TORQUE: A measure of the amount of turning force on an object, in newton-meters. In robots, typically used to describe
the power of electric motors.
TURING TEST: A test of machine intelligence postulated by Alan Turing. In a generalized interpretation, if a human and
a machine are tested in some way such that a second human can’t tell the difference between them, the machine is
considered to have passed the Turing Test.

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Glossary