Who decides what robots look like? How do robots work and move? How are they controlled? And are robots alive? We tackle all your robot questions in this episode, and we’re taking a field trip to a local factory that uses hundreds of robots to help humans do their jobs. GlobalFoundries, in Essex Junction, Vermont makes microchips that go in all kinds of electronics. In fact, if your adults have a smartphone, more than likely it has a chip made at this very facility. Engineers Adrien Plouffe and Lucy White work with the robots at GlobalFoundries and answer your questions about robots, including: Why are robots made of metal? Why do people like robots? Do robots cry?
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- GlobalFoundries makes microchips. Microchips are tiny pieces of technology that go in all kinds of devices, from your electronic games to the cell phones your adults use. They go in laptop computers, modern cars, even the International Space Station orbiting the earth. They’re kind of like the miniature brains of your electronic devices.
- Robots are devices that are capable of doing complex tasks without a human having to move them. Many advanced robots can sense things in their environment and act differently depending on the situation.
- Robots perform tasks they have been told to do by humans. Humans tell a robot what to do by using computer programming languages.
- Robots are not alive. They are always built and controlled by humans. They don’t need to breathe, or eat, they don’t reproduce, and they don’t have a conscience. Robots can be designed to react to certain situations, and can even sometimes have a very human-sounding conversation, but they are not thinking on their own the way humans do.
