The guide separates robots — industrial, service and social — from autonomous technologies — the internet of things, autonomous vehicles, drones and virtual assistants. The useful axis underneath both lists is how much the machine decides for itself.
The kinds placed by autonomy, from a caged arm that decides nothing to a vehicle deciding continuously.
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| Kind | Example | What makes it that kind |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial | A welding arm on a production line | Repeats a programmed path, usually behind a cage |
| Service | A hospital delivery robot | Works among people, following a plan it can adapt |
| Social | A companion robot in a care home | Interacts with people as its actual purpose |
| Internet of things | A smart meter or a connected doorbell | Senses and reports, rather than moving |
| Autonomous vehicle | A driverless taxi | Chooses its own actions continuously |
| Virtual assistant | A voice assistant in a speaker | Acts on request, with no physical body |
Not all of them move: A virtual assistant and a smart meter are autonomous technologies without being robots. Saying which category you mean keeps an answer precise.
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Real-world examples you can name
Boston Dynamics' Spot — commercial sale from 2020
A four-legged robot that walks over ground wheels cannot manage, used for inspecting construction sites, refineries and nuclear facilities. Police trials prompted objections strong enough that some forces returned it.
Who it affected: Inspection workers kept out of hazardous places, and communities uneasy about policing use.
Waymo driverless taxis — public service in Phoenix from 2020; San Francisco from 2023
Vehicles carrying passengers with no human driver, using lidar, radar and cameras within mapped service areas. Incidents blocking traffic and obstructing emergency vehicles have made the terms of city permission the live question.
Who it affected: Passengers, other road users, and taxi drivers whose work is at stake.
The da Vinci surgical robot — US approval 2000
A surgeon operates instruments through a console rather than directly; the system filters hand tremor and scales movement. It is teleoperated, not autonomous — the classic example of a robot that augments rather than replaces.
Who it affected: Patients receiving less invasive surgery, and surgeons retraining for it.
Notice the middle one: The da Vinci surgical robot (worldwide, US approval 2000) is teleoperated: a surgeon moves the instruments through a console. It is not autonomous at all, and calling it an autonomous robot in an answer is a correctable error.
How this is tested — you have to name the kind of robot or autonomous technology in a scenario, and say why the kind matters. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part a: identify types of robot in a described setting
- Part b: explain why a task needs a particular kind
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q1: read what a source says a machine does
- Q2: explain a claim about an autonomous system
The trap: calling everything a robot: A smart speaker is an autonomous technology and not a robot. A surgical system is teleoperated and not autonomous. Precision here is cheap and it is marked.
Identify two types of robot or autonomous technology used in a hospital.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Explain one reason why a hospital delivery robot needs more sensing than a factory arm.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.