So is the light in your fridge a robot?
I mean, theres a sensor that detects whether the door is open, and a circuit that decides if the light should turn on.
No, it's not a robot.
No, it does not have a sensor and detects nothing.
It has a contact that switches it on and off.
It's like asking if all lamps are robots.
Or does a robot have to be able to MOVE physically. There are some "Solar robots" that do nothing but flash LED's when the sun is shining, are these robots...
Movement is not a compulsory need (unless we talk about movement on an atomic scale
Feedback and reaction to same in a purposeful fashion is a quite good determinant IMO.
What about the welding 'bots of the car industry?
I don't really think they deserve their name, as they're programmed to make rigidly planned movements (however many and intricate they may be) and their only autonomy is detecting the distance from and perhaps temp. of the weld.
It's not their inability to move from their base that makes them less robotics though.
The definition of robot seems to be somewhat decided by the creator rather than there being any strict rules.
So, if I "create" a rubber ball I could call it a robot
I'd rather say that it's the context that defines whether something is a robot or not.
Viewing it from the industrial stand point, any form of automation can be called a robot, while the stands of sci-fi film makers will be quite different.
(In DK, there's no robotics line on uni's - It's called automation here)
That makes it a bit hard to find a single definition for what a robot should be, so why not look more into what any context would see as a robot.
Not that different from what defines the general publics grasp of what defines a car, an entertainment unit a necessary amount of eating utensils, the amount of Teddy Bears a kid should have or how the healthiest carbohydrate/protein/fat makeup should be etc.
We're humans - we have the ability (and feature) to have different solutions and opinions.
Besides, I think we all can agree on what's not a robot (like from our stand point eg. ROV's and fridge lights