Editing Robot (section)

==== Telerobots ====

[[File:IED detonator.jpg|thumb|A [[U.S. Marine Corps]] technician prepares to use a telerobot to detonate a buried [[improvised explosive device]] near [[Camp Fallujah]], Iraq.]]

[[telerobotics|Teleoperated robots]], or telerobots, are devices [[teleoperation|remotely operated]] from a distance by a human operator rather than following a predetermined sequence of movements, but which has semi-autonomous behaviour. They are used when a human cannot be present on site to perform a job because it is dangerous, far away, or inaccessible. The robot may be in another room or another country, or may be on a very different scale to the operator. For instance, a laparoscopic surgery robot allows the surgeon to work inside a human patient on a relatively small scale compared to open surgery, significantly shortening recovery time.<ref name="daVinci" /> They can also be used to avoid exposing workers to the hazardous and tight spaces such as in [[Duct (HVAC)|duct]] cleaning.<!--<ref>{{cite news|url=http://on.fb.me/1o843oN |title=The Trouble with Regulation |publisher=National Air Duct Cleaning Association |access-date=25 November 2014 | date=March–April 2014}}</ref>--> When disabling a bomb, the operator sends a small robot to disable it. Several authors have been using a device called the Longpen to sign books remotely.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/celebrities-set-to-reach-for-atwood-s-longpen-1.692622 |title=Celebrities set to reach for Atwood's LongPen |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=21 September 2008 | date=15 August 2007|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522221123/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2007/08/15/longpen-trial.html|archive-date=22 May 2009}}</ref> Teleoperated robot aircraft, like the Predator [[Unmanned Aerial Vehicle]], are increasingly being used by the military. These pilotless drones can search terrain and fire on targets.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200606120018|work=[[New Statesman]]|title=America's robot army |date=12 June 2006 |access-date=24 September 2007 |first=Stephen|last=Graham|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217174704/http://www.newstatesman.com/200606120018|archive-date=17 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/battlefield-robots-to-iraq-and-beyond-0727|work=Defense Industry Daily|title=Battlefield Robots: to Iraq, and Beyond|date=20 June 2005|access-date=24 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826201610/http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/battlefield-robots-to-iraq-and-beyond-0727/|archive-date=26 August 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Hundreds of robots such as [[iRobot]]'s [[Packbot]] and the [[Foster-Miller TALON]] are being used in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]] by the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] to defuse roadside bombs or [[improvised explosive device]]s (IEDs) in an activity known as [[explosive ordnance disposal]] (EOD).<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/bomb.html?pg=3&topic=bomb|title=The Baghdad Bomb Squad|first=Noah|last=Shachtman|date=November 2005|access-date=14 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422132525/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/bomb.html?pg=3&topic=bomb|archive-date=22 April 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>