Scientists often have the feeling that, through their work, they are learning about some aspect of themselves. Physicists see this connection in their work; so do, for example, psychologists and chemists. In the study of robotics, the connection between the field of study and ourselves is unusually obvious. And, unlike a science that seeks only to analyze, robotics as currently pursued takes the engineering bent toward synthesis. Perhaps it is for these reasons that the field fascinates so many of us. The study of robotics concerns itself with the desire to synthesize some aspects of human function by the use of mechanisms, sensors, actuators, and computers. Obviously, this is.
