I'm with you on this one. If it isn't autonomous, at least part of the time, it can't qualify as a robot. Most (if not all) robot builder clubs and hobbyists would also hold that view from what I've been told.
Getting the media to distinguish between even as obvious a concept range as 'car' and 'robot vehicle' is right on the edge of their ability, not to mention their expectations of viewers ...
Note that I have been considered cynical; I have long held that, by Clarke's Law, household light switches qualify as 'magic' for the vast majority of the populace, much less the 'popular media'.
(no subject)
Getting the media to distinguish between even as obvious a concept range as 'car' and 'robot vehicle' is right on the edge of their ability, not to mention their expectations of viewers ...
Note that I have been considered cynical; I have long held that, by Clarke's Law, household light switches qualify as 'magic' for the vast majority of the populace, much less the 'popular media'.