Service robot

Service robots assist human beings, typically by performing a job that is dirty, dull, distant, dangerous or repetitive.

[2] According to ISO 8373 robots require “a degree of autonomy”, which is the “ability to perform intended tasks based on current state and sensing, without human intervention”.

These range from the multiple repetitive tasks made by gene samplers and sequencers, to systems which can almost replace the scientist in designing and running experiments, analysing data and even forming hypotheses.

Autonomous scientific robots perform tasks which humans would find difficult or impossible, from the deep sea to outer space.

The Woods Hole Sentry can descend to 4,500 metres and allows a higher payload as it does not need a support ship or the oxygen and other facilities demanded by human piloted vessels.