verybad, on 17 November 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:
ro·bot
noun \ˈrō-ˌbät, -bət\
: a real or imaginary machine that is controlled by a computer and is often made to look like a human or animal
: a machine that can do the work of a person and that works
automatically or is controlled by a computer
http://www.merriam-w...ictionary/robot
Robots are not driven by the official terminology.A mech is not a robot, it is a legged vehicle.
I disagree. That infers that they are simply tractors or conveyances with legs. Mechs are autonomous to the point of operating independently while its higher decision making is reserved for the pilot. IIRC, mechs are able to travel and negotiate terrain independently and also respond to combat against it when the pilot is incapacitated or dead.
We could split hairs between types and technoloy such as agro mechs various levels of technology used or missing from a mechs by location and era but when one thinks of a battlemech, they almost always mean a mech that is able to connect to a pilot with a neurohelmet predicting their movements and action and can operate autonomously in more than a limited way.
Describing mechs as vehicles with legs would be inaccurate because its omitting quite a bit capability and autonomy that would blur this description. Are they robots in the sense of an Iron Giant or Terminator designed to be completely independent? No. But mechs are way more like robots with a pilot than a legged tractor with an operator or a tank with a crew.
Edited by LakeDaemon, 17 November 2014 - 11:11 AM.