Corrected entry: During the introductions in Robot Wars Brian asks a man if that is his robot, the man says something like "the correct term is an automaton." This is actually incorrect. An automaton is programmed with tasks to do, and does them when he thinks they are necessary according to his programming, but a robot such as the one in the episode has no intelligence of its own and only responds to commands from the controller.
Rlvlk
19th Jul 2005
Correction: Automaton and robot can be interchangeable terms: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=automaton&x=14&y=18.
Rlvlk