Robotics glossary

This robotics glossary explains the terms buyers, engineers and students meet when choosing and deploying robots: robot types from cobots and AMRs to humanoids and exoskeletons, the hardware and sensors inside them, the software and AI that drive them, the safety standards and regulations that apply, and the trade terms used when importing them. Definitions are in plain English, and entries on standards, regulations, trade terms or figures link to the issuing body, such as ISO, IEC, the European Union, the ICC or the International Federation of Robotics.

Robot types

Robot

A robot is a programmed, actuated mechanism with a degree of autonomy that performs locomotion, manipulation or positioning. This is the definition in ISO 8373:2021, the international robotics vocabulary. Autonomy means the ability to carry out intended tasks based on current state and sensing, without human intervention, and it can be partial or full. A mobile robot is simply a robot able to travel under its own control.

Source: Robot, mobile robot and service robot definitions (ISO 8373:2021) (International Federation of Robotics)

Industrial robot

An industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator, programmable in three or more axes, that can be fixed in place or mounted on a mobile platform for automation in an industrial environment. This is the ISO 8373:2021 definition used by the International Federation of Robotics. By mechanical structure, industrial robots are classed as articulated, SCARA, Cartesian, cylindrical or parallel (delta) robots.

Source: Industrial robots: definition and classification by mechanical structure (International Federation of Robotics)

Collaborative robot (cobot)

A collaborative robot, or cobot, is a robot built to share a workspace with people instead of working behind fences. ISO's guidance describes four ways to do this safely: safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, and power and force limiting. The guiding principle is that any incidental contact between person and machine must not result in pain or injury. Typical cobot tasks include machine tending, packing and assembly.

Source: Robots and humans can work together with new ISO guidance (ISO/TS 15066), March 2016 (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Articulated robot

An articulated robot is a manipulator with three or more rotary joints, giving it an arm-like structure with something like a shoulder, elbow and wrist. It is the familiar factory robot used for welding, painting, machine tending and material handling. More joints give more freedom to reach around obstacles and orient a tool, at the cost of more complex control. Many collaborative robots are articulated designs.

Source: Industrial robots: definition and classification by mechanical structure (International Federation of Robotics)

SCARA robot

A SCARA robot is a manipulator with two parallel rotary joints that make it compliant in one selected plane, usually horizontal, while staying stiff in the vertical direction. That makes SCARAs fast and precise for pick-and-place, small-parts assembly, screwdriving and packaging on a flat work surface. The name stands for selective compliance assembly (or articulated) robot arm. They trade reach and flexibility for speed and a small footprint.

Source: Industrial robots: definition and classification by mechanical structure (International Federation of Robotics)

Delta robot (parallel robot)

A delta robot is a type of parallel robot, a manipulator whose arms have links that form a closed-loop structure. Several lightweight arms connect the fixed base to a single moving platform that carries the tool. Because the motors stay in the base, the moving mass is small, which suits very fast pick-and-place of light items in food, pharmaceutical and electronics packaging. The trade-offs are a compact, dome-shaped workspace and modest payload.

Source: Industrial robots: definition and classification by mechanical structure (International Federation of Robotics)

Service robot

A service robot is a robot in personal or professional use that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment, as defined in ISO 8373:2021. Professional service robots, such as cleaning, inspection, logistics and delivery robots, are built for use by trained operators. Consumer service robots, such as robot vacuums and lawn mowers, are built for anyone to use, with no professional training needed for operation or setup.

Source: Robot, mobile robot and service robot definitions (ISO 8373:2021) (International Federation of Robotics)

Medical robot

A medical robot is a robot intended to be used as medical electrical equipment or as part of a medical electrical system. The 2021 edition of the ISO robotics vocabulary, ISO 8373:2021, made medical robots a third category alongside industrial and service robots. Examples include surgical robots, robotic rehabilitation and gait-training systems, and powered exoskeletons used in therapy.

Source: Service robots: definitions and classification (International Federation of Robotics)

Autonomous mobile robot (AMR)

An autonomous mobile robot (AMR) moves materials or carries tools around a site under its own control, plotting its own course with onboard sensors and maps and steering around people and obstacles. The key difference from an AGV is free-space navigation instead of a fixed path. US mobile robot safety work classes an AMR that only drives and navigates as Type A; adding conveyors, lifts or other non-arm attachments makes it Type B.

Source: Industrial Mobile Robot Safety: R15.08 (International Robot Safety Conference 2022) (Association for Advancing Automation (A3))

Automated guided vehicle (AGV)

An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a driverless vehicle that carries or tows loads along a planned route, traditionally defined by wires, magnetic tape, reflectors or floor markers. If its path is blocked it typically stops and waits rather than finding a way around. ISO 3691-4:2023, the safety standard for driverless industrial trucks and their systems, names both automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots among its examples.

Source: ISO 3691-4:2023 Industrial trucks — Safety requirements and verification — Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Mobile manipulator

A mobile manipulator is a robot arm mounted on a mobile platform, usually an AMR, so it can drive to a workstation and then pick, place, inspect or tend machines there. Because hazards from driving and from arm motion combine, US industrial mobile robot safety work treats it as its own class, Type C. They suit jobs such as tending several machines in turn or picking items in changing locations.

Source: Industrial Mobile Robot Safety: R15.08 (International Robot Safety Conference 2022) (Association for Advancing Automation (A3))

Humanoid robot

A humanoid robot has a human-like form, typically two arms with hands, two legs, a torso and a head, so it can perform tasks in environments designed for people without adapting them. In 2025 the International Federation of Robotics noted that humanoids were still produced only in small numbers, without economies of scale, and that a battery cycle did not last a full working day. Target sectors include logistics, automotive manufacturing, healthcare and retail.

Source: Humanoid Robots: Vision and Reality, position paper summary (2025) (International Federation of Robotics)

Legged robot (quadruped, robot dog)

A legged robot walks on articulated legs instead of wheels or tracks. Four-legged quadrupeds, often called robot dogs, can climb stairs, step over debris and cross uneven ground, which suits industrial inspection, security patrols, public safety and research; two-legged humanoids are legged robots too. ISO 18646-5:2026 describes methods for specifying and evaluating the locomotion performance of legged robots, mainly by testing the complete machine.

Source: ISO 18646-5:2026 Robotics — Performance criteria and related test methods for service robots — Part 5: Locomotion for legged robots (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Exoskeleton

An exoskeleton is a wearable structure that works alongside the user's own joints to support, assist or restore movement. Powered exoskeletons use motors or other actuators and are used in rehabilitation, mobility assistance and physically demanding work; passive models store and release energy with springs or elastic elements. In the ISO robotics vocabulary, an unpowered exoskeleton is classed as a robotic device rather than a robot.

Source: Service robots: definitions and classification (International Federation of Robotics)

Delivery robot

A delivery robot is a mobile service robot that carries parcels, food or supplies to a recipient, either outdoors on sidewalks and campuses for last-mile delivery or indoors in hotels, hospitals and offices. They typically navigate with cameras and other sensors, and many are watched by remote operators who can step in when a robot gets stuck. The International Federation of Robotics notes that numerous start-ups are working on autonomous last-mile delivery.

Source: Robot, mobile robot and service robot definitions (ISO 8373:2021) (International Federation of Robotics)

Drone (unmanned aircraft)

A drone is an aircraft flown without a pilot on board, either by remote control or autonomously along programmed routes. The complete setup, including the aircraft, the ground control station and the communication links, is often called an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Robotic drones are used for inspection, surveying and mapping, agriculture, warehouse inventory counts and delivery, and they rely heavily on GPS, cameras and inertial sensors.

Hardware & sensing

End effector

An end effector is the device fitted to the end of a robot arm that actually does the work: a gripper, vacuum cup, welding torch, screwdriver, spray gun, camera or other sensor. It attaches to the robot's wrist flange, often through a quick or automatic tool changer so one robot can swap tools. Choosing the end effector, and counting its weight against the robot's payload, is a large part of designing any robot application.

Gripper

A gripper is an end effector that grasps and holds objects. Common types are mechanical grippers with two or more fingers driven by electric motors or compressed air, vacuum grippers that use suction cups, magnetic grippers for steel parts, and soft grippers made of flexible materials for delicate or irregular items such as food. Multi-fingered robot hands, used on humanoids, add tactile sensing for dexterous manipulation.

Degrees of freedom (DoF)

Degrees of freedom (DoF) count the independent ways a robot, or part of it, can move; each rotary or sliding joint usually adds one, and robot specifications often call them axes. Placing a tool at any position and orientation in space needs six, which is why six-axis arms are common, while extra axes add redundancy for working around obstacles. ISO 8373:2021 requires an industrial robot to be programmable in three or more axes.

Source: Industrial robots: definition and classification by mechanical structure (International Federation of Robotics)

Payload

Payload is the maximum mass a robot can carry at its tool flange while still meeting its rated speed and accuracy. The figure has to cover the end effector, cables and fixtures as well as the part being handled. Allowable payload usually falls as the load's center of gravity moves farther from the wrist, so manufacturers publish load diagrams. For mobile robots, payload means the weight the vehicle can carry or tow.

Repeatability

Repeatability is how closely a robot returns to the same taught position over many repeated cycles, usually stated as a plus-or-minus distance in millimeters. It differs from absolute accuracy, which is how close the robot gets to a commanded position it was never taught, and industrial robots are typically far more repeatable than they are accurate. ISO 9283:1998 sets the performance criteria and related test methods used for such figures.

Source: ISO 9283:1998 Manipulating industrial robots — Performance criteria and related test methods (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Absolute accuracy

Absolute accuracy is the difference between the position a robot is commanded to reach, for example a point calculated in CAD or offline programming software, and where it actually ends up. It is affected by manufacturing tolerances, joint and link flexibility, temperature and load, and calibration can improve it. Applications programmed offline or guided by vision depend on accuracy. ISO 9283:1998 covers performance criteria and test methods for industrial robots.

Source: ISO 9283:1998 Manipulating industrial robots — Performance criteria and related test methods (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Reach (work envelope)

Reach is the maximum distance a robot arm can extend from its base to its wrist or tool flange. The full three-dimensional volume the robot can access is called its work envelope or workspace. Buyers check reach against the layout of conveyors, machines and fixtures, remembering that the end effector adds length and that payload, speed and accuracy can be reduced near the edges of the envelope.

Actuator

An actuator is the component that turns energy into motion in a robot joint, gripper or leg. Most robot actuators combine an electric motor with a gearbox such as a strain-wave or planetary reducer; others are pneumatic or hydraulic. Humanoids and legged robots often use compact, backdrivable actuators with torque sensing so they can move compliantly and absorb impacts. Actuators largely set a robot's strength, speed, precision and cost.

Lidar

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, measures distance by sending out laser pulses and timing their reflections. Scanning or solid-state lidar sensors build a 3D point cloud of the surroundings, which mobile robots, delivery robots, robot dogs and drones use for mapping, localization and obstacle detection. Safety laser scanners are a related technology used to create protective fields around AMRs and robot cells.

Depth camera (3D camera)

A depth camera measures how far each point in a scene is from the sensor, not just its color. Common methods are stereo vision with two lenses, structured light that projects a known pattern, and time-of-flight sensing that measures how long light takes to return. Robots use depth images to locate and pick objects, avoid obstacles and recognize people; RGB-D cameras pair depth with an ordinary color image.

Force/torque sensor

A force/torque sensor, usually mounted between a robot's wrist and its tool, measures the forces and twisting moments acting on the tool along and around each axis. Robots use it for tasks that need a sense of touch, such as polishing at constant pressure, inserting tight-fitting parts, hand guiding and detecting collisions. Many cobots instead estimate contact forces from joint torque sensors or motor currents.

Haptics

Haptics is technology that recreates the sense of touch through vibration, pressure or resisting force, so a user can feel virtual objects or what a remote robot is touching. Haptic gloves bring this to the hands for virtual reality training and teleoperation, and can also capture hand motion for teaching robots. In the ISO robotics vocabulary, a haptic device that lacks some characteristics of a robot is classed as a robotic device.

Source: Service robots: definitions and classification (International Federation of Robotics)

Smart glasses

Smart glasses are wearable computers in an eyeglass form that add cameras, microphones, speakers and often a small display to the frames. Augmented reality models overlay information on the wearer's view, while AI glasses focus on voice assistants, translation and hands-free photo and video capture. In industry they are used for remote expert support, pick-by-vision in warehouses and as a first-person viewpoint for robot teleoperation or teaching.

Software & AI

SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping)

SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, is the technique a robot uses to build a map of an unknown space while working out its own position within that map at the same time. It fuses data from lidar, cameras, wheel odometry or inertial sensors. SLAM lets AMRs, robot vacuums, drones and legged robots navigate without fixed markers, and the resulting map is then reused for route planning.

Teleoperation

Teleoperation is controlling a robot from a distance: a person sends commands through a joystick, controller, leader arm, VR headset or haptic gloves while watching video and sensor feeds. It is used for hazardous work, remote inspection and surgery, as a fallback when autonomous robots get stuck, and to collect demonstration data for training robot AI. A purely teleoperated remote manipulator is classed as a robotic device rather than a robot.

Source: Service robots: definitions and classification (International Federation of Robotics)

Vision-language-action (VLA) model

A vision-language-action (VLA) model is an AI model that takes in camera images and a natural-language instruction, such as "put the cup in the sink", and outputs robot actions directly. VLAs are usually built on large vision-language models pre-trained on internet data, then trained on robot demonstration data, so one model can generalize across tasks, objects and sometimes different robot bodies. They are widely explored for general-purpose robots, including humanoids.

Sim-to-real transfer

Sim-to-real transfer means training or testing a robot's control policy in a physics simulation and then deploying it on the physical robot. Simulation is fast, cheap and safe, but differences in friction, sensor noise, lighting and dynamics, known as the reality gap, can make policies fail on real hardware. Techniques such as domain randomization, which varies simulated conditions widely, and careful system identification help close that gap.

Digital twin

A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical robot, production line or facility that is kept in step with the real system using live data. Engineers use twins to plan layouts, check reach and cycle times, program robots offline, train AI in simulation and monitor equipment health once it is running. Its value depends on how faithfully the model and its data reflect the real asset.

ROS (Robot Operating System)

ROS, the Robot Operating System, is a widely used open-source collection of software libraries and tools for building robot applications. Despite its name it is not an operating system but middleware, typically run on Linux, that lets separate programs for sensors, navigation, planning and control exchange messages. ROS 2, the current generation, was redesigned for production use, with better support for security, real-time control and multi-robot systems.

Motion planning

Motion planning is the computation of a collision-free path, and the timing along it, for a robot to move from a start to a goal, whether a mobile robot crossing a warehouse or an arm reaching into a bin. Planners account for obstacles, joint limits, speed and smoothness. Path planning finds the route, trajectory planning adds velocities and accelerations, and inverse kinematics converts a desired tool pose into joint angles.

Reinforcement learning (RL)

Reinforcement learning is a machine-learning method in which an agent learns by trial and error, receiving rewards for good outcomes and penalties for bad ones. In robotics it is mostly carried out in simulation, where huge numbers of attempts are cheap and safe, and it is widely used to teach legged robots and humanoids to walk, balance and recover from pushes before the learned policy is transferred to real hardware.

Imitation learning

Imitation learning trains a robot to perform a task by copying examples of a person doing it, rather than by hand-coding every step. Demonstrations are collected by teleoperation, by physically guiding the robot, with motion-capture or haptic gloves, or from video. Behavior cloning, the simplest form, learns a direct mapping from what the robot observes to the action it should take. Large demonstration datasets are used to train VLA models.

Machine vision

Machine vision uses cameras and image-processing software to let machines inspect, measure, identify and locate objects. In robotics it enables vision-guided picking from bins and conveyors, quality inspection, barcode and label reading, and navigation. Traditional rule-based vision tools are increasingly combined with deep-learning models that can cope with varied, reflective or unfamiliar items.

Fleet management software

Fleet management software coordinates many mobile robots in one facility. It assigns tasks, manages traffic at intersections and in narrow aisles, schedules charging, and connects robots to warehouse or manufacturing systems as well as doors and elevators. Mixed fleets from several vendors need common interfaces so one system can direct them, and the quality of fleet management largely determines the real throughput of an AMR deployment.

Embodied AI

Embodied AI is artificial intelligence that perceives and acts in the physical world through a body, such as a robot, vehicle or wearable device, rather than only processing text or images. It links perception, reasoning and motor control, and learns from interaction with real or simulated environments. The term, along with "physical AI", is widely used for humanoids and other general-purpose robots driven by foundation models.

Safety & standards

ISO 10218 (industrial robot safety)

ISO 10218 is the core international safety standard for industrial robots, revised in 2025. ISO 10218-1:2025 covers the robot itself, treated as partly completed machinery, with requirements for inherently safe design, risk reduction measures and information for use. ISO 10218-2:2025 covers industrial robot applications and robot cells. Part 1 excludes service robots and consumer products, as well as medical, military, airborne and underwater robots.

Source: ISO 10218-1:2025 Robotics — Safety requirements — Part 1: Industrial robots (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

ISO/TS 15066 (collaborative robots)

ISO/TS 15066:2016 is the ISO technical specification setting safety requirements for collaborative industrial robot systems and their work environment. It supplements the guidance on collaborative operation in ISO 10218-1 and ISO 10218-2, whose robot and robot-cell requirements a collaborative application must also meet. ISO has marked it for revision: ISO/AWI 15066-1 is under development and will replace it.

Source: ISO/TS 15066:2016 Robots and robotic devices — Collaborative robots (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

ISO 13482 (personal care robot safety)

ISO 13482:2014 sets safety requirements for personal care robots: mobile servant robots, physical assistant robots and person carrier robots that improve users' quality of life, including those in physical contact with people. It does not apply to robots traveling faster than 20 km/h, robot toys, flying or water-borne robots, industrial robots, robots as medical devices, or military robots. ISO expects to replace it with a new edition, ISO/FDIS 13482.

Source: ISO 13482:2014 Robots and robotic devices — Safety requirements for personal care robots (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

ISO 8373 (robotics vocabulary)

ISO 8373 is the international vocabulary standard for robotics. It defines the basic terms used across the field, including robot, industrial robot, service robot, medical robot and mobile robot, and other standards and robot statistics build on these definitions. The current edition is ISO 8373:2021, the third edition. A fourth edition, ISO/DIS 8373, is in development and is expected to replace it.

Source: ISO 8373:2021 Robotics — Vocabulary (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

ISO 3691-4 (driverless industrial trucks)

ISO 3691-4:2023 specifies safety requirements and means of verification for driverless industrial trucks and their systems. Its examples explicitly include automated guided vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, bots, automated guided carts, tunnel tuggers and under-cart vehicles, which makes it a key safety standard for AGV and AMR projects. ISO has marked it for revision, and a new draft, ISO/DIS 3691-4, is in progress.

Source: ISO 3691-4:2023 Industrial trucks — Safety requirements and verification — Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025

ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 is the American National Standard for industrial robots and robot systems safety requirements, published by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). It is the US national adoption of ISO 10218, and the 2025 edition, its first major revision since 2011, has three parts: industrial robots; industrial robot applications and robot cells; and use of industrial robot cells.

Source: Global Robotic Standards: ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 (Association for Advancing Automation (A3))

ANSI/RIA R15.08 (industrial mobile robots)

ANSI/RIA R15.08 is the US standard series on safety requirements for industrial mobile robots, developed under the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Part 1, ANSI/RIA R15.08-1-2020, covers the mobile robot itself; Part 2 addresses integrating mobile robots into a facility. The series sorts industrial mobile robots into Type A (navigation only), Type B (with non-arm attachments) and Type C (mobile manipulators).

Source: Industrial Mobile Robot Safety: R15.08 (International Robot Safety Conference 2022) (Association for Advancing Automation (A3))

Functional safety

Functional safety is the part of overall safety that depends on a system or equipment operating correctly in response to its inputs, for example a robot stopping when a light curtain is broken or slowing when a person approaches. The umbrella standard is IEC 61508, which takes a risk-based approach to the performance required of safety-related systems. For machinery, IEC 62061 applies its principles, alongside ISO 13849-1.

Source: Overview of IEC 61508 & Functional Safety (International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC))

Safety integrity level (SIL)

A safety integrity level (SIL) is one of four discrete levels used in IEC 61508 to specify the safety integrity requirements of a safety function carried out by electrical, electronic or programmable safety-related systems. SIL 4 is the highest and SIL 1 the lowest, and the higher the SIL, the greater the risk reduction. For machinery such as robot cells, the sector standard IEC 62061 builds on IEC 61508.

Source: Overview of IEC 61508 & Functional Safety (International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC))

Performance level (PL)

A performance level (PL) expresses how well the safety-related parts of a machine's control system perform a safety function, using the method in ISO 13849-1:2023. The standard covers the design of these parts, including software, for high-demand and continuous operation in any technology. For each safety function, a required performance level (PLr) is set for the application and the design must meet it. Robot specifications often quote PL values.

Source: ISO 13849-1:2023 Safety of machinery — Safety-related parts of control systems — Part 1: General principles for design (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Emergency stop (E-stop)

An emergency stop is a manually triggered function, usually a prominent red push-button, that brings a machine or robot to a stop to avert or reduce harm to people, damage to equipment or disruption of work. ISO 13850:2015 sets out the functional requirements and design principles for the emergency stop function on machinery, regardless of the type of energy used. Robot controllers, teach pendants and mobile robots typically carry an emergency stop button.

Source: ISO 13850:2015 Safety of machinery — Emergency stop function — Principles for design (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Power and force limiting (PFL)

Power and force limiting is a collaborative operation method in which contact between a robot and a person is allowed, but the robot's power, force, speed and design keep any incidental contact below levels that would cause pain or injury. ISO/TS 15066 supports these applications with data from a study on pain thresholds for different parts of the human body. Sharp edges and protrusions must be minimized.

Source: Robots and humans can work together with new ISO guidance (ISO/TS 15066), March 2016 (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

Speed and separation monitoring (SSM)

Speed and separation monitoring is a collaborative operation method in which sensors track people near a robot, and the robot slows down, stops or moves away to keep a safe distance. Because contact is avoided rather than limited, it can be used with faster and heavier robots than power and force limiting. ISO/TS 15066 gives detailed guidance on maximum allowed speeds and minimum separation distances.

Source: Robots and humans can work together with new ISO guidance (ISO/TS 15066), March 2016 (International Organization for Standardization (ISO))

IP rating (ingress protection)

An IP (ingress protection) rating states how well an enclosure keeps out dust and water, based on tests defined in IEC 60529. The code is "IP" plus two characters: the first rates protection against solid objects and dust, the second against water, with higher numbers meaning more protection. An X stands in for a characteristic that is not rated, as in IP5X or IPX4. Outdoor robots, drones and wearables often quote IP ratings.

Source: IEC TS 63334:2021, dust and water ingress testing to IEC 60529 (IP5X, IPX4, IPX5, IPX6) (International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC))

CE marking

CE marking is the mark a manufacturer places on a product to declare that it conforms with the EU harmonisation legislation that applies to it, such as the machinery rules. It is the visible result of a conformity assessment process, and it may only be affixed after the product has been tested and the required conformity assessment procedure has been completed. Machinery placed on the EU market from 20 January 2027 must follow the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 instead of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.

Source: Machinery: Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (European Commission)

EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 is the EU law on machinery that replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Adopted on 14 June 2023, it applies from 20 January 2027, although some rules, such as those for notified bodies, applied from 20 January 2024. It aims to better cover new technologies, including autonomous mobile machinery such as robots, connected equipment and artificial intelligence whose learning modules ensure safety functions.

Source: Regulation 2023/1230/EU – machinery (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA))

Buying & logistics

Incoterms® rules

Incoterms® rules are a set of eleven three-letter trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce and used in sales contracts to clarify the tasks, costs and risks involved in delivering goods from seller to buyer. The current version, Incoterms® 2020, entered into force on 1 January 2020. A contract names the rule, the place and the version, for example "DDP Mumbai, Incoterms® 2020".

Source: Incoterms® rules (International Chamber of Commerce (ICC))

EXW (Ex Works)

Ex Works is the Incoterms® rule that keeps the seller's obligations to a minimum. The seller makes the goods available at an agreed place, typically its own premises, and the buyer handles loading, transport, and export and import clearance, bearing all costs and risks from that point. Buying a robot EXW from an overseas factory means the buyer must also arrange export formalities in the seller's country.

Source: DDP & EXW Incoterms® 2020 explained: Key differences (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

FCA (Free Carrier)

Free Carrier is the Incoterms® 2020 rule under which the seller delivers the goods to the carrier arranged by the buyer. If delivery is at the seller's premises, risk passes once the goods are loaded on the buyer's means of transport; at another named place, it passes when they arrive there ready for unloading. The ICC notes that for goods in containers FCA is typically a better choice than FOB, even for sea freight.

Source: Place of delivery and risk transfer in international trade contracts (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

FOB (Free On Board)

Free On Board is an Incoterms® rule for sea and inland waterway transport only. The seller delivers the goods, and risk passes from seller to buyer, when the goods are on board the vessel nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment. Because the buyer nominates the vessel, the buyer arranges the main sea carriage. For goods in containers, the ICC notes that FCA is typically a better choice.

Source: Place of delivery and risk transfer in international trade contracts (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)

Cost, Insurance and Freight is an Incoterms® rule for goods shipped by sea. The seller contracts and pays for carriage to the named port of destination and buys insurance cover for the goods, but risk passes to the buyer much earlier, when the goods are on board the vessel contracted by the seller at shipment. Buyers should therefore check the insurance terms and consider their own cover.

Source: Place of delivery and risk transfer in international trade contracts (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

DAP (Delivered at Place)

Delivered at Place is the Incoterms® rule under which the seller delivers, and risk passes, once the goods are at the agreed destination, ready for unloading. The seller pays transport to that point and clears the goods for export, while the buyer handles import customs formalities and their costs, including duties and taxes. Where a foreign seller cannot legally clear goods for import, DAP is often more practical than DDP.

Source: DAP & DDP Incoterms® 2020 explained: Key differences (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)

Delivered Duty Paid is the Incoterms® rule at the opposite end from EXW. The seller delivers and transfers risk at the agreed destination, typically the buyer's premises, and handles and pays for transport plus all export and import customs formalities, including import duties and taxes. That makes DDP a door-to-door delivery, and a DDP price works like a landed cost for the buyer, apart from unloading.

Source: DDP & EXW Incoterms® 2020 explained: Key differences (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

Customs clearance

Customs clearance is the process of completing export or import formalities so goods can leave or enter a country: lodging declarations, classifying the goods, presenting documents such as the commercial invoice, packing list and any certificates, and paying duties and taxes. Under the Incoterms® rules, EXW leaves both export and import clearance to the buyer, while DDP makes the seller responsible for both.

Source: DDP & EXW Incoterms® 2020 explained: Key differences (ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce)

Import duty (tariff)

An import duty, or tariff, is a tax a country charges on goods as they enter, usually calculated from the goods' customs value, tariff classification and origin. Import taxes such as VAT or GST are often charged as well. Who pays depends on the agreed Incoterms® rule. Under DDP the seller is responsible for all duties, taxes and import formalities in the destination country; under FOB, for example, the buyer pays them.

Source: Using the Incoterms® 2020 Rules to Manage Tariff Risk in International Trade (April 2025) (International Chamber of Commerce (ICC))

ATA Carnet

An ATA Carnet is an international customs document that permits the duty-free and tax-free temporary import of goods for up to one year and serves as a guarantee for the customs duties and taxes. Exhibitors and sales teams use it to take demonstration robots, samples and professional equipment to trade fairs and customer sites abroad. The ICC says it is implemented in about 80 countries and customs territories.

Source: ATA Carnet (International Chamber of Commerce (ICC))

Letter of credit (documentary credit)

A letter of credit, or documentary credit, is a bank's undertaking to pay the seller once the seller presents documents, such as the invoice and transport documents, that comply with the credit's terms. It gives the seller a bank's promise of payment and lets the buyer pay only against evidence of shipment. The ICC publishes the rules banks apply, UCP 600, and the eUCP supplement for electronic documents.

Source: Trade finance (UCP 600, eUCP and ISBP) (International Chamber of Commerce (ICC))

Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS)

Robots-as-a-Service is a business model in which a customer pays a recurring subscription or usage fee for robots, often including software, maintenance and support, instead of buying them outright. It turns a large upfront purchase into an operating cost and lets firms scale their robotic operations up or down with demand. The International Federation of Robotics expects RaaS models to lower adoption barriers for service robots considerably.

Source: World Robotics 2025 Service Robots, Executive Summary (International Federation of Robotics)