Robots are mechanical devices that can be programmed to perform some task of manipulation or locomotion under automatic control. This paper discusses: (1) early developments of the robotics industry in the United States; (2) the present structure of the industry; (3) noneconomic factors related to the use of robots; (4) labor considerations (noting how productivity improvements resulting from the use of robots and related technologies can affect labor and pointing out a number of education and training issues raised by robotics in robot installation, programming, and maintenance); (5) productivity and capital formation (considering whether there is adequate capital to fund the modernization of industrial plants for use of automation technology, to fund the construction and expansion of plants to produce robots in quantities necessary to have a significant economic impact, and to fund entrepreneurs who wish to develop new types of robots for new applications); (6) robot applications, focusing on spot welding, arc welding, spray painting and coating, and on advantages offered by industrial robots in painting), machine loading and unloading, machining, transferring, and assembling; and (7) prospects for the future. (JN)