Robots

Robots were first built by Humans to improve their lives. It has gotten to the point now that robots outnumber Humans&mdash;or at least, voting humans&mdash;by one. Humanoid robots, over the years while Professor Hubert Farnsworth was working at Mom's robot company, evolved to the sometimes sleek functioning machines in the year 3000. A revolution of robot development was made when fuel efficiency was sacrificed when a new, sportier robot was demanded by Mom. These new "sports utility" (classified this to get them past emission standards) robots came out resulting in increased pollution on Earth. In 3003 a new robot model came out Robot 1-X which unlike past robots, didn't malfuction, wasn't polluting and was kind and not rude.

Robots in Society
Robots can acquire wealth, marry, obtain jobs, consume resources, own property and live in robot societies. Each different facet of society in the year 3000 has some form of robot related - to human benefit or not.

Robots in Futurama seem to exist in conflict with the idea of form and function - to which present day industrial design strives. In the year circa 3000 robots consume high volumes of resources (Calculon's luxury Bel-air home) and inhabit land (Robot Arms Apartments). In society they can be found in all levels of society - in the gutter "jacking on" (getting stoned on electricity) and at the top (Hedonism bot appears to be very wealthy, commissioning artistic endeavours on a whim). There is however little social mobility as a robot's function is predetermined by its type.

There appear to be two main types, or castes, of robot:

Laborer Robots
Likely built by Humans, these robots are bound to their programming. They can be easily identified by the fact that their name often reflects their job. They are not all "laborers", per se, but they were built for a specific job, which they perform without question.

Civilian Robots
Possibly built by robots (evidenced by Bender's statement, "We can always build more killbots" (1ACV04)), these are free to do as they please, and in fact, many are homeless. They still seem to pay homage to Mom on Mother's Day, though. Their names tend to have little to do with their occupations.

Early history (21st century)
The oldest known robot is Calculon, who refreshes his look every now and then to avoid suspection, and claim to be much younger. Created around year 2000, he was originally a simple motorized arm working who helped creating Project Satan, an evil car and the first known robot to have a consiousness and mobility.

The dawn of Dark Matter fueled robots (30th century)
Around year 2900, Mom's Friendly Robot Company hired Hubert Farnsworth, who created the foundation of the new era of robots, with his technology of Dark Matter Engines. This allowed a series of new robots, including the First Robot Capable of Qualifying for a Boat Loan.

Sport-Utility Robots (2927 - )
A new break-through in robotics was in 2927, as Professor Farnsworth invented the first Sport-Utility Robot (SUR). This robot was designed to be big and sporty (classified as a light truck), and is the inspiration to most modern robots, including Bender. The SUR runs on alcohol and pollutes generally reminiscent of human burps, which caused Global warming in 3003, leading to all SURs doomed to extinction by the president in the so-called Big Robot Party. Although they were saved and global warming was stopped for the time being, the robots are now considered obsolete due to their effect on environment.

Known Civilian Robots

 * Countess de la Roca
 * Robot Elders
 * Tinny Tim
 * Roberto
 * The Crushinator
 * Vladimir
 * Helper
 * Hedonism Bot

Robot Animals

 * Robo-Puppy

Unknown Status

 * Destructor
 * Robot Mafia
 * Were-Car
 * Killbots
 * Sinclair 2K
 * Lisa
 * Cartridge Unit
 * Bender's First Born Son
 * Angleyne

Appearances

 * All Episodes