Figuring out how to make computers as human-like as HAL 9000 was imagined in 2001: A Space Odyssey turns out to be harder than originally expected. HAL 9000 was able to have conversations with the crew, read lips, and use commonsense reasoning - all areas of active research in the field of artificial intelligence.
Today's robots are amazing. Whether by mowing our lawns, vacuuming our carpets, welding and spray pointing our cars, or taking out the garbage, robots are freeing us from the boring, repetitive jobs we would rather avoid.
Many smart people, including Bill Gates, predicts that robotics will be the next hot field. He compares the current robotics industry to the computing industry when he and Paul Allen launched Microsoft in the 1970s.
In CS 112: Fundamentals of computer science you will program the easy-to-use Scribbler robots to act intelligently enough to draw pictures, solve mazes, dance with each other, or race across the room.