Animatronics refers to the use of robotic devices to emulate a human or an animal, or to bring realistic features to an otherwise inanimate object. A robot designed to be a convincing imitation of a human being is more specifically labelled as an android. Modern animatronics have found extensive applications in special effects and film theme parks and have, since its inception, been mainly used as a fun show.
Animatronics is a multidisciplinary field that integrates the anatomy, robots, mechatronics and marionette, resulting in realistic animation. The animatronic figures are often fed by pneumatic's, hydraulics and / or by electrical means, and can be implemented using both computer control and human control, including teleoperation. Movement actuators are often used to mimic muscular movements and create realistic movements in the limbs. The figures are covered with body shells and flexible skins made of hard and soft plastic materials and finished with details like colours, hair and feathers and other components to make the figure more realistic.
The term audio-animatronics was coined by Walt Disney when it began to develop animatronics for entertainment and film. Audio-animatronics does not differentiate between animatronics and androids. Autonomatronics was also defined by Walt Disney Imagineers, to describe a more advanced audio-animatronic technology that offers cameras and complex sensors to process information around the character environment and to respond to That stimulus.