ArtBots is an international robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

 talent show

Talent show

A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...

 held in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and other cities. It is sponsored by a variety of arts organizations, produced by an army of volunteers, and is directed by dorkbot

Dorkbot

Dorkbot is a group of affiliated organizations worldwide that sponsor grassroots meetings of artists, engineers, designers, scientists, inventors, and anyone else working under the very broad umbrella of electronic art...

 founder Douglas Repetto.

ArtBots is vaguely modeled on a tongue-in-cheek

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 version of Battlebots

BattleBots

BattleBots is an American company that hosts robot competitions. BattleBots is also the name of the television show created from the competition footage. BattleBots Inc...

, where robotic art submissions are curated for a group show based not on their ability to fight one another, but on their ability to make (or be) art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

.

The show runs for a number of days, and two (nominal) prizes are awarded: the People's Choice Award goes to the work that gets the most audience votes, while the Robot Choice Award is decided on by the artists themselves. ArtBots is dedicated to the creation, presentation, and celebration of robotic art and art-making robotics, and to the promotion of the idea that robotics, and new technologies in general, are accessible, fun, intelligible, and useful, and that "regular people", not just a technological elite, can participate in and influence our society's technological progress. The show is promoted by arts organizations, engineering groups such as the Robotics Society of America, and educational institutions like Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 (NYU), and Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...

.