[[Robot]]sRobots<ref>{{Cite book|last=Craig|first=John|title=Introduction to Robotics. Mechanics and Control|publisher=Addison-Wesley|year=1989|isbn=978-0-201-09528-9}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Dagalakis|first=Nicholas G.|title=Industrial Robotics Standards|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470172506.ch24|work=Handbook of Industrial Robotics|year=1999|pages=447–459|place=Hoboken, NJ, USA|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|doi=10.1002/9780470172506.ch24|isbn=978-0-470-17250-6|access-date=2020-12-28}}</ref> have [[Mechanism (engineering)|mechanisms]] consisting of rigid links connected together by [[Kinematic pair|joints]] with either linear (prismatic ''P'') or rotary (revolute ''R'') motion, or combinations of the two. Active prismatic ''P'' and active revolute ''R'' joints are driven by motors under programmable control to manipulate objects to perform complex automated tasks. The linear motion of active prismatic ''P'' joints may be driven by rotary motors through gears or pulleys. Cartesian coordinate robots are controlled by mutually [[Perpendicular#:~:text=In elementary geometry, the property,intersect at a right angle.|perpendicular]] active prismatic ''P'' joints that are aligned with the ''X, Y, Z'' axes of a [[Cartesian coordinate system]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Descartes|first=Rene|date=2009-01-01|title=Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason, and seeking truth in the sciences|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5214/ans.0972.7531.2009.160108|journal=Annals of Neurosciences|volume=16|issue=1|pages=17–21|doi=10.5214/ans.0972.7531.2009.160108|issn=0972-7531|hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t20c64v5p|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Klubertanz|first=George P.|date=1969|title=Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology. By Rene Descartes. Trans, with Introd. Paul J. Olscamp|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/schoolman196946493|journal=The Modern Schoolman|volume=46|issue=4|pages=370–371|doi=10.5840/schoolman196946493|issn=0026-8402}}</ref> Although not strictly ‘robots’, other types of [[Manipulator (device)|manipulators]], such as computer [[Numerical control|numerically controlled]] (CNC) machines, [[3D printing#Processes and printers|3D printers]] or [[Plotter|pen plotters]], also have the same mechanical arrangement of mutually perpendicular active prismatic ''P'' joints.
