Automaton (pl. Automata)

Instrument or set that includes inside itself the mechanism that imparts several movements. A freestanding device or system that carries out a (usually complex) function without outside intervention. An automaton is a mathematical model for a finite state machine (FSM). An FSM is a machine that, given an input, jumps through a sequence of states according to a transition function (which can be expressed as a table). In the common "Mealy" variety of FSMs, this transition function determines which state the automaton will go to next, given a current state and a current symbol. An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically, an autonomous robot.