Bots are robots that work through the various tasks that you teach them. They can be taught (programmed) to do most tasks that the Autonaut can do. All bots are assembled through the Bot Assembly Unit. Bot components and upgrades are crafted in the Basic Bot Workbench, or the upgraded Good Bot Workbench and Super Bot Workbench, to produce more advanced components.
To make a bot on the Mk 0 level (Basic Bot), you add Parts like Logs and Tree Seeds directly to the assembly unit. For higher levels, you need to make the components at the workbench first, then add a head component, a body component and a drive component to the assembly bench to make a bot. This level is unlocked with the Basic Upgrades research and you will need to switch recipes at the assembly unit to be able to build the more advanced bots.
Design[]
One can infer that the bots use some form of extended abacus-based technology, due to the material costs for bot heads and brain upgrades. In addition, the crude brain upgrade clearly looks like an abacus. The lower level heads tend to use acorns (which could form the beads, either wholly or from slices, with the latter likely giving abaci visually similar to the crude brain upgrade) and the higher level heads using coconuts.
It is unclear how the robots could think using abaci. Another interpretation that is that the crude brain upgrade acts as an external tool for the robot, but that does not explain the bot heads’ composition. Likely, the developers did not put a lot of thought into how an abacus would be used for automated calculations, but just used such a proposed system as an explanation for how robots could function at such primitive levels.
The bot bodies function using a box and an axle-type part, with the box obviously forming the torso and the axle-type part connecting the arms to the torso. At earlier levels the planks form the box, but later it requires full panels and fixing pegs, and at the last level, it requires the same parts but with their metal analogues.
The bot drives serve the purpose of storing power and permitting the bot to move. At the earliest level, it is simply a box with an axle and wheels composed of logs. After that, they add gears and true wheels. For the final level, the wheel is missing, but it appears that by that point, the robots are bipedal.
Power is likely kinetic, with energy being stored in a flywheel. This is indicated by the fact that there are no chemicals required for power and energy upgrades, nor technology sophisticated enough for rechargeable batteries and generators. In addition, the components in both the power upgrades and the energy upgrades are composed entirely of gears and axles, which are used for flywheels rather than batteries.
The other upgrades are far simpler than the main parts and power upgrades. For example, the backpack upgrade is just a box. The speed upgrades are gearboxes that change the gear ratio of the bot drive, providing better speeds. And lastly, the first sensor upgrade is simply a magnifying glass, the second sensor upgrade looks to be a wooden parabolic antenna (which would make it mostly useless, as wood is not very reflective), and the third sensor upgrade is not very revealing, other than showing that it uses more modern technology that can be consolidated.
Bot parts and tiers[]
There are 4 tiers of bots: Mk 0, Mk 1, Mk 2, and Mk 3. Bot stats are linked to the components they are crafted from. As soon as you unlock the Mk 1 level, bots can be mixed and matched with which parts they have. You can also upgrade an existing bot with a new part by holding it in your hand and using Ctrl 
.
Tiers other than Mk 0 have variants that can be unlocked via Academy certificates. They are only cosmetic variants and do not come with any stat differences.
Heads[]
| Tier | Max instructions |
Max find area |
Find delay |
Raw costs |
Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 14x14 | 40 ticks (2/3 s) |
0.92 Log 0.33 Tree Seed (1/3 of full bot) |
||
| 16 | 16x16 | 30 ticks (1/2 s) |
0.5 Log 1 Tree Seed |
||
| 20 | 31x31 | 20 ticks (1/3 s) |
1.5 Logs 2 Tree Seeds |
||
| 32 | 36x36 | 10 ticks (1/6 s) |
5 Crude Metal 1 Coconut |
Bodies[]
| Tier | Hand slots |
Backpack slots |
Upgrade slots |
Raw costs |
Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.92 Log 0.33 Tree Seed (1/3 of full bot) |
||
| 4 | 1 | 2 | 1.25 Log | ||
| 6 | 2 | 2 | 8.75 Logs | ||
| 8 | 4 | 3 | 8 Crude Metal |
Drives[]
| Tier | Movement speed |
Movement delay |
Recharge time |
Battery size*1 |
Raw costs |
Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 60 ticks (1 s) |
3 s | 180 s | 0.92 Log 0.33 Tree Seed (1/3 of full bot) |
||
| 0.5 | 40 ticks (2/3 s) |
2 s | 300 s | 1.75 Logs | ||
| 0.75 | 30 ticks (1/2 s) |
1.5 s | 400 s | 11.125 Logs | ||
| 1 | 20 ticks (1/3 s) |
1.5 s | 1000 s*2 | 26 Crude Metal |
*1 In the Settlement mode you don't have to charge bots and they don't run out of power.
*2 Although Mk 3 Drive has battery size specified, it is a steam powered drive and it never runs out of power. Drive doesn't require any resources to run.
Upgrades[]
Upgrades are modifications that you can add to bots in the same way you replace their parts - hold the upgrade in your hands and use Ctrl . They are unlocked through research. Basic Bots (Mk 0) have 1 upgrade slot, while Mk 1 and Mk 2 both have 2 upgrade slots, and Mk 3 have 3 upgrade slots. Note that a bot cannot have two upgrades of the same type installed, whether or not the upgrades are of the same tier.
Upgrades can no longer be removed by putting a bot into Bot Storage, but they can be replaced by other bots or by the player within the exchange menu (the double-sided white arrow on the bot's programming page).
Upgrades
| Upgrade | Tier | Stats | RC | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backpack |  Crude
|
Backpack slots: +1 | 1.75 Logs | |
 Good
|
Backpack slots: +2 | 3.5 Logs | ||
 Super
|
Backpack slots: +4 | 21 Logs | ||
| Speed |  Crude
|
Move speed: +0.1
Hand tool speed: +0.1 |
2.25 Logs | |
 Good
|
Move speed: +0.2
Hand tool speed: +0.2 (min 0, thus -1/2s for Mk 2) |
20.5 Logs | ||
 Super
|
Move speed: +0.3
Hand tool speed: +0.3 (min 0) |
10 Crude Metal | ||
| Power |  Crude
|
Hand slots: +1 | 1.25 Logs | |
 Good
|
Hand slots: +2 | 2.5 Logs | ||
 Super
|
Hand slots: +4 | 10 Crude Metal | ||
| Energy*1 |  Crude
|
Energy usage: -40% | 2.25 Logs | |
 Good
|
Energy usage: -80% | 20.5 Logs | ||
 Super
|
Energy usage: -120% | 10 Crude Metal | ||
| Sensor |  Crude
|
Find Nearest Range: +5 Find Nearest Delay: -10 (-1/6s) |
2.25 Logs | |
 Good
|
Find Nearest Range: +10 Find Nearest Delay: -20 (-1/3s) (min 0) |
4.5 Logs | ||
 Super
|
Find Nearest Range: +15 Find Nearest Delay: -30 (-1/2s) (min 0) |
3 Crude Metal | ||
| Brain |  Crude
|
Max Instructions: +4 | 0.5 Log
2 Seeds |
|
 Good
|
Max Instructions: +8 | 2 Logs
4 Seeds |
||
 Super
|
Max Instructions: +32 | 1 Crude Metal
1 Coconut |
*1 In the Settlement mode Energy upgrades are not available.
Variants[]
Levels of bots other than Mk 0 come with variant parts. They are cosmetic variants only and they are made and function the same as the base version of each part. There is the first, base, version and then multiple variants for each level. Each variant is unlocked separately, through Academy certificates.
| Tier | Variant | Unlocked by | Inspiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mk 1 | Base | Basic Upgrades | Bender from Futurama |
| Variant 1 | Basic Shelter | Dalek from Doctor Who | |
| Variant 2 | Smallholding (Dairy) | R2-D2 from Star Wars | |
| Variant 3 | Smallholding (Sheep) | Rosie from The Jetsons | |
| Variant 4 | Smallholding (Poultry) | K9 from Doctor Who | |
| BOB | 30 Tokens | R.O.B. the Nintendo accessory | |
| Mk 2 | Base | Mk 2 Bot | |
| Variant 1 | Basic Clothing | Gundam or early Transformers | |
| Variant 2 | Basic Bloomery | WALL-E | |
| Variant 3 | Simple Transport Network | Maximilian from Disneys Black Hole | |
| Variant 4 | Basic Wind Farm | Shulker from Minecraft | |
| Mk 3 | Base | Better Bots! | |
| Variant 1 | Metalworks | ||
| Variant 2 | Basic Education | ||
| Variant 3 | Basic Steam Power Network | C-3PO from Star Wars | |
| Variant 4 | Simple Silkworm Farm | Cyberman from Doctor Who |
The different variants of Mk 1 bots, from base to variant 4 and BOB.
The different variants of Mk 2 bots, from base to variant 4.
The different variants of Mk 3 bots, from base to variant 4.