automaton

noun (plural automata /-tə/ or automatons)

• a moving mechanical device made in imitation of a human being: a collection of 19th century French automata: acrobats, clowns, and musicians
• a machine which performs a range of functions according to a predetermined set of coded instructions: sophisticated automatons continue to run factory assembly lines
• used in similes and comparisons to refer to a person who seems to act in a mechanical or unemotional way:like an automaton, she walked to the door