The protagonist is Robot Jones, a short automaton who lives in a small city in Delaware in a futuristic version of the 1980s.Robot attempts to learn of human nature by attending Polyneux Middle School, where he meets three new friends: Socks, a taller boy with curly blonde hair; Mitch, a headphones-wearing boy whose eyes are hidden by his long hair; and Cubey, a shorter boy with spiked black hair who wears big, square sunglasses and a Pac-Man T-shirt. He also meets Shannon, a girl he has an unrequited crush on, because of her large orthodontic appliance and metal prosthetic leg.

　　In each episode, Robot, usually with the help of his friends, gets himself into a situation brought on by his social ineptitude and others' lack of understanding. In some episodes he is tormented by genius twin brothers who look nothing alike, Lenny and Denny Yogman. At the end of every episode, except "Cube Wars" and "The Yogmans Strike Back", Robot makes a data log entry, in which he states conclusions that he has arrived at on humanity.