"Jose" wrote in message
news
So, you (a regular private pilot) go up in a 172 with a friend who is not
a pilot, you let him take the controls while you very carefully supervise
her, and you can't log the time PIC.

That's correct, at least according to the wording of the FARs (61.51e).
Whether it's what the FAA really intended is anyone's guess.

Handling the robot (turning on the autopilot) apparantly counts as
handling a control.

Yup. Whereas a passenger does not count as a control. That distinction per
se (between what is and isn't a control) is reasonable, though the
corresponding distinction between the time you can and can't log is less
reasonable, as you point out.

--Gary