What kind of programs can we use to programme robots?

Well there are various and it depends what tasks you want to take from the robot you are going to build. Like many robots use Python and C++. Java, Lisp. Any robot in which microcontroller is involved, we use Assembly or C++. There are several operating systems are also available like ROBOMIND which provides platform for robot programming. Also There is a manufacturer "LEGO" which provides its own software to program the robot which we built by their provided  parts. The software is based on blocks of specific functions like sensors, motors, Intelligent Brick and Sound.