Depends on what you mean with "machines".
I've built a simple RFID reader/writer based on the Arduino platform. But this is c++ (or Rust) for stand alone mode and only JS if you use remote control. There are MCU platforms for JS (Espruino, Tessel) and Python (MicroPython) too, if you want to build such a device.
There is also a group of machines called NodeBots. These are most times server-to-device projects.
Or you talking about bots (software only).
Or you talking about machine learning.
The right point to start is a getting started tutorial of the platform of your choice and you could only choose a platform when you know what you want to build.