A robot is a machine controlled by a computer and programmed to move, manipulate objects, and perform work while interacting with its environment. The robot is sometimes reminiscent of humans and is capable of performing various complex human tasks when instructed to do so, or by being programmed in advance.
The term Robot, comes from the Czech word robota which means " forced labor ", was first introduced by the Czechoslovak playwright and author Karel Capek, in his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921; which frequently revolved around his views on the possible danger of these machines, incorporating the idea that the human makes the robot and the robot kills the human. At this time machines were looked at with fear, and the usurpation of the human race by robots is still maintained as a popular subject in science fiction.
The robots we know today were developed after the Second World War, due to the increasing demand for automation in the automotive industry. It should be noted that before robots were nothing more than tools for automation. They were theoretically programmed to perform a specific task: transport, load, unload, weld, paint, etc. Currently, there are so-called intelligent robots, which perform functions such as the detection of any modification of their environment. They act accordingly considering the new modifications either by changing operations or discovering a new one.
A medida que han ido avanzando la robótica (ciencia que se ocupa de los robots) y la tecnología informática, los robots han sido capaces de efectuar tareas cada vez más complicadas, peligrosas y desagradables para los humanos. En los laboratorios médicos, los robots manejan materiales que conlleven posibles riesgos, como muestras de sangre u orina.
They are also used in the industrial field, such as the manufacture of automobiles, assembly of electronic devices (microchips on circuit boards), also in the exploration of distant planets, search for underwater mineral deposits, household tasks (domorobots), military applications, in the field of medicine, in the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, eye surgery, etc.
