The etymological origin of the word robotics is found in Czech. Specifically, in the union of two terms: robota , which can be defined as "forced labor" and rabota , which is synonymous with "servitude." In the same way, it must be emphasized that the first time it began to be referred to more or less was in 1920 in the work of the writer Karel Capek entitled "Rossum's Universal Robots" .
Robotics is the science and technique that is involved in the design, manufacture and use of robots . A robot is, on the other hand, a machine that can be programmed to interact with objects and imitate, in a certain way, human or animal behavior.
Disciplines linked to robotics
Computer science , electronics , mechanics and engineering are just some of the disciplines that are combined in robotics. The main objective of robotics is the construction of devices that work automatically and that perform jobs that are difficult or impossible for human beings.
Currently, robotics has been evolving by leaps and bounds and has given rise to the development of a series of specialties, such as robotic surgery. In this case, its clear objective is to improve human health and to do so it carries out a series of very complex surgical interventions that require great precision. Thus, through robots it is possible to eliminate the dangers that come with being attacked by the hand of man.
In this way, we must highlight the existence of a robot called Da Vinci that has become one of the pillars of the aforementioned surgery. It is a device through which operations as important as transoral surgery have been successfully carried out.
Likewise, robotics has also managed to create robots that are useful to assist and help all those people who have some type of physical disability. And that is without forgetting the set of robots that are being designed in the military field to, for example, carry out rescue operations.
Asimov's laws
The writer Isaac Asimov ( 1920 – 1992 ) is usually considered responsible for the concept of robotics. This author, specialized in works of science fiction and scientific dissemination, proposed the Three Laws of Robotics , a type of regulation that regulates the actions of the robots in his fiction books but that, if a similar degree of technological development were reached, they could applied in future reality. These rules are printed as mathematical formulas in the "positronic paths" of the robot's memory.
The First Law of Robotics states that a robot must not harm a person or let a person come to harm through its inaction. The Second Law states that a robot must comply with all orders given to it by a human, with the exception that occurs if these orders are contradictory with respect to the First Law . The Third Law establishes that a robot must protect its own integrity, except when this protection creates an inconvenience with the First or Second Law .