What many people don’t know, however, is that it didn’t originate from a laboratory or research center, it sprang from the creativity of the brilliant mind of Russian-born American science fiction writer and Doctor of Biochemistry Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), who coined the word Robotics and used it in several of his successful works that later inspired successful films in the film and TV series.
Thanks to Asimov, the word Robotics was introduced into the Oxford English Dictionary.
ROBOTICS: The branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots.
He also promulgated the Three Laws of Robotics, first published in his science fiction story “Runaround” in March 1942, and later recognized as the foundations and origins of Robotics. Later, in 1950, he published his famous series “I, Robot. ”
LAWS OF ROBOTICS:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Scene from the movie I, Robot.
So, the reader may be wondering, where does the word Robot come from? Well, the word Robot was used in 1921, in the play “Rossum's Universal Robots” (RUR: Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti), by the Czech writer Karel Capek (1890-1938), introduced with the help of his brother Josef Capek (1887-1945) from the Czech word “robota” which means workforce or servitude.
The play R.U.R, is about a company that manufactured artificial humans to avoid overwork of workers in factories, and then raises conflicts between humans and robots, at the time it was considered in the science fiction genre.
In this synthesis of the origin of Robotics, I wanted to highlight its playful beginnings with Asimov, which also underlies the term “Capek robots”, which gave the basis, representation and inspiration to this discipline that continues to develop today as part of the technological advance of the avant-garde, making surprising contributions in different areas.
See you soon friends HIVE, I hope you enjoyed this post.
Thank you for your time and feedback.
Sources consulted
Holmes, M. and Homol, L. (2018). Isaac Asimov. https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/Asimov__Isaac
Karel Capek and the Robot Complete . https://history-computer.com/karel-capek-and-the-robot-complete-history/
Reilly, K. (2011). From Automata to Automation: The Birth of the Robot in R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). In: Automata and Mimesis on the Stage of Theatre . Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230347540_6
Saiz, D. (2002). R.U.R. de Capek: casi un siglo de robots. Eslavística Complutense, 2, 211-218. http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ESLC/article/viewFile/ESLC0202110211A/30495
