
Robotics is the field involving the design, construction, and use of machines to perform tasks autonomously or with guidance.A robot does not have to be humanoid. It is any device capable of acting on the physical world according to a program. A food processor is a simple robot: it has a motor (actuator) and a button (command). A modern robotic system is an orchestra conducted by a processor-conductor: each joint-musician plays its part with perfect timing.
The word 'robot' was coined by Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (1920). The engineering field began with teleoperated manipulators for handling radioactive materials in the 1940s. The turning point was George Devol's Unimate – the first programmable manipulator, patented in 1954 and installed on a GM factory floor in 1961. In the 1970s, microprocessors enabled control along complex trajectories. Today, robotics is rapidly merging with artificial intelligence, giving rise to self-learning robots.
Robot control is hierarchical: the strategic level plans a task (e.g., pick a part from a table), the tactical level breaks it into a sequence of movements, and the executive level generates control signals for actuators. A key tool is the closed feedback loop: sensors (encoders, torque sensors, cameras) continuously report position and forces, and the controller compares actual values with setpoints and adjusts motor currents. For complex tasks like walking, Model Predictive Control is used, which computes the system's behavior several steps ahead.
Robotic arms on assembly lines, da Vinci surgical assistants, rovers on Mars.
The fastest industrial robot packs up to 200 candies per minute in three shifts without a break, and its positioning repeatability is thinner than a human hair.


