the art of teaching metal to flinch, fetch, and occasionally outwork everyone in the room.
means The branch of engineering and science concerned with designing, building, and programming robots — machines that sense, decide, and act in the physical world.
from A child of "robot," which itself was born in the theater: Czech writer Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R. gave us "robot," from Czech "robota," meaning forced labor or drudgery — the word for serfs' toil, repurposed for artificial workers. The "-ics" suffix (as in physics, mathematics) marks a field of study, and the specific word "robotics" was coined by science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who used it casually in a 1940s story assuming it already existed — and so, by writing it, made it so.
darpa robotics challenge — 2013-2015 competition where teams competed with humanoid robots to perform disaster-response tasks
boston dynamics atlas — bipedal humanoid robot that performs parkour and complex movements, founded 1992
fanuc — japanese manufacturer that produces over 500,000 industrial robots since 1956, dominates factory automation
irobot roomba — autonomous vacuum cleaner deployed in millions of homes since 2002