By Aroa Mascaraque León

From the graceful yet unsettling machines of Metropolis (1927) to the helpful companions in Star Wars and the cautionary tales of The Terminator, cinema has shaped how we picture robotics—sometimes as loyal assistants, sometimes as existential threats. For decades, society has wrestled with a dual image: robots as both liberators from repetitive labor and symbols of technological overreach. This cultural narrative has created a fascination with the boundary between human creativity and machine precision.
In the real world, robotics has moved steadily from science fiction to science fact. Industrial robots have transformed manufacturing since the 20th century, welding and assembling with relentless consistency. Service robots clean floors, deliver parcels, and even assist in surgery. Unlike their cinematic counterparts, these machines are not characters but collaborators—extensions of our capacity to act with accuracy, repeatability, and endurance.
Now, robotics is entering the scientific laboratory. In materials research, repetitive tasks such as dipping samples, measuring corrosion, or cycling conditions can consume enormous amounts of time. By integrating robotic arms into these workflows, experiments once limited by human endurance can be multiplied many times over. This automation does not diminish the role of researchers; instead, it frees them from repetition and unlocks richer, more complex datasets.