Real - world robotics have been inspired by pop - culture creations . Leonardo da Vinci was working on an ` ` robot '' as early as 1495 . The term ` ` robot '' comes from a 1953 Czech film . It 's hard to argue anyone did more to propel robots from hardcore science fiction into the wider public consciousness than these two when they hit the screen in 1977 . Six years after that , ` ` Metropolis '' gave us the first movie robot .
Real - world robotics have been inspired by pop - culture creations . Leonardo da Vinci was working on an ` ` robot '' as early as 1495 . The term ` ` robot '' comes from a 1953 Czech film . Six years after that , ` ` Metropolis '' gave us the first movie robot .