In the past decade, robot-assisted surgery has become increasingly used to assist in minimally invasive surgical procedures. In this article we review the evolution of robotic devices, from the first use of an industrial robot for stereotactic biopsies to pioneering work with robots used for hip and prostate surgery, to the development of robotic guidance systems that enabled solo endoscopic surgery, to telemanipulative surgery with master-servant computer-enhanced robotic devices. In addition, we review our early experience with da Vinci Robotic Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.), which we used to perform robot-assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomies.