For more than a century, robots and androids have captured the imagination of science fiction fans, engineers and techno-geeks — everything from Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking 1927 film “Metropolis” and the antics of Star Wars’ C3PO and R2D2 to Isaac Asimov’s vision of a future dominated by robotic workers. To some, advanced robotics are still the stuff of science fiction. However, robotics may be the new business “disrupter,” a herald of a new machine age that could significantly change the retail business.