Some Slovenian researchers may be missing the point of Isaac Asimov's fictional (yet lofty, and therefore implicity hoping-to-be-followed) Laws of Robotics.  From from Asimov's third robot story, "Liar!",  published in May 1941's Astounding magazine, here they are:

1. A robot may not injure a human, or allow a human to be injured. 
2. A robot must follow any order given by a human that doesn't conflict with the First Law. 
3. A robot must protect itself unless that would conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Not everyone agrees, of course.   The human-hating contingent at Gizmodo says Asimov's Laws of Robotics Are Total BS. 

But back to Slovenia.    Borut Povše, from a robotics lab at the University of Ljubljana, has a robot hitting his friends over and over, causing mild to unbearable pain - because, he says, assessing human-robot pain thresholds is important to the future of robotics.

Read the whole strange tale at New Scientist (though you'll need to create a login) or just comment on the title, as most people do.