Mechanics · Vol. I|Industrial robot|1961 (Unimate on a GM line)
Industrial robot
1961 (Unimate on a GM line)
Unimate, a hydraulic arm with a stored sequence, pulled hot die-castings at a General Motors plant in 1961. A robot in this sense is not a person-shaped machine. It is a programmable manipulator that can repeat a dangerous or dull path. Factories after Unimate slowly became hybrids of people and arms.
George Devol; Joseph Engelberger · United States
How it works
- Teach a sequence of positions, or program them.
- Actuators move joints to those positions with feedback.
- A gripper or tool does the work at the end of the arm.
Why it mattered
- Took heat, fumes, and repetition off human wrists.
- Made 24-hour identical motion cheap.
- Opened the still-unfinished politics of automation.
What it unlocked
For further study
- Robot Hall of Fame / CMU. Unimate.
- Engelberger, Robotics in Practice. Early doctrine.
Check
What does ‘programmable’ add that a fixed cam-driven arm lacks?