Unimate (first industrial robot)

Unimate was the first robot arm used in a factory. Inventor George Devol designed it, and Joseph Engelberger turned the idea into a business. In 1961 a Unimate began work at a General Motors plant in New Jersey.

The job

Unimate took hot, heavy metal parts from a die-casting machine and stacked them. The work was dangerous for people because of heat and fumes.

How it worked

It stored a sequence of positions on a magnetic drum, then repeated them endlessly. There were no cameras and no intelligence. Every move was taught once and repeated exactly.

Why it matters

Unimate began the industrial robot era. Car factories adopted robot arms for welding and painting, and the industry grew into the arms you see today.

Lesson

The first useful robots did not think. They did dull, dangerous, dirty work with precision. That idea is still the core of industrial robotics.