Unimate is considered the first industrial robot. It was put to worked on a General Motors assembly line in 1961. It was created by George Devol in the 1950s using his original patents. Devol, together with Joseph Engelberger started Unimation, the world’s first robot manufacturing company.
The machine undertook the job of transporting die castings from an assembly line and welding these parts on auto bodies–a dangerous task for workers, who might be poisoned by exhaust gas or lose a limb if they were not careful.
The original Unimate consisted of a large computer-like box, joined to another box and was connected to an arm, with systematic tasks stored in a drum memory. Modern versions feature up to six degrees of freedom and are designed for high speed handling of car parts, but can be programmed for other tasks.
