Unimate
Unimatewas the firstindustrial robot,[1] which worked on aGeneral Motorsassembly lineat theInland Fisher Guide PlantinEwing Township, New Jersey,in1961.[2][3][4]
History
[edit]It was invented byGeorge Devolin the 1950s using his original patent filed in 1954 and granted in 1961[5](U.S. patent 2,988,237). The patent begins:
The present invention relates to the automatic operation of machinery, particularly the handling apparatus, and to automatic control apparatus suited for such machinery.[6]
Devol, together withJoseph Engelberger,his business associate, started the world's first robot manufacturing company,Unimation.[7]
The machine weighed 4000 pounds[8]and undertook the job of transportingdie castingsfrom an assembly line and welding these parts on auto bodies, a dangerous task for workers, who might be poisoned by toxic fumes or lose a limb if they were not careful.[4]
The original Unimate consisted of a large computer-like box, joined to another box and was connected to an arm, withsystematic tasksstored in adrum memory.
In2003the Unimate was inducted into theRobot Hall of Fame.[9]
In popular culture
[edit]The Unimate appeared onThe Tonight Showhosted byJohnny Carsonon which it knocked a golf ball into a cup, poured a beer, waved the orchestra conductor's baton and grasped an accordion and waved it around.[7][10]
Fictional robots calledUnimate,designed by the characterAlan von Neumann, Jr.,appeared in comic books fromDC Comics.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Nof, Shimon Y(1999).Handbook of Industrial Robotics(2nd ed.).John Wiley & Sons.pp. 3–5.ISBN0-471-17783-0.
- ^"World-Information.Org".world-information.org.Retrieved2024-01-29.
- ^Menzel, Peters;Faith D'Aluisio (2000).Robo sapiens: evolution of a new species.The MIT Press.pp.186–189.ISBN0-262-13382-2.
- ^abMickle, Paul."1961: A peep into the automated future",The Trentonian.Accessed August 11, 2011. "Without any fanfare, the world's first working robot joined the assembly line at the General Motors plant in Ewing Township in the spring of 1961.... It was an automated die-casting mold that dropped red-hot door handles and other such car parts into pools of cooling liquid on a line that moved them along to workers for trimming and buffing. Its most distinct feature was a grip on a steel armature that eliminated the need for a man to touch car parts just made from molten steel."
- ^"Unimate // The First Industrial Robot".Retrieved29 January2024.
- ^Rosen, Rebecca J. (2011-08-16)."Unimate: The Story of George Devol and the First Robotic Arm".The Atlantic.Retrieved2024-01-29.
- ^ab"1961: The first robot".www.capitalcentury.com.Retrieved2024-01-29.
- ^Magazine, Smithsonian; Eschner, Kat."How Robots Left the Lab and Started Helping Humans".Smithsonian Magazine.Retrieved2024-01-29.
- ^"The Robot Hall of Fame - Powered by Carnegie Mellon University".www.robothalloffame.org.Retrieved2024-01-29.
- ^Video clip of Unimate on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonArchivedJanuary 13, 2012, at theWayback Machine
- ^Booster Gold(vol. 2) #21 (August 2009)