Ever since science fiction first described futuristic machines that could perform unpleasant, dangerous, or boring tasks for people, inventors and designers have sought to make such dreams a reality. In Wl, following prototype trials, a robotic manipulator called Unimate heralded the dawn of this new exciting era when it began employment on a General Motors assembly line. A stationary industrial robot, Unimate spent its working day moving hot die castings from machines and welding vehicle bodies. Operating from sequential commands stored on a magnetic drum, the robot's arm, weighing around two tons, was versatile enough to perform any number of different tasks.
Unimate was conceived in the late 1950s by American engineers George Devol (b. 1912) and Joseph Engelberger (b. 1925). Its development was undertaken by Engelberger's company, Unimation Inc. The fledgling industry of industrial robotics grew rapidly, and soon a variety of other mundane, tedious, or dangerous Jobs were
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