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{{Short description|World's first industrial robot, first produced in 1961}}
<!-- closed merge discussion as per George Devol talk  page means material from Devol Unimate section needs moving here and summary leaving on Devol page: see talk page -->
[[File:Robot polar.svg|thumb|Sketch of a Unimate robot]]
[[File:Unimate pouring coffee for a woman at Biltmore Hotel, 1967.jpg|thumb|Unimate pouring coffee for a human, 1967]]
'''Unimate''' was the first [[industrial robot]],<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Nof
| first = Shimon Y
| authorlink = Shimon Y. Nof
| title = Handbook of Industrial Robotics
| edition = 2nd
| year = 1999
| publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]]
| pages = 3–5
| isbn = 0-471-17783-0 }}
</ref>
which worked on a [[General Motors]] [[assembly line]] at the [[Inland Fisher Guide Plant (New Jersey)|Inland Fisher Guide Plant]] in [[Ewing Township, New Jersey]], in [[1961 in science|1961]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=World-Information.Org |url=http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611663/100438659325 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=world-information.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last=Menzel
| first=Peters
| authorlink=Peter Menzel
|author2=Faith D'Aluisio
| title=Robo sapiens: evolution of a new species
| url=https://archive.org/details/robosapiens00pete
| url-access=registration
| year=2000
| publisher=[[The MIT Press]]
| isbn=0-262-13382-2
| pages=[https://archive.org/details/robosapiens00pete/page/186 186–189] }}
</ref><ref name=Capital1961>Mickle, Paul. [http://www.capitalcentury.com/1961.html "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."</ref>
== History ==
It was invented by [[George Devol]] in the 1950s using his original patent filed in 1954 and granted in 1961<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unimate // The First Industrial Robot |url=https://www.automate.org/robotics/engelberger/joseph-engelberger-unimate |access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> ({{US Patent|2,988,237}}). The patent begins:
<blockquote>The present invention relates to the automatic operation of machinery, particularly the handling apparatus, and to automatic control apparatus suited for such machinery.<ref name="Rosen">{{Cite web |last=Rosen |first=Rebecca J. |date=2011-08-16 |title=Unimate: The Story of George Devol and the First Robotic Arm |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/unimate-the-story-of-george-devol-and-the-first-robotic-arm/243716/ |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
Devol, together with [[Joseph Engelberger]], his business associate, started the world's first robot manufacturing company, [[Unimation]].<ref name="first">{{Cite web |title=1961: The first robot |url=http://www.capitalcentury.com/1961.html |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.capitalcentury.com}}</ref>
The machine weighed 4000 pounds<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Smithsonian |last2=Eschner |first2=Kat |title=How Robots Left the Lab and Started Helping Humans |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/story-first-industrial-robot-180967442/ |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> and undertook the job of transporting [[die casting]]s from 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.<ref name=Capital1961/>
The original Unimate consisted of a large computer-like box, joined to another box and was connected to an arm, with [[Task (computers)|systematic tasks]] stored in a [[drum memory]].
In [[2003 in science|2003]] the Unimate was inducted into the [[Robot Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Robot Hall of Fame - Powered by Carnegie Mellon University |url=http://www.robothalloffame.org/inductees/03inductees/unimate.html |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.robothalloffame.org}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
The Unimate appeared on ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' hosted by [[Johnny Carson]] on  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.<ref name="first" /><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKo6KMkuVAk Video clip of Unimate on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113174852/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKo6KMkuVAk|date=January 13, 2012}}</ref>
Fictional robots called ''Unimate'', designed by the character ''Alan von Neumann, Jr.'', appeared in comic books from [[DC Comics]].<ref>''Booster Gold'' (vol. 2) #21 (August 2009)</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675061807_Unimate_electronic-robot_electronic-memory_robot-works Electronic robot 'Unimate' works in a building in Connecticut, United States.] [[Newsreel]] footage
[[Category:Industrial robots]]
[[Category:Historical robots]]
[[Category:1956 robots]]
[[Category:Robotics at Unimation]]