Unimate
Student research summary:
by Ian R.
Basic Info.
The very first industrial robot, the Unimate was conceived from a design for a mechanical arm patentes in 1954 by American Inventor George Devol, the Unimate was developed as a result of the foresight and business acumen of Joseph Engelberger.
Inventors
Devol and Engelberger met at a cocktail party in 1956 the two immediately took interest in the other’s work. A year later in 1957, Engelberger who at the time was director of Consolidated Controls Corp convinced Condec’s CEO to finance the development of Devol’s invention. After almost two years of development, Engelberger and Devol produced a prototype-the Unimate #001.In 1961 Engelberger established Unimation, Inc., a Condec Corp. company in Danbury, Connecticut, to develop the business in the newly established robotics industry he created. That same year, Engelberger introduced the Unimate 1900 to the public at a trade show at Chicago’s Cow Palace.
student research summary:
by Teddy G.
Unimate
Revolutionizing manufacturing the world over, the Unimate was the very first industrial robot. Conceived from a design for a mechanical arm patented in 1954 (granted in 1961) by American inventors George Devol and, the Unimate was developed as a result of the foreigsht and business acumen of Joseph Engelberger - the Father of Robotics.” In 1957, Engelberger, who at the time was director of Consolidated Controls Corp. Located in Bethel, Connecticut, agreed with Condec’s CEO to finance the development of Devol’s invention. After almost two years in development, Engelberger and Devol produced a prototype - the Unimate.An industry was spawned and a variety of other tasks were also performed by robots, such as loading and unloading machine tools. Unimate industrial robots are among the most widely used industrial robots in the world. With over 20 years of continued improvement they are highly reliable, easy-to-use robots. The UNIMATE robots featured up to six fully programmable axes of motion and are designed for high-speed handling of parts weighing up to 500 lbs. The dedicated electronic control is regarded as one of the simplest controllers available in the industry today for teaching and operating industrial robots.
Purpose of the Unimate
When the final Unimate design was finally complete the machine was used to manufacture cars at an incredible rate, up to 110 cars per hour, this was more than double the speed of any other automotive plant in existence. The Unimate was so significant because it revolutionized the car industry and how the cars were produced because it was so fast.The Unimate inspired many other companies into using the Unimate machine including, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, British Leyland, and Fiat that allowed the dangerous jobs to be performed by robots. The Unimate was so significant in the fact that it revolutionized the car building industry in how fast and many you could make them with the Unimate.
Is the Unimate actually a robot?
There are many parts that make a robot a full on robot, the first of those being the body. Without a doubt the Unimate does have a body as a body is what holds it together and allows it to work which the Unimate has. The next characteristic is the brain of a robot which the Unimate does have in a way but not fully as the Unimate does not have sensors so it does not work as most robotic brains do, and is just set to run on a specific track until it is turned off. The Unimate does not have sensors as it does not react to the environment and is instead ran on a system to do the same thing over and over again. The Unimate does have Actuators which allow the arm to move and build cars. The Unimate also has a program and this is what tells the machine to do and how to do it and because it has a program the Unimate also has behavior to show its program working. Overall the Unimate is not a robot because it has no sensors to work with and just runs on a track until it is shut off.
Sources
https://www.robotics.org/joseph-engelberger/unimate.cfm
https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/cagray/robotics/characteristics
https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/cagray/robotics/history-of-robotics/unimate
https://www.rilcoind.com/post/these-arms-dont-get-tired-the-beginning-of-the-robotic-arm
student research summary:
by Alex M.
Unimate was a robot that worked on building cars and motor vehicles on the assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey, in 1961.
George Devol was the inventor of Unimate and was born on February 20th 1912.
Unimate
Unimate was used for welding on auto bodies which was a job that people didn't like to do. He listened to commands that came from a magnetic drum. “Unimate was the first Industrial robot.” “Unimate was remade and upgraded for over 20 year and is a highly reliable and a easy to use robot.” Unimate had six programmable axes of motion so he could move six different ways.
Inventor
George Devol skipped college to work in an electronics company then he became a founder of United cellphones. He also invented the automatic door, a barcode system, and the microwave. He was put into the national Inventors Hall Of Fame. The early model of Unimate is now in the smithsonian institution. Unimate was placed also in the robot hall of fame.
