Hardware

Unimate

Unimate was the first industrial robot, a hydraulically powered programmable arm invented by George Devol, commercialized with Joseph Engelberger through Unimation, and installed on a General Motors die-casting line in New Jersey in 1961. It replayed step-by-step programs stored on a magnetic drum to unload hot castings, work hazardous to humans, and its success launched the industrial robotics industry and the automation of automotive manufacturing worldwide.

Why it matters for physical AI

The arc from Unimate's fixed replay of recorded waypoints to today's learned, vision-guided policies frames how far robot autonomy has come, and its deployment logic, taking over dangerous repetitive work, still drives adoption.