Stone to Silicon

Tools & manufacturing · 1961

Unimate industrial robot

A programmable arm takes over hot die-cast work on a GM line.

George Devol's patented arm, commercialized with Joseph Engelberger, went to work at a General Motors plant in New Jersey in 1961. It launched the industrial robot industry, now over 4 million robots in factories.

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Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

What it led to 2

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