The epic stages of the development of robotics 1959-2013

The world's first industrial robot was introduced on the production line of the General Motors plant in New Jersey. The robot was involved in the processes (movement) of products in the production of scenes for shifting gears, as well as window handles. The cost price of the technology was about $ 65,000, but Unimation sold it for only $ 18,000. The control program was recorded on a magnetic drum, the weight of which was 1814 kg.

6 Versatran robots from AMF (American Machines Foundry) were installed at the Ford plant in Guangzhou, USA. The name Versatran was definitely from the words "versatile transfer".

The first industrial robot in Europe was installed at a metallurgical plant - Uppsland Väsby, Sweden.

The introduction of Unimation robots to automate resistance welding at General Motors, USA, has increased the plant’s overall performance, as well as significantly reduced the heavy and dangerous work of people.

The first technical vision for industrial robots was demonstrated at the Stanford Research Institute

The Norwegian corporation Trallfa has developed the first industrial painting robots for their own consumption. The main impetus for the development of this area was the shortage of labor in this period.

Unimation signs an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan to produce and sell industrial robots in Asian markets. That Kawasaki is considered to be the pioneer of Japan in the field of robotics. In 1969, Kawasaki produced the first industrial robot ever created in Japan. The robot was called - Unimate Kawasaki 2000.

The robot was able to determine for the first time the dimensions of the products and their location.

The first production line using welding robots in Europe was supplied by KUKA to Daimler Benz, Sindelfingen.

The first national association of manufacturers of industrial robots in Japan, JIRA, was created. Later it was renamed JARA.

KUKA breaks the agreement on the use of Unimate robots and starts developing its own robots. Industrial robot KUKA Famulus, was the world's first six-axial manipulator with the use of an electric drive for all axes.

Stanford arm is a robotic arm designed to assemble small products using touch sensors and back pressure sensors. The management of this robot was carried out using a mini-computer. Later, the founder of this robot, Professor Sheiman founded the company Viacarm Inc to promote and implement this technology in manufacturing plants.

By order of the company Cincinnati Milacron Corporation, the world's first industrial robot programmable controller was created. The robot was named T3.

Kawasaki Corporation, using Unimate technology, has created a robot for automating arc welding of a frame for Kawasaki motorcycles. For the first time in robotic welding, touch and collision sensors were used.

The industrial robot IRB 6 from ASEA (the future ABB), was the first manipulator controlled by the S1 controller, which used an 8-bit Intel microprocessor. The amount of processor memory was 16Kb. The S1 had 16 digital I / Os and was programmed with 16 keys and a four-digit digital display.

With the emergence of demand in the automotive industry for robots with higher payloads, ABB created the world's first industrial robot with a payload of up to 60 kg. For the first time this robot was used at the Saab plant, Sweden.

With the support of General Motors, PUMA robots (Unimation / Vicarm) were introduced to automate the assembly processes. This has reduced a significant proportion of people involved in such operations.

The tasks of spot welding automation opened a new era in robotics with the use of electric gearboxes, which replaced the hydraulic drives. The company Nachi, Japan developed the first robot based on gearboxes.

Portal robots provide much greater reach than classic base robots and can replace several of these robots at once.

The Finnish company Nokia has launched the production of industrial robots under license from Unimation. In the 1980s, about 1500 robots with the trade name Puma were released, among them was the popular model Puma-560.

Especially for robotic sentences, IBM has created a powerful and easily applicable programming language.

Adept has introduced a new type of SCARA robots with electric motors on the market. The new design has made robots simpler and more reliable while maintaining high speed.

The new Z form significantly added flexibility and versatility to the manipulator, providing three translational and three rotational movements. This is the configuration that most manufacturers currently use.

S4 significantly significantly facilitated the creation of work programs of the robot due to a convenient external interface.

Motoman created the first controller (MRC), which provided simultaneous control of two robots and control up to 21 axes. MRC also allowed the editing of programs using an ordinary personal computer.

For the first time, the controller offered the user a clear Windows interface, as well as a 6d mouse to simplify and speed up the process of creating control programs.

ABB has created the fastest robot for the first time applying Delta design, or as it is today called spider design. This robot was named FlexPicke, and with its creator Raymond Clavel. This robot was able to move 120 items per minute, and its speed reached 10 meters / sec.

The Mars Exploration Rover mission began in 2003 from the moment it was sent from two robotized rovers, to explore Mars and geology.

KUKA, the first manufacturer of industrial robots, introduced the Amusement Ride, called the Robocoaster. Robocaster is used in amusement parks and specializes in extreme spinning thrill-seekers.

Motoman, Japan introduced an improved controller (NX100), which provided simultaneous control of four robots, up to 38 axes. The NX100 received a touchscreen and was based on the WindowsCE operating system.

KUKA, together with the DLR (Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, Germany) created the first robot made of aluminum, which, with a load capacity of 7 kg, had a weight of 16 kg. The first similar robot with similar characteristics weighed 2000 kg.

Motoman, Japan produced the first humanoid robot with 13 axes. This robot is very well manifested itself in operations for the assembly of products.

KUKA was the first in the world to create a 1000 kg industrial robot. It significantly expanded the scope of industrial robots, in effect creating a new class in reach and carrying capacity.

In 2007, the Fanuc M-2000iA became the most lifting and reachable industrial robot in the world. His wrist allowed to hold products weighing up to 1200 kg.

Yaskawa Motoman, Japan, introduced an improved controller (DX100), which provided up to eight robots with synchronous control, up to 72 axes.

The first robot humanoid Robonaut (R2B) was sent to the International Space Station.