First industrial production robot

In 1961, an industrial robot called "Unimate" was installed in a General Motors assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey, USA. It was the brainchild of George Devol, who together with his apprentice Joseph Engelberger started the world’s first robot-manufacturing company, Unimation. “Unimate” was used for transporting die castings from an assembly line and welding these parts onto car bodies to prevent this hazardous task being dependent on human labour. The original Unimate comprised an analogue “brain” connected to an arm serviced by hydraulic actuators. Its systematic tasks were stored on a magnetic drum memory, from which the hydraulic system was controlled. Unimate originally weighed 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) and cost $25,000 (then £8,900).