In the late 1950s, industrial robots were first put into use. Joseph F. Englberger used the inspiration of the servo system to develop an industrial robot-"Unimate" together with George Devol, which took the lead in 1961 Started to use in GM's production workshop. The initial industrial robots were relatively simple in structure, and their functions were also to pick up car parts and place them on the conveyor belt. They did not have the ability to interact with other operating environments, and they were able to accurately complete the same repetitive actions in accordance with the predetermined basic procedures. Although the application of "Unimet" is a simple repetitive operation, it shows the bright prospects of industrial mechanization and also kicked off the booming development of industrial robots. Since then, in the field of industrial production, many heavy, repetitive or meaningless process operations can be completed by industrial robots instead of humans.
In the 1960s, the development of industrial robots ushered in the dawn, and the simple functions of robots have been further developed. The application of robot sensors has improved the maneuverability of robots, including the tactile sensors used by Ernst; Tomovic and Boni used pressure sensors on the world’s earliest "dexterous hands"; McCarthy improved the robots and added vision Sensing system and helped MIT launch the world’s first robotic system with visual sensors that can recognize and locate building blocks. In addition, using technologies such as sonar systems and photocells, industrial robots can correct their precise positions through environmental recognition.
Since the mid-1960s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Edinburgh have successively established robotic laboratories. The United States has begun to study the second generation of sensory, "feeling" robots, and move towards artificial intelligence.
In the 1970s, with the development of computers and artificial intelligence technology, robots entered an era of practicality. For example, the robot with tactile sensor, pressure sensor and 7-axis AC motor driven by Hitachi; the world's first small computer-controlled robot by Milacron of the United States. It is driven by electro-hydraulic servo and can track moving objects for assembly and Functional tasks; robots suitable for assembly tasks include the SCARA planar articulated robot invented by the University of Yamanashi in Japan.
In the late 1970s, the PUMA series robots launched by Unimation of the United States were controlled by multi-joint, multi-CPU secondary computer, fully electric, with dedicated VAL language and vision and force sensors, which marked the complete maturity of industrial robot technology. . PUMA still works in the front line of the factory.
In the 1980s, robots entered a popularization period. With the development of the manufacturing industry, industrial robots have become popular in developed countries, and are developing towards high-speed, high-precision, lightweight, complete series and intelligent development to meet the needs of multiple varieties, The need for fewer batches.
In the 1990s, with the advancement and development of computer technology and intelligent technology, the second generation of robots with certain sensory functions had been put into practical use and began to be promoted. The third generation of robots with vision, touch, high dexterity fingers, and walking ability Robots appeared one after another and began to move towards applications.