The First Industrial Robot Was a Pneumatic Riveting Arm - Apparently.
In 1961, the first industrial robot was installed at a General Motors factory in New Jersey. The Unimate 1900, a 4-foot-tall, 650-pound pneumatic riveting arm, was designed to automate the assembly of automobile parts. The robot was the brainchild of George Devol, an American inventor who filed the first patent for an industrial robot in 1954. The Unimate 1900 marked the beginning of the robot revolution in manufacturing, paving the way for modern industrial automation.