this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2026
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GM Cut 1,000 Workers at Its EV Plant, Then Added Robots (www.autoblog.com)
submitted 1 day ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

In fact, IIRC from an article I was reading a while back, the very first industrial robot was used on an American auto assembly line.

searches

Yes, Unimate, and it was even on a GM line, same as here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unimate

Unimate was the first industrial robot,[1] which worked on a General Motors assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey, in 1961.

Devol, together with Joseph Engelberger, his business associate, started the world's first robot manufacturing company, Unimation.[7] Devol's background wasn't in academia, but in engineering and mechanics, and previously worked on optical sound recording for film and high-speed printing using magnetic sensing and recording. Engelberger's ultimate goal was to create mechanical workers to replace humans in factories.[8]

The machine weighed 4000 pounds[9] and undertook the job of transporting die castings from an assembly line and welding these parts on auto bodies, a dangerous task for workers, who might be poisoned by toxic fumes or lose a limb if they were not careful.[4]