Unimate was the first industrial robot , which worked on a General Motors assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey , in 1961 .
71-404: It was invented by George Devol in the 1950s using his original patent filed in 1954 and granted in 1961 ( U.S. patent 2,988,237 ). The patent begins: The present invention relates to the automatic operation of machinery, particularly the handling apparatus, and to automatic control apparatus suited for such machinery. Devol, together with Joseph Engelberger , his business associate, started
142-415: A United States patent application for Spencer's microwave cooking process, and an oven that heated food using microwave energy from a magnetron was soon placed in a Boston restaurant for testing. Another independent discovery of microwave oven technology was by British scientists, including James Lovelock , who in the 1950s used it to reanimate cryogenically frozen hamsters . In 1947, Raytheon built
213-533: A company willing to give him financial backing to develop his programmable articles transfer system. He talked with many major corporations in the United States during his search. Through family connections, Devol obtained an audience with a partner in the firm Manning, Maxwell and Moore in Stratford, Connecticut . Joseph F. Engelberger , chief of engineering in the company's aircraft products division
284-656: A cooking power of between 600 and 1200 watts. Microwave cooking power, also referred to as output wattage, is lower than its input wattage, which is the manufacturer's listed power rating . The size of household microwave ovens can vary, but usually have an internal volume of around 20 liters (1,200 cu in; 0.71 cu ft), and external dimensions of approximately 45–60 cm (1 ft 6 in – 2 ft 0 in) wide, 35–40 cm (1 ft 2 in – 1 ft 4 in) deep and 25–35 cm (9.8 in – 1 ft 1.8 in) tall. Microwaves can be turntable or flatbed. Turntable ovens include
355-570: A glass plate or tray. Flatbed ones do not include a plate, so they have a flat and wider cavity. By position and type, US DOE classifies them as (1) countertop or (2) over the range and built-in (wall oven for a cabinet or a drawer model). A traditional microwave only has two power output levels, fully on and fully off. Intermediate heat settings are achieved using duty-cycle modulation and switch between full power and off every few seconds, with more time on for higher settings. An inverter type, however, can sustain lower temperatures for
426-422: A higher temperature produces. However, such high heat sources can be added to microwave ovens in the form of a convection microwave oven. The exploitation of high-frequency radio waves for heating substances was made possible by the development of vacuum tube radio transmitters around 1920. By 1930 the application of short waves to heat human tissue had developed into the medical therapy of diathermy . At
497-437: A higher temperature than water (the temperature they require to vaporize is higher), so inside microwave ovens they normally reach higher temperatures – sometimes much higher. This can induce temperatures in oil or fatty foods like bacon far above the boiling point of water, and high enough to induce some browning reactions, much in the manner of conventional broiling (UK: grilling) , braising, or deep fat frying. The effect
568-580: A higher temperature, or even if the inner layer is more thermally conductive than the outer layer making it feel hotter despite having a lower temperature. In most cases, however, with uniformly structured or reasonably homogeneous food item, microwaves are absorbed in the outer layers of the item at a similar level to that of the inner layers. Depending on water content, the depth of initial heat deposition may be several centimetres or more with microwave ovens, in contrast with broiling / grilling (infrared) or convection heating methods which thinly deposit heat at
639-519: A home-use microwave oven that was introduced by Tappan in 1955, but it was still too large and expensive for general home use. Sharp Corporation introduced the first microwave oven with a turntable between 1964 and 1966. The countertop microwave oven was introduced in 1967 by the Amana Corporation . After microwave ovens became affordable for residential use in the late 1970s, their use spread into commercial and residential kitchens around
710-533: A lengthy duration without having to switch itself off and on repeatedly. Apart from offering superior cooking ability, these microwaves are generally more energy-efficient. As of 2020 , the majority of countertop microwave ovens (regardless of brand) sold in the United States were manufactured by the Midea Group . Domestic microwave ovens are typically marked with the microwave-safe symbol, next to
781-409: A less expensive re-engineered magnetron. Several other companies joined in the market, and for a time most systems were built by defence contractors, who were most familiar with the magnetron. Litton was particularly well known in the restaurant business. While uncommon today, combination microwave-ranges were offered by major appliance manufacturers through much of the 1970s as a natural progression of
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#1732779993382852-453: A microwave oven in 1994, but that number had increased to 65% by 2004. Adoption has been slower in less-developed countries , as households with disposable income concentrate on more important household appliances like refrigerators and ovens. In India , for example, only about 5% of households owned a microwave oven in 2013, well behind refrigerators at 31% ownership. However, microwave ovens are gaining popularity. In Russia, for example,
923-457: A microwave oven, up from only about 1% in 1971; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 90% of American households owned a microwave oven in 1997. In Australia, a 2008 market research study found that 95% of kitchens contained a microwave oven and that 83% of them were used daily. In Canada, fewer than 5% of households had a microwave oven in 1979, but more than 88% of households owned one by 1998. In France, 40% of households owned
994-534: A motor driven mode stirrer in the top of the oven cavity rotated allowing the food to remain stationary. In the 1960s, Litton bought Studebaker 's Franklin Manufacturing assets, which had been manufacturing magnetrons and building and selling microwave ovens similar to the Radarange. Litton developed a new configuration of the microwave oven: the short, wide shape that is now common. The magnetron feed
1065-499: A process known as dielectric heating . These molecules have a partial positive charge at one end and a partial negative charge at the other. In an alternating electric field, they will constantly spin around as they continually try to align themselves with the electric field. This can happen over a wide range of frequencies. The electric field's energy is absorbed by the dipole molecules as rotational energy. Then they hit non-dipole molecules, making them move faster as well. This energy
1136-425: A rapidly alternating electric field. The invention of the cavity magnetron made possible the production of electromagnetic waves of a small enough wavelength ( microwaves ). The cavity magnetron was a crucial component in the development of short wavelength radar during World War II . In 1937–1940, a multi-cavity magnetron was built by British physicist Sir John Turton Randall, FRSE and coworkers, for
1207-448: A short stint as eastern sales manager of electronics products, which he felt "wasn't his ball of wax", Devol left RCA to develop ideas that eventually led to the patent application for the first industrial robot. In 1946, he applied for a patent on a magnetic recording system for controlling machines and a digital playback device for machines. Devol was part of the team that developed the first commercial use of microwave oven technology,
1278-418: Is (like induction heating ) an electromagnetic heating effect, the result of the so-called near-field effects that exist in an electromagnetic cavity that is small compared with the wavelength of the electromagnetic field. This patent proposed radio frequency heating, at 10 to 20 megahertz (wavelength 30 to 15 meters, respectively). Heating from microwaves that have a wavelength that is small relative to
1349-429: Is glass, which can exhibit thermal runaway in a microwave oven to the point of melting if preheated. Additionally, microwaves can melt certain types of rocks, producing small quantities of molten rock. Some ceramics can also be melted, and may even become clear upon cooling. Thermal runaway is more typical of electrically conductive liquids such as salty water. Another misconception is that microwave ovens cook food "from
1420-408: Is most often noticed by consumers from unexpected damage to plastic containers when microwaving foods high in sugar, starch, or fat generates higher temperatures. Foods high in water content and with little oil rarely exceed the boiling temperature of water and do not damage plastic. Cookware must be transparent to microwaves. Conductive cookware, such as metal pots, reflects microwaves, and prevents
1491-400: Is shared deeper into the substance as molecular rotations, vibrations or other movement signifying an increase in the temperature of the food. Once the electrical field's energy is initially absorbed, heat will gradually spread through the object similarly to any other heat transfer by contact with a hotter body. Microwave heating is more efficient on liquid water than on frozen water, where
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#17327799933821562-541: Is that they should be in one of the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency bands set aside for unlicensed purposes. For household purposes, 2.45 GHz has the advantage over 915 MHz in that 915 MHz is only an ISM band in some countries ( ITU Region 2) while 2.45 GHz is available worldwide. Three additional ISM bands exist in the microwave frequencies, but are not used for microwave cooking. Two of them are centered on 5.8 GHz and 24.125 GHz, but are not used for microwave cooking because of
1633-440: The 1933 Chicago World's Fair , Westinghouse demonstrated the cooking of foods between two metal plates attached to a 10 kW, 60 MHz shortwave transmitter . The Westinghouse team, led by I. F. Mouromtseff, found that foods like steaks and potatoes could be cooked in minutes. The 1937 United States patent application by Bell Laboratories states: This invention relates to heating systems for dielectric materials and
1704-449: The ISM (industrial, scientific, medical) bands , which are otherwise used for communication amongst devices that do not need a license to operate, so they do not interfere with other vital radio services. It is a common misconception that microwave ovens heat food by operating at a special resonance of water molecules in the food. Instead, microwave ovens heat by causing molecules to spin under
1775-631: The United States Department of Energy require less than 1 watt, or approximately 9 kWh per year, of standby power for most types of microwave ovens. A microwave oven generally consists of: In most ovens, the magnetron is driven by a linear transformer which can only feasibly be switched completely on or off. (One variant of the GE Spacemaker had two taps on the transformer primary, for high and low power modes.) Usually choice of power level does not affect intensity of
1846-487: The microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to vibrate and produce thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating . Microwave ovens heat foods quickly and efficiently because excitation is fairly uniform in the outer 25–38 mm (1–1.5 inches) of a homogeneous , high-water-content food item. The development of the cavity magnetron in the United Kingdom made possible
1917-419: The "Radarange", the first commercially available microwave oven. It was almost 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) tall, weighed 340 kilograms (750 lb) and cost about US$ 5,000 ($ 68,000 in 2023 dollars) each. It consumed 3 kilowatts, about three times as much as today's microwave ovens, and was water-cooled. The name was the winning entry in an employee contest. An early Radarange was installed (and remains) in
1988-670: The British and American military radar installations in World War II. A higher-powered microwave generator that worked at shorter wavelengths was needed, and in 1940, at the University of Birmingham in England, Randall and Harry Boot produced a working prototype. They invented a valve that could produce pulses of microwave radio energy at a wavelength of 10 cm, an unprecedented discovery. Sir Henry Tizard traveled to
2059-604: The Past 50 Years. Devol died on August 11, 2011, aged 99, at his home in Wilton , Connecticut. He was survived by two daughters, two sons, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His funeral service was held in a Methodist church and he was laid to rest in Wilton. Microwave oven A microwave oven or simply microwave is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in
2130-474: The Speedy Weeny, which automatically cooked and dispensed hotdogs in places such as Grand Central Terminal . In the early 1950s, Devol licensed his digital magnetic recording device to Remington Rand of Norwalk , Connecticut, and became manager of their magnetics department. There he worked with a team to develop his magnetic recording system for business data applications. He also worked on developing
2201-783: The US in late September 1940 to offer Britain's most valuable technical secrets including the cavity magnetron in exchange for US financial and industrial support (see Tizard Mission ). An early 6 kW version, built in England by the General Electric Company Research Laboratories, Wembley , London, was given to the U.S. government in September 1940. The cavity magnetron was later described by American historian James Phinney Baxter III as "[t]he most valuable cargo ever brought to our shores". Contracts were awarded to Raytheon and other companies for
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2272-517: The additional component cost could better be absorbed compared with countertop units where pricing was increasingly market-sensitive. By 1972, Litton (Litton Atherton Division, Minneapolis) introduced two new microwave ovens, priced at $ 349 and $ 399, to tap into the market estimated at $ 750 million by 1976, according to Robert I Bruder, president of the division. While prices remained high, new features continued to be added to home models. Amana introduced automatic defrost in 1974 on their RR-4D model, and
2343-442: The average residential microwave oven consumes only 72 kWh per year. Globally, microwave ovens used an estimated 77 TWh per year in 2018, or 0.3% of global electricity generation. A 2000 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that the average microwave drew almost 3 watts of standby power when not being used, which would total approximately 26 kWh per year. New efficiency standards imposed in 2016 by
2414-414: The cavity (as in a modern microwave oven) is due to "far-field" effects that are due to classical electromagnetic radiation that describes freely propagating light and microwaves suitably far from their source. Nevertheless, the primary heating effect of all types of electromagnetic fields at both radio and microwave frequencies occurs via the dielectric heating effect, as polarized molecules are affected by
2485-400: The character Alan von Neumann, Jr. , appeared in comic books from DC Comics . George Devol George Charles Devol Jr. (February 20, 1912 – August 11, 2011) was an American inventor , best known for creating Unimate , the first industrial robot . The National Inventors Hall of Fame says, "Devol's patent for the first digitally operated programmable robotic arm represents
2556-445: The concept of universal automation, or Unimation . His wife Evelyn suggested the word "Unimate" to define the product, much the same as George Eastman had coined Kodak . Devol wrote that his invention "makes available for the first time a more or less general purpose machine that has universal application to a vast diversity of applications where cyclic digital control is desired." After applying for this patent Devol searched for
2627-761: The conflict. Around that time, Devol sold his interest in United Cinephone and approached Sperry Gyroscope to pitch his ideas on radar technology. He was retained by Sperry as manager of the Special Projects Department, which developed radar devices and microwave test equipment. In 1943, he organized General Electronics Industries in Greenwich , Connecticut, as a subsidiary of the Auto Ordnance Corporation. General Electronics produced counter-radar devices until
2698-428: The device's approximate IEC 60705 output power rating, in watts (typically either: 600W, 700W, 800W, 900W, 1000W), and a voluntary Heating Category (A-E). A microwave oven heats food by passing microwave radiation through it. Microwaves are a form of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation with a frequency in the so-called microwave region (300 MHz to 300 GHz). Microwave ovens use frequencies in one of
2769-573: The dipole moments of their hydroxyl groups or ester groups . Microwave heating is less efficient on fats and sugars than on water because they have a smaller molecular dipole moment . Although fats and sugar typically absorb energy less efficiently than water, paradoxically their temperatures rise faster and higher than water when cooking: Fats and oils require less energy delivered per gram of material to raise their temperature by 1 °C than does water (they have lower specific heat capacity ) and they begin cooling off by "boiling" only after reaching
2840-400: The end of the war. General Electronics was one of the largest producers of radar and radar counter-measure equipment for the U.S. Navy , U.S. Army Air Force and other government agencies. The company's radar counter-measure systems were on Allied planes on D-Day . Over a difference of opinion regarding the future of certain projects, Devol resigned from Auto Ordinance and joined RCA. After
2911-576: The first high-speed printing systems. While the magnetic recording system proved too slow for business data, Devol's invention was re-purposed as a machine control that would eventually become the "brains" of the Unimate robot. In the 1940s, Devol was focusing on manipulators and his magnetic recording patents, but he took note of the introduction of automation into factories. In 1954, he applied for his robotics patent. U.S. patent 2,988,237 , issued in 1961 for Programmed Article Transfer, introduced
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2982-452: The first microwave oven with a turntable, an alternative means to promote more even heating of food. In 1965, Raytheon, looking to expand their Radarange technology into the home market, acquired Amana to provide more manufacturing capability. In 1967, they introduced the first popular home model, the countertop Radarange, at a price of US$ 495 ($ 5,000 in 2023 dollars). Unlike the Sharp models,
3053-454: The food surface. Penetration depth of microwaves depends on food composition and the frequency, with lower microwave frequencies (longer wavelengths) penetrating deeper. In use, microwave ovens can be as low as 50% efficient at converting electricity into microwaves, but energy efficient models can exceed 64% efficiency. Stovetop cooking is 40-90% efficient depending on the type of appliance used. Because they are used fairly infrequently,
3124-510: The foundation of the modern robotics industry." George Devol was born in an upper-middle-class family in Louisville , Kentucky. He attended Riordan Prep school. Foregoing higher education, Devol went into business in 1932, forming United Cinephone to produce variable area recording directly onto film for the new sound motion pictures (" talkies "). However, he later learned that companies like RCA and Western Electric were working in
3195-860: The galley of the nuclear-powered passenger/cargo ship NS Savannah . An early commercial model introduced in 1954 consumed 1.6 kilowatts and sold for US$ 2,000 to US$ 3,000 ($ 23,000 to $ 34,000 in 2023 dollars). Raytheon licensed its technology to the Tappan Stove company of Mansfield, Ohio in 1952. Under contract to Whirlpool, Westinghouse, and other major appliance manufacturers looking to add matching microwave ovens to their conventional oven line, Tappan produced several variations of their built-in model from roughly 1955 to 1960. Due to maintenance (some units were water-cooled), in-built requirement, and cost—US$ 1,295 ($ 15,000 in 2023 dollars)—sales were limited. Japan's Sharp Corporation began manufacturing microwave ovens in 1961. Between 1964 and 1966, Sharp introduced
3266-495: The influence of a constantly changing electric field, usually in the microwave frequencies range, and a higher wattage power of the microwave oven results in faster cooking times. Typically, consumer ovens work around a nominal 2.45 gigahertz (GHz) – a wavelength of 12.2 centimetres (4.80 in) in the 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz ISM band – while large industrial / commercial ovens often use 915 megahertz (MHz) – 32.8 centimetres (12.9 in). Among other differences,
3337-416: The inside out", meaning from the center of the entire mass of food outwards. This idea arises from heating behavior seen if an absorbent layer of water lies beneath a less absorbent drier layer at the surface of a food; in this case, the deposition of heat energy inside a food can exceed that on its surface. This can also occur if the inner layer has a lower heat capacity than the outer layer causing it to reach
3408-406: The late 1950s, such as digital encoders, were inadequate for the Unimate. With Devol's guidance, a team of engineers at Unimation designed and machined practically every part in the first Unimates. In 1960, Devol personally sold the first Unimate robot, which was shipped in 1961 to General Motors . GM first used the machine for die casting handling and spot welding . The first Unimate robot
3479-405: The longer wavelength of a commercial microwave oven allows the initial heating effects to begin deeper within the food or liquid, and therefore become evenly spread within its bulk sooner, as well as raising the temperature deep within the food more quickly. A microwave oven takes advantage of the electric dipole structure of water molecules , fats, and many other substances in the food, using
3550-443: The mass production of the cavity magnetron. In 1945, the heating effect of a high-power microwave beam was independently and accidentally discovered by Percy Spencer , an American self-taught engineer from Howland, Maine . Employed by Raytheon at the time, he noticed that microwaves from an active radar set he was working on started to melt a Mr. Goodbar candy bar he had in his pocket. The first food deliberately cooked by Spencer
3621-528: The microwave radiation; instead, the magnetron is cycled on and off every few seconds, thus altering the large scale duty cycle . Newer models use inverter power supplies that use pulse-width modulation to provide effectively continuous heating at reduced power settings, so that foods are heated more evenly at a given power level and can be heated more quickly without being damaged by uneven heating. The microwave frequencies used in microwave ovens are chosen based on regulatory and cost constraints. The first
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#17327799933823692-572: The microwaves from reaching the food. Cookware made of materials with high electrical permittivity will absorb microwaves, resulting in the cookware heating rather than the food. Cookware made of melamine resin is a common type of cookware that will heat in a microwave oven, reducing the effectiveness of the microwave oven and creating a hazard from burns or shattered cookware. Microwave heating can cause localized thermal runaways in some materials with low thermal conductivity which also have dielectric constants that increase with temperature. An example
3763-452: The movement of molecules is more restricted. Defrosting is done at a low power setting, allowing time for conduction to carry heat to still frozen parts of food. Dielectric heating of liquid water is also temperature-dependent: At 0 °C, dielectric loss is greatest at a field frequency of about 10 GHz, and for higher water temperatures at higher field frequencies. Sugars and triglycerides (fats and oils) absorb microwaves due to
3834-437: The necessary temperature to produce Maillard reactions . Exceptions occur in cases where the oven is used to heat frying-oil and other oily items (such as bacon), which attain far higher temperatures than that of boiling water. Microwave ovens have a limited role in professional cooking, because the boiling-range temperatures of a microwave oven do not produce the flavorful chemical reactions that frying, browning, or baking at
3905-610: The number of households with a microwave oven grew from almost 24% in 2002 to almost 40% in 2008. Almost twice as many households in South Africa owned microwave ovens in 2008 (38.7%) as in 2002 (19.8%). Microwave oven ownership in Vietnam in 2008 was at 16% of households, versus 30% ownership of refrigerators; this rate was up significantly from 6.7% microwave oven ownership in 2002, with 14% ownership for refrigerators that year. Consumer household microwave ovens usually come with
3976-419: The object of the invention is to heat such materials uniformly and substantially simultaneously throughout their mass. ... It has been proposed therefore to heat such materials simultaneously throughout their mass by means of the dielectric loss produced in them when they are subjected to a high voltage, high frequency field. However, lower-frequency dielectric heating , as described in the aforementioned patent,
4047-449: The production of electromagnetic waves of a small enough wavelength ( microwaves ) to efficiently heat up water molecules. American electrical engineer Percy Spencer is generally credited with developing and patenting the world's first commercial microwave oven post World War II from British radar technology developed before and during the war. Named the "RadaRange", it was first sold in 1947. Raytheon later licensed its patents for
4118-406: The rim of the door, choke connections on the door edges act like metal-to-metal contact, at the frequency of the microwaves, to prevent leakage. The oven door usually has a window for easy viewing, with a layer of conductive mesh some distance from the outer panel to maintain the shielding. Because the size of the perforations in the mesh is much less than the microwaves' wavelength (12.2 cm for
4189-405: The same area, and discontinued the product. In 1939, Devol applied for a patent for proximity controls for use in laundry press machines, based on a radio frequency field. This control would automatically open and close laundry presses when workers approached the machines. After World War II began, the patent office told Devol that his patent application would be placed on hold for the duration of
4260-434: The technology. Both Tappan and General Electric offered units that appeared to be conventional stove top/oven ranges, but included microwave capability in the conventional oven cavity. Such ranges were attractive to consumers since both microwave energy and conventional heating elements could be used simultaneously to speed cooking, and there was no loss of countertop space. The proposition was also attractive to manufacturers as
4331-406: The usual 2.45 GHz), microwave radiation cannot pass through the door, while visible light (with its much shorter wavelength) can. Modern microwave ovens use either an analog dial-type timer or a digital control panel for operation. Control panels feature an LED , LCD or vacuum fluorescent display, buttons for entering the cook time and a power level selection feature. A defrost option
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#17327799933824402-444: The very high cost of power generation at these frequencies. The third, centered on 433.92 MHz, is a narrow band that would require expensive equipment to generate sufficient power without creating interference outside the band, and is only available in some countries. The cooking chamber is similar to a Faraday cage to prevent the waves from coming out of the oven. Even though there is no continuous metal-to-metal contact around
4473-405: The world's first robot manufacturing company, Unimation . The machine weighed 4000 pounds 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. The original Unimate consisted of a large computer-like box, joined to another box and
4544-520: The world, and prices fell rapidly during the 1980s. In addition to cooking food, microwave ovens are used for heating in many industrial processes. Microwave ovens are a common kitchen appliance and are popular for reheating previously cooked foods and cooking a variety of foods. They rapidly heat foods which can easily burn or turn lumpy if cooked in conventional pans, such as hot butter, fats, chocolate, or porridge . Microwave ovens usually do not directly brown or caramelize food, since they rarely attain
4615-514: Was a materials handling robot and was soon followed by robots for welding and other applications. In 1975, Unimation showed its first profit. In 1978, the PUMA ( Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly ) robot was developed by Unimation from Vicarm ( Victor Scheinman ) and with support from General Motors. In 2005, Popular Mechanics magazine selected Devol's Unimate as one of the Top 50 Inventions of
4686-527: Was also unique. This resulted in an oven that could survive a no-load condition: an empty microwave oven where there is nothing to absorb the microwaves. The new oven was shown at a trade show in Chicago, and helped begin a rapid growth of the market for home microwave ovens. Sales volume of 40,000 units for the U.S. industry in 1970 grew to one million by 1975. Market penetration was even faster in Japan, due to
4757-467: Was connected to an arm, with systematic tasks stored in a drum memory . In 2003 the Unimate was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame . The Unimate appeared on The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson on which it knocked a golf ball into a cup, poured a beer, waved the orchestra conductor's baton and grasped an accordion and waved it around. Fictional robots called Unimate , designed by
4828-594: Was installed at GM's Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey , in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die-casting machine and stack them. Soon companies such as Chrysler , Ford , and Fiat saw the necessity for large Unimate purchases. The company spent about $ 5 million to develop the first Unimate. In 1966, after many years of market surveys and field tests, full-scale production began in Connecticut. Unimation's first production robot
4899-407: Was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters. To verify his finding, Spencer created a high-density electromagnetic field by feeding microwave power from a magnetron into a metal box from which it had no way to escape. When food was placed in the box with the microwave energy, the temperature of the food rose rapidly. On 8 October 1945, Raytheon filed
4970-412: Was the first to offer a microprocessor controlled digital control panel in 1975 with their RR-6 model. The late 1970s saw an explosion of low-cost countertop models from many major manufacturers. Formerly found only in large industrial applications, microwave ovens increasingly became a standard fixture of residential kitchens in developed countries . By 1986, roughly 25% of households in the U.S. owned
5041-722: Was very interested, and Devol agreed to license his patent and some future patents in the field to the company. But the company was sold that year and its aircraft division was slated to be closed. Engelberger sought a backer to buy out the aircraft division and found one in Consolidated Diesel Electronic (Condec), which agreed to finance the continued development of the robot under a new division, Unimation Incorporated, with Engelberger as its president. The first Unimate prototypes were controlled by vacuum tubes used as digital switches though later versions used transistors . Most off-the-shelf components available in
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