The PUMA (''Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly'', or ''Programmable Universal Manipulation Arm'') is an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

robotic arm A robotic arm is a type of mechanical arm, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm; the arm may be the sum total of the mechanism or may be part of a more complex robot. The links of such a manipulator are connected by joints ...

developed by

Victor Scheinman Victor David Scheinman (December 28, 1942 – September 20, 2016) was an American pioneer in the field of robotics. He was born in Augusta, Georgia, where his father Leonard was stationed with the US Army. At the end of the war the family mov ...

at pioneering

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

company

Unimation Unimation was the world's first robotics company. It was founded in 1962 by Joseph F. Engelberger and George Devol and was located in Danbury, Connecticut. Devol had already applied for a patent an industrial robotic arm in 1954; was issued in ...

. Initially developed for

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, the PUMA was based on earlier designs Scheinman invented while at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Unimation produced PUMAs for years until being purchased by Westinghouse (ca. 1980), and later by Swiss company

Stäubli Stäubli (in English usually written as Staubli) is a Swiss mechatronics company, primarily known for its textile machinery, connectors and robotics products. History Stäubli was founded in Horgen, Switzerland in 1892 as "Schelling & Stäubli" ...

(1988).

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

Robotics manufactured about 1500 PUMA robots during the 1980s, the Puma-650 being their most popular model with customers. Some own Nokia Robotics products were also designed, lik
Nokia NS-16 Industrial Robot
or NRS-15 . Nokia sold their Robotics division in 1990. In 2002, General Motors Controls, Robotics and Welding (CRW) organization donated the original prototype PUMA robot to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. It joins a collection of historically important robots that includes an early

Unimate 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.Mickle, Paul"1961: A peep into the automated future" ''The Trentonian''. Accessed Aug ...

and the Odetics Odex 1.PUMA Robot Becomes Part of American History at the Smithsonian
Robotics Online, archived on February 28, 2008 fro
the original
/ref> The essence of the design is represented in three categories; 200, 500, and 700 series. The 200 series is a smaller desktop unit. Notably, this model was used for the first robotic stereotactic brain biopsy in 1985. The 500 Series and can reach almost 2 meters up. This model is the more popular design and is the most recognizable configuration. The 700 series is the largest of the group and was intended for assembly line, paint, and welding work. All designs consist of two main components: the mechanical arm and the control system. These are typically interconnected by one or two large multi-conductor cables. When two cables are used, one carries power to the servo motors and brakes while the second carries the position feedback for each joint back to the control system. The control computer is based on the LSI-11 architecture which is very similar to PDP11 computers. The system has a boot program and basic debug tool loaded on ROM chips. The operating system is loaded from external storage through a serial port, usually from a floppy disk. The control unit also contains the servo power supply, analog and digital feedback processing boards, and servo drive system. The arm appears in the film

Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell. Steven Spielberg served as executive producer. It was inspired by the 1966 science fiction film ''Fantastic Voyage''. It sta ...

. An arm was displayed in the "Bird And The Robot" attraction at the

World of Motion World of Motion, sponsored by General Motors,"GM's World of Motion Exhibit opens in Epcot Center at the Walt Disney World Resort. Before the year is out, the one millionth visitor to the exhibit is recorded." http://www.gm.com/company/corp_info/ ...

pavilion of

EPCOT Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

Model 260

* Six-axis arm with 3 axis making up a spherical wrist * Maximum reach 400 mm from center axis to center of wrist * Maximum payload: 2.2 kg * Arm weight: 13.2 kg * Repeatability ±0.05 mm * max velocity: 1245 mm/sec straight line moves

Model 560 C

* 6 Axis arm with 3 axis making up a spherical wrist."Robot 560 C Arm Manual" Staubli Unimation ltd. 1990 ch.1 pg.1 * Maximum reach 878mm from center axis to center of wrist * Software selectable payloads from 4 kg to 2.5 kg * Arm weight: 83 kg (approximate)"Robot 560 C Arm Manual" Staubli Unimation ltd. 1990 ch.1 pg.10 * Repeatability ±0.1mm"Robot 560 C Arm Manual" Staubli Unimation ltd. 1990 ch.1 pg.12 * 2.5 kg max velocity: 500mm/sec straight line moves * 4.0 kg max velocity: 470mm/sec straight line moves

Model 761 and 762

* 6 Axis arm with 3 axis making up a spherical wrist. * Maximum reach 761: 1.50m from center axis to center of wrist 762: 1.25m from center axis to center of wrist"Unimate PUMA Mark III Robot 700 Series Models 761/762 Equipment Manual 398Z1" Unimation Westinghouse. 1986 ch.1 pg.43 * Arm mass: 761: 600 kg 762: 590 kg * Payload: 761: 10 kg"Unimate PUMA Mark III Robot 700 Series Models 761/762 Equipment Manual 398Z1" Unimation Westinghouse. 1986 ch.1 pg.44 762: 20 kg * Repeatability ±0.2mm"Unimate PUMA Mark III Robot 700 Series Models 761/762 Equipment Manual 398Z1" Unimation Westinghouse. 1986 ch.1 pg.46 * max velocity: 1000mm/sec straight line moves ArmDim700side

Control system

Variable Assembly Language Variable Assembly Language (VAL) is a computer-based control system and language designed specifically for use with Unimation Inc. industrial robots. The VAL robot language is permanently stored as a part of the VAL system. This includes the progr ...

References

Books that Reference the PUMA design

*"Essentials of Mechatronics" Billingsley,John. John Wiley & Sons. Hoboken, NJ. 2006 Ch.9 *"Robot Modeling and Kinematics" Manseur,Rachid. DaVinci Engineering Press. Boston, MA. 2006 Ch.4-5 *"Robotics Technology and Flexible Automation 2nd Edition" S.R. Deb. McGraw Hill. New Delhi. 2010

External links

{{commons category
Stäubli RoboticsFilm from 1981 titled 'PUMA...The Leading Edge in Robotic Technology' produced by Unimation, Inc.
Industrial robots 1975 robots Robotics at Unimation