Unimation · Industrial · 1978
The PUMA 560 (Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly) is one of the most historically important industrial robots ever built — developed by Victor Scheinman at Unimation in 1978, together with General Motors, and considered the archetypal anthropomorphic robot arm. Its six all-rotational axes with a 3R spherical wrist (2.5 kg payload, 864 mm reach, ~±0.1 mm repeatability, DC servos under Unimation's VAL controller) made it the reference manipulator for a generation of robotics research: its kinematics and Denavit-Hartenberg parameters appear in countless textbooks, and it remained a laboratory and teaching standard for decades. It shipped in a family (PUMA 260, 560, 761) and cemented Unimation — founded by robotics pioneer Joseph Engelberger — as the birthplace of industrial robotics. NOTE: The PUMA predates modern datasheet practice; specifications here are drawn from the published academic and historical record (Unimation documentation, robotics literature) rather than a current manufacturer datasheet — depth is intentionally capped to verified historical figures rather than invented.
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View full interactive profile, comparisons & videos →| Category | Industrial |
| Sub-type | Historic Articulated Robot |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Year | 1978 |
| Origin | USA |
| Announced | 1978 |
| Released | 1978 |
| Degrees of freedom | 6 |
| Payload | 2.5 kg |
| Reach | 864 mm |
| Repeatability | ±0.1 mm |
| Actuator type | DC servo motors with encoders (VAL controller) |
| Use cases | Assembly, Material handling, Machine tending, Academic research & teaching |
| Made in | USA |