Nearly 70 years after Model A cars moved along the River Rouge assembly line, Ford Taurus and Sable models glide past robotic arms that weld, paint, and do other manufacturing tasks. Today implanted with microprocessors and sensors, these programmable arms are a far cry from the one first used in 1959 and those sold in the U.S. in the early 1960s. Demand was stronger in Japan, and by 1980, Japanese robot makers dominated the global industry. Now, U.S. robot makers are making a comeback. Their shipments reached an all-time high of more than $1 billion in 1997, with a wide range of manufacturers finding novel ways to use robots for rote tasks.

Related Links
Robotics Trade Assn.: "Robotics Online"

Sandia National Labs: Intelligent Systems & Robotics Center