Robotics

The Birth of MOTOMAN

“MOTOMAN” The first unit externally announced

The first “electrically-driven industrial robot” in Japan

In the era when hydraulically-driven robots were developed in the U.S. and the import and sale as well as technology partnership of those robots have started in Japan, Yaskawa started to develop a unique robot based on the basic concept of “making a motorized robot”.
In 1974 when the Robot Exhibition was held, the first “MOTOMAN” was exhibited as a result of two-year development. It was the first “electrically-driven industrial robot” in Japan, and the “arc-welding” performed by “MOTOMAN” made a great contribution to the success we are enjoying today.

The first unit sold of
“MOTOMAN”

The world’s No.1 in terms of sales volume

Unfortunately, “MOTOMAN” did not sell at all at that time. So, we developed “MOTOMAN-L10”, an articulated-type robot modeled on an electric articulated-type robot announced by ASEA (present ABB) in Sweden. It was developed to differentiate Yaskawa’s robots from powerful hydraulic robots by focusing on the electric “arc welding”. Then, in 1977, Nakatsu Plant of Yorozu Automotive (present Yorozu) in Nakatsu-city, Oita prefecture decided to purchase the MOTOMAN-L10. This was a historic first sale of MOTOMAN-L10. Yaskawa’s Robotics business started from the sale of this first unit. In fiscal 2002, after a quarter-century since then, Yaskawa achieved its long-cherished dream of becoming the “world’s No.1” in reality and in name in terms of sales volume, and the production at MOTOMAN Center is now exceeding 1,000 units/month

Technology

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