The first robot used for industrial purposes was the Unimate, a hydraulic arm developed in the USA in 1954. It was used to lift heavy loads and was sold to General Motors, which installed it in a factory in 1961 to move pieces of hot metal. The Unimate was an autonomous, pre-programmed robot that repeatedly performed the same dangerous task. Therefore, the first robot was used to prevent humans from performing the heaviest, most dangerous, and tedious tasks.