Robotic Arm

A robotic arm is a programmable mechanical arm, built from connected links and joints forming a kinematic chain, that performs tasks with a terminal end effector serving as the robotic equivalent of a human hand, typically needing at least six degrees of freedom to reach any position and orientation in three-dimensional space. The German manufacturer KUKA introduced the Famulus in 1973, described as the first electric six-axis robot arm, and the Japanese manufacturer Yaskawa began production of its Motoman-L10 model, an early commercial robotic arm, in 1977. Robotic arms are now used throughout manufacturing, and also in applications from surgery to space exploration, wherever a task calls for the reach, dexterity or precision of an arm without direct human presence.