History & Milestones

Milestones in the development of the company


1976         Foundation of IAI in Japan as a robot systems house and automation consulting center in Shizuoka, Japan.

1981         Start of in-house production in the linear range and first independent sales of 4-axis sealing applications with IAI axes.

1986         Start of the IntelligentActuator product line as an independent brand name and complete in-house production of units.

1989         Foundation of IAI America, Inc. as a sales and service subsidiary in Los Angeles, USA.

1995         Foundation of IAI Industrieroboter GmbH as a sales and service subsidiary for Europe in Frankfurt, Germany.

1999         Market introduction of RoboCylinder electric cylinders as an alternative to conventional pneumatic cylinder.

2002         New product line: IX SCARA robots.

2005   -     
  • Linear motors (LSA) and
  • Tabletop robots (TT) added to the product line.
     
2008         Launch of the Green Automation communication strategy for the RC RoboCylinder™ product line in the Americas and Europe.

2009         Market launch of the new small Mini RoboCylinder.

2013         Foundation of the Southeast Asian sales company IAI Robot (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in Bangkok, Thailand.

2014         Launch of the RCD micro cylinder series.

2015        
  • New introduction of the RCP5 series of battery-less absolute encoders.
  • Launch of the second-generation TTA table-top robots and the IXP SCARA robot series.
     
2016   -      New introduction of the RCP6 and RCS4 series.

2018        
  • Market introduction of a new generation of servo presses.
  • Launch of the new red/black actuators under the name EleCylinder.
  • New introduction of a robotic wrist unit for Cartesian robots.
     
2019         New electric grippers: a two-point solenoid gripper for small part assembly and a RCP6 long-stroke gripper for large workpieces.

2020        
  • Launch of the compact RCON high-performance controller.
  • Significant expansion of the EleCylinder series with many new types.
  • Launch of the new IXA high-performance SCARA robot.
     
2021         New fast ISB long-stroke slider type actuators.

2022         Market introduction of R-Unit (RCON, REC, RSEL), the new generation of IAI controllers.

2023         New IFA belt-driven actuators with long strokes..

2024        
  • IAI Corporation moves into its newly constructed factory and new headquarters in Shizuoka.
  • New EleCylinder 2-finger grippers, ultra- and high-perfomance mini EleCylinder.
  • Market launch of EleCylinder rotary drives.
     
2025        
  • Market launch of the SCON2 controller with many new safety functions.
  • EleCylinder series with 3 position mode specification.