358:, chief of engineering in the company's aircraft products division was very interested, and Devol agreed to license his patent and some future patents in the field to the company. But the company was sold that year and its aircraft division was slated to be closed. Engelberger sought a backer to buy out the aircraft division and found one in Consolidated Diesel Electronic (Condec), which agreed to finance the continued development of the robot under a new division, Unimation Incorporated, with Engelberger as its president.
726:. Accessed August 11, 2011. "Without any fanfare, the world's first working robot joined the assembly line at the General Motors plant in Ewing Township in the spring of 1961.... It was an automated die-casting mold that dropped red-hot door handles and other such car parts into pools of cooling liquid on a line that moved them along to workers for trimming and buffing. Its most distinct feature was a grip on a steel armature that eliminated the need for a man to touch car parts just made from molten steel."
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283:, Connecticut, and became manager of their magnetics department. There he worked with a team to develop his magnetic recording system for business data applications. He also worked on developing the first high-speed printing systems. While the magnetic recording system proved too slow for business data, Devol's invention was re-purposed as a machine control that would eventually become the "brains" of the Unimate robot.
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In 1939, Devol applied for a patent for proximity controls for use in laundry press machines, based on a radio frequency field. This control would automatically open and close laundry presses when workers approached the machines. After World War II began, the patent office told Devol that his patent
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Over a difference of opinion regarding the future of certain projects, Devol resigned from Auto
Ordinance and joined RCA. After a short stint as eastern sales manager of electronics products, which he felt "wasn't his ball of wax", Devol left RCA to develop ideas that eventually led to the patent
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The company spent about $ 5 million to develop the first
Unimate. In 1966, after many years of market surveys and field tests, full-scale production began in Connecticut. Unimation's first production robot was a materials handling robot and was soon followed by robots for welding and other
249:, Connecticut, as a subsidiary of the Auto Ordnance Corporation. General Electronics produced counter-radar devices until the end of the war. General Electronics was one of the largest producers of radar and radar counter-measure equipment for the
365:. Most off-the-shelf components available in the late 1950s, such as digital encoders, were inadequate for the Unimate. With Devol's guidance, a team of engineers at Unimation designed and machined practically every part in the first Unimates.
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Devol wrote that his invention "makes available for the first time a more or less general purpose machine that has universal application to a vast diversity of applications where cyclic digital control is desired."
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After applying for this patent Devol searched for a company willing to give him financial backing to develop his programmable articles transfer system. He talked with many major corporations in the
480:, Connecticut. He was survived by two daughters, two sons, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His funeral service was held in a Methodist church and he was laid to rest in Wilton.
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application for the first industrial robot. In 1946, he applied for a patent on a magnetic recording system for controlling machines and a digital playback device for machines.
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to pitch his ideas on radar technology. He was retained by Sperry as manager of the
Special Projects Department, which developed radar devices and microwave test equipment.
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says, "Devol's patent for the first digitally operated programmable robotic arm represents the foundation of the modern robotics industry."
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patents, but he took note of the introduction of automation into factories. In 1954, he applied for his robotics patent.
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during his search. Through family connections, Devol obtained an audience with a partner in the firm
315:, issued in 1961 for Programmed Article Transfer, introduced the concept of universal automation, or
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and other government agencies. The company's radar counter-measure systems were on Allied planes on
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technology, the Speedy Weeny, which automatically cooked and dispensed hotdogs in places such as
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In the early 1950s, Devol licensed his digital magnetic recording device to
Remington Rand of
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to produce variable area recording directly onto film for the new sound motion pictures ("
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magazine selected Devol's
Unimate as one of the Top 50 Inventions of the Past 50 Years.
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319:. His wife Evelyn suggested the word "Unimate" to define the product, much the same as
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https://georgedevol.com/patents/2395780_-_1939_-_Capacity_Controlled_Textile_Press.pdf
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It may require cleanup to comply with
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The first static magnetic recorder that used a saw blade to record information
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Around that time, Devol sold his interest in United
Cinephone and approached
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832:"Robotics pioneer George Devol, a former Greenwich resident, dies at 99"
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Devol was part of the team that developed the first commercial use of
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application would be placed on hold for the duration of the conflict.
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Foregoing higher education, Devol went into business in 1932, forming
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In 1975, Unimation showed its first profit. In 1978, the PUMA (
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were working in the same area, and discontinued the product.
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by
Richard C. Dorf and Andrew Kusiak (Wiley-IEEE) Page 260
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527:"Father of robotics' who helped to revolutionise carmaking"
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Henry Ford and
Smithsonian Museum collections both include
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163:(February 20, 1912 – August 11, 2011) was an American
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In the 1940s, Devol was focusing on manipulators and his
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George Devol was born in an upper-middle-class family in
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In 1943, he organized General Electronics Industries in
509:"George Devol: A Life Devoted to Invention, and Robots"
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Devol died on August 11, 2011, aged 99, at his home in
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A major contributor to this article appears to have a
812:"George C. Devol, Inventor of Robot Arm, Dies at 99"
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Robotics Research Group - The first robot: "Unimate"
601:"George C. Devol, Inventor of Robot Arm, Dies at 99"
218:"). However, he later learned that companies like
384:. The first Unimate robot was installed at GM's
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629:Handbook of Design, Manufacturing and Automation
415:) robot was developed by Unimation from Vicarm (
693:"The History and Benefits of Industrial Robots"
404:saw the necessity for large Unimate purchases.
334:U.S. Patent 2,988,237, issued in 1961 to Devol.
582:"The Father Of Modern Robotics: George Devol"
191:, Kentucky. He attended Riordan Prep school.
820:, August 15, 2011. Accessed August 14, 2011.
737:"The Top 50 Inventions of the Past 50 Years"
413:Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly
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368:In 1960, Devol personally sold the first
64:Learn how and when to remove this message
718:"1961: A peep into the automated future"
419:) and with support from General Motors.
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449:Member of the Automation Hall of Fame
830:MacEachern, Frank (17 August 2011).
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789:. pearcedesign.com. Archived from
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886:People from Louisville, Kentucky
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44:. Please discuss further on the
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599:Pearce, Jeremy (2011-08-15).
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661:. Accessed August 14, 2011.
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618:vidyaonline.org - robot
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274:Grand Central Terminal
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356:Joseph F. Engelberger
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862:at Wikimedia Commons
112:Louisville, Kentucky
92:George Devol in 1982
911:History of robotics
906:Industrial robotics
739:. Popular Mechanics
659:University of Texas
255:U.S. Army Air Force
130:Wilton, Connecticut
896:American inventors
817:The New York Times
653:2008-03-08 at the
605:The New York Times
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442:Inducted into the
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881:2011 deaths
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378:die casting
363:transistors
323:had coined
870:Categories
797:2011-03-18
771:August 21,
743:2012-03-15
703:2012-03-15
678:2012-03-15
586:Lifehacker
484:References
467:, Michigan
189:Louisville
183:Early life
104:1912-02-20
422:In 2005,
317:Unimation
251:U.S. Navy
247:Greenwich
46:talk page
651:Archived
465:Dearborn
394:Chrysler
165:inventor
141:Inventor
454:Unimate
370:Unimate
293:Unimate
281:Norwalk
216:talkies
175:. The
169:Unimate
635:
478:Wilton
456:robots
446:(2011)
439:(1985)
400:, and
151:Spouse
761:(PDF)
472:Death
325:Kodak
259:D-Day
773:2011
633:ISBN
402:Fiat
398:Ford
222:and
119:Died
98:Born
463:in
388:in
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220:RCA
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