In The News

Inventor of the robot arm George C Devol passes away

Inventor of the robot arm George C Devol passes away

THE DEATH has taken place in the United States of George C. Devol who was credited with inventing the robot arm which is now widely used in industries across the world. He was 99.

Mr. Devol was a self-taught inventor who drew inspiration from science fiction.

He filed a patent for his robot arm, which he developed under the name Unimate, in 1954 and it was granted in 1961.

The arm was then developed by his friend and fellow engineer, Joseph Engelberger.

General Motors became the first company to install the first Unimate arm in 1961 when it used the invention to lift and stack die-cast metal parts.

Other U.S. car companies quickly followed G.M. and began to automate parts of their production lines using the robot arms, then Japanese industry began placing orders.

The Unimate was named one of the top 50 inventions of the last 50 years by Popular Mechanics magazine in 2002.

Earlier this year Mr. Devol was inducted into the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame.

 

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