Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
Pioneers

George Devol

Inventor

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George Devol was an American inventor who designed and patented Unimate, the first programmable industrial robotic arm, using a magnetic-drum program memory to control a reusable mechanical arm rather than a single-purpose machine. Devol licensed the design to Joseph Engelberger, whose company Unimation put the first Unimate to work on a General Motors die-casting line in 1961. The National Inventors Hall of Fame credits his patent as the foundation of the modern robotics industry.

Facts
Birth Year
1912 1
Death Year
2011 1
Nationality
American 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

In Field

Robotics, Fields
Sources
1. Wikipedia: George Devol
Wikimedia FoundationIn Field: Robotics, Introduction, quoting the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Quote, In Field: Robotics, Introduction, quoting the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Devol's patent for the first digitally operated programmable robotic arm represents the foundation of the modern robotics industry.
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