George Devol, creator of the primary industrial robot arm dies at 99

He will not be a household name like Henry Ford, but it’s arguable that George Devol’s (above, right) work was much more influential in shaping the trendy manufacturing landscape. In 1961, roughly seven years after first applying for the patent, his Unimate was put into service in a GE automobile plant. The world’s first programmable, robotic arm was used to boost hot cast metal components out of a mold and stack them — the assembly line hasn’t ever be the identical. Other companies soon followed suit, replacing expensive and fragile humans with mechanical labor. Devol died Thursday night in his home on the age of 99. If you are considering getting a peek at his game-changing invention, yow will discover one on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of yank History.

[Image credit: The Estate of George C. Devol]

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