George Devol in 1982
(Feb. 20, 1912 - Aug. 11, 2011). American inventor, best known for the first industrial robot—Unimate. Devol applied for the patent for his invention—
US Patent 2,988,237—which he received in 1954. The first Unimate robot was sold in 1960, to General Motors. It was used for die casting and spot welding of die cast parts—dangerous jobs, due to toxic fumes.
Unimate pours a cup of coffee, 1967
Unimate captured the public's attention and was featured on television on
The Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson, where it knocked a golf ball into a cup and poured a beer. (Source for images:
wikipedia.org).
Founded in 1880 to address failures in steam boiler pressure vessels, the American Society of Mechanical Engineer has grown to more than 85,000 members in 135 countries.