George Devol

George Charles Devol, Jr. (February 20, 1912 – August 11, 2011) was an American inventor known for developing Unimate, the first material handling robot employed in industrial production work. 2Early life Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1912, Devol was interested from boyhood in all things electrical and mechanical such as boats, airplanes, and engines. He got some practical experience at Riordan Prep, where, in addition to studying traditional subjects, he helped construct some buildings and run the school's electric light plant. Although he wasn't very scholarly he read everything he could about mechanical devices, trying to discover what, besides building radios, could be done with vacuum tubes when applied as control devices. 2United Cinephone Choosing to forego higher education, in 1932 Devol went into business, forming United Cinephone to produce variable area recording directly onto film for the new sound motion pictures ("talkies"). However, he later learned that companies like RCA and Western Electric were working in the same area, and decided to discontinue the product. At that time, Devol asked himself "what else can we do with all these photocells and vacuum tubes?" Devol decided that United Cinephone needed inventions in order to sell its photoelectric switches. One of Devol's first inventions was the automatic door. United Cinephone licensed Devol's invention to Yale & Towne who manufactured the "Phantom Doorman" photoelectric doo