PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

George Devol

George Devol was an inventor whose Unimate helped bring programmable robot arms into factory work. He started with film-sound technology, worked on magnetic recording and wartime radar, and built a programmable article-transfer arm. In 1956, he co-founded Unimation with Joseph Engelberger, and General Motors put the first Unimate on an assembly line in 1961. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bridgeport in 1989 and entered the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011. He died in Wilton in 2011 at age 99.

Timeline

  1. By 1932

    Riordan Prep

    Born in Louisville in 1912, he attends Riordan Prep and gains practical experience helping run the school's electric-light plant.

  2. 1930s–1940s

    Film sound, factory control and radar

    In 1932, he forms United Cinephone Corp. to develop film-sound technology. In the 1930s, he sees factory-automation potential in magnetic recording. During World War II, he works at Sperry Gyroscope on radar systems and microwave test equipment; he also organizes General Electronics Industries in Greenwich to produce radar and counter-radar devices.

  3. 1945–1954

    Devol Research and a robot patent

    From 1945, he works as a self-employed inventor and eventually runs Devol Research. In 1954, he files for the Programmed Article Transfer, a robotic arm that stores commands and moves parts. Its patent describes a general-purpose machine for cyclic control.

  4. 1956

    Co-founding Unimation

    In 1956, he meets Joseph Engelberger, and together they form Unimation, the first robotics company.

  5. 1961–1966

    Unimate at GM and on television

    General Motors puts the first Unimate on an assembly line in 1961 to lift and stack hot die-cast metal. In 1966, it appears on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where it conducts the band, knocks a golf ball into a cup, and opens a can of beer. Its control uses magnetic drum memory and discrete solid-state components.

  6. 1978–1983

    PUMA and Unimation's sale

    In 1978, Unimation develops the PUMA assembly robot with General Motors support. Westinghouse buys Unimation in 1983.

  7. 1989

    An honorary doctorate

    The University of Bridgeport awards him an honorary doctorate in 1989.

  8. 2011

    Hall of Fame induction and death

    In 2011, he enters the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his industrial robot patent. He dies at home in Wilton in 2011, at age 99.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of George Devol yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. George Devol: A Life Devoted to Invention, and Robots spectrum.ieee.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. The Invention of the Industrial Robot invent.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. NIHF Inductee George Devol Invented the Industrial Robot invent.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. George Devol – Louisville louisville.cc. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Tech luminaries we lost in 2011 computerworld.com. Checked 19 October 2026.