This morning VDC Research Group's Industrial Automation & Control practice would like to note the passing of George Devol at the age of 99. George Devol was the inventor of the first industrial robotic arm that was placed into service at General Motors in 1961 which was the same year his 1954 patent for "programmed article transfer" was approved. Since then, automotive and industrial production facilities have never been the same. In the intervening time, industrial robots have moved to the mainstream from niche products designed for one-off hazardous location or extremely repetitive applications involving heavy materials. As many of our reports show, the position sensors, and machine safety products that go into industrial automation products can individually represent markets with hundreds of millions of revenue dollars annually.
In our opinion, all industrial automation market participants should have a few moments of reflection for George Devol as it appears we all have something to thank him for.
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