IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2012 - 115

*
I didn't even think about who I was
up against; Western Electric, RCA,
AT&T. It was impossible."
Photocells and Vacuum Tubes
"I started thinking about what else we
could do with all these photocells and
vacuum tubes. I came up with the idea
of making photoelectric controls for
electric doors. And with that patent, I
formed United Cinephone Corporation, as far as I know, the first industrial control company in the U.S."
Now ubiquitous, this was the world's
first automatic door opener. He
licensed it to Yale & Towne for their
"Phantom Doorman" (Figure 1).
At the age of 26, with a new, larger
plant in Long Island, Devol started
patenting his ideas, beginning with
Orthoplane lighting [1938, "Design
of a Lighting Fixture" U.S. Patent
D112,634], then registration controls,
wireless control devices, and phonograph amplifiers.
Early Barcode System
Even an entrepreneur like George
Devol will occasionally miss an
opportunity. In 1935, Firestone Tire
and Rubber Co. approached Devol to
devise a package sorting system. He
created an optical barcode system
using photocells, a forerunner to the
same system used by shipping companies and retailers today. Considering
it simply as one component of the
larger system, Devol never patented
his barcode system. "Now it's big
business, but then, we didn't know
what we had. As far as I know, we
were using it long before anyone else."
Evelyn
At about this time, Devol had a blind
date with a beautiful Hunter College
coed named Evelyn Jahelka. It was
love at first sight; they married on
New Year's Eve in 1938. For the next
65 years, Evelyn was by Devol's side
through good and times. To their
four children, she was the backbone
of the family, "particularly through
the hard times when he was trying to
raise money to launch the first industrial robot." She supported Devol's

Figure 1. One of Devol's ideas for
Cinephone became the world's first
automatic door opener. He licensed it to
Yale & Towne, for their "Phantom
Doorman."

creativity and even named his automation system and his company
when she coined the word
"Unimation" from "universal" and
"automation" (Figure 2).
Radar and the Robot Brain
By 1939, American manufacturing
turned its focus to World War II.
Realizing that United Cinephone was
not big enough to handle military
contracts, Devol sold his interest in
his company to explore new horizons.
"I gave them a very good deal, but I
didn't think it all the way through:
'Now what!?'"
In a real way, all of George Devol's
experience before and during World
War II culminated in the creation of

Figure 2. Married for 65 years, Evelyn
named Devol's concept and company by
combining "universal" and "automation"
and coining "Unimation."

the first industrial robot. Stints at
RCA, Sperry Gyroscope, and Remington Rand contributed to aspects of his
brainchild.
Wanting to do his part for the war
effort, he approached the head of Seversky Aircraft in Long Island. "I didn't
know anything about airplanes, but
I knew all about production." To
his surprise, by 5:00 that afternoon
he was the company's head of production. However, he felt unchallenged, and within the year moved to
Sperry Gyroscope as manager of the
Special Projects Department, developing military radar devices and microwave test equipment.
Then came another missed opportunity: "At Sperry, we made radar
scanners. One day, I was up in the
plane, testing a new scanner, and
noticed the unit was getting too hot. It
almost burning my hand. So, I turned
it off and right away it cooled. I
started thinking along the lines of a
microwave oven, long before anyone
patented it, but I was too busy to focus
on that. I never got a chance to apply
for a patent on that one. And look at it
today!"
Radar defense technology intrigued Devol, and he had some ideas
to develop. In 1943, he approached
the head of Auto Ordinance Company, convincing him of the Allied
Forces' urgent need for radar countermeasure devices. "By the time I left
his office, I had US$5 million to start a
new division, and he would have
given me just about any amount!" He
established General Electronic Industries (GEI) in Greenwich, Connecticut. With Devol as general manager,
the company grew to 3,000 employees, one of the world's largest
manufacturers of radar equipment.
However, when the biggest military
contract in history was offered, Devol
balked, knowing they could not fill it.
Against his advice, GEI took the contract and Devol resigned.
Following GEI, there was a brief,
uninspired stint at RCA, managing
the electronic products division, and
it was then that Devol's restless mind
started to formulate the principles

SEPTEMBER 2012

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

115

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