a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Another early patent that looks surprisingly modern was granted for a robot called 'Improvements in or relating to Positioning or Manipulating Apparatus' invented by Cyril W. Kenward. The British patent was filed March 29, 1954 and was published August 21, 1957, and preceded George Devol's first robot patent by several months. It is an interesting …
In 1958, the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) Thermatool Corporation (later known as AMF Corporation, later acquired by Prab Company of Michigan) initiated an R&D project for a Versatile Transfer Machine, or VERSATRAN, a programmable cylindrical coordinate frame robotic arm designed by Harry Johnson and Veljko Milenkovic. AMF introduced Model 102, a continuous-path transfer device, and Model …
Read More “1958-62 – “VERSATRAN” Industrial Robot – Harry Johnson & Veljko Milenkovic”
Mary Locke getting what robots like to give. Patent Information: MECHANISM FOR REMOTE MANIPULATION OF INDUSTRIAL OBJECTS Anthony J. Kaye et al See full patent details here. Patent number: 3173555 Filing date: Sep 7, 1962 Issue date: Mar 16, 1965 This invention relates generally to mechanism for positioning or otherwise manipulating objects, tools and the …
Source: Popular Mechanics, Dec 1957. Although I've seen dates suggesting the Planobot was around since 1955, The first dates I've seen in publications start in 1956. The patent itself was filed 13 Mar 1957. "Planobot is for automationeers. It's a transfer device (Planet Corp., 1820 Sunset St., Lansing, Mich.) with five basic motions: Grasping …
Read More “1956 – “PLANOBOT” Pick-and-Place Industrial Robot – Joe B. Brown (Planet Corp.)”