Victor Scheinman
Victor Scheinman was an American engineer who built the Stanford Arm in 1969, an early all-electric, computer-controlled six-axis robot arm, and later designed the PUMA robot sold by Unimation.
What they did and why it matters
Scheinman created the electric, computer-controlled arm design that most industrial and warehouse robot arms still follow. His Stanford Arm used electric motors on six axes rather than hydraulics, so it could be programmed precisely for assembly tasks. He founded Vicarm in 1973 and sold the design to Unimation, which marketed it as the PUMA. Robotic piece-picking cells, palletizing arms, and collaborative robots in fulfillment centers are descendants of his layout, combined today with vision systems and grippers that let them handle varied products.