21 Facts About Raymond Goertz

Raymond C Goertz was an American mechanical engineer and an early pioneer in the field of robotics, specifically remote-controlled robots.

In 1949, while working for the Atomic Energy Commission at Argonne National Laboratory, Goertz filed a patent for an early master-slave manipulator in order to handle radioactive material.

Raymond Goertz recognized the value of electrically coupling manipulators and laid the foundations of modern tele-robotics and bilateral force-reflecting positional servomechanisms.

Raymond Goertz performed early research on the degrees of freedom necessary for smooth motion by remote manipulation and developed one of the first head-mounted displays as a prototype for virtual reality.

Raymond C Goertz was born in Clearwater, Kansas on March 12,1915.

Raymond Goertz was the son of Norma E and Flora Goertz and had a sister, Mrs Thelma Main and two brothers, Lynn Goertz and Lee Noble.

Raymond Goertz received his Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State College in 1940, graduating with honors.

Raymond Goertz then began his graduate studies at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1942, staying there until 1946.

In 1947 Raymond Goertz moved to Illinois and completed his graduate studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 1947 to 1949.

Raymond Goertz worked for the Sperry Gyroscope Company at the Servomechanisms Laboratory as a project engineer from 1940 to 1947 while working on his graduate studies at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

In 1947 Raymond Goertz moved to Illinois to begin work at Argonne National Laboratory as a mechanical engineer, meanwhile completing his graduate studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology through 1949.

Raymond Goertz later became a senior engineer at Argonne National Laboratory in the remote control engineering division.

At the first and second International Conferences on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1955 and 1958 Raymond Goertz represented the United States as a delegate.

Raymond Goertz created an initial prototype of a virtual reality device by developing one of the first head-mounted displays.

Raymond Goertz was replaced in 1953 as head of Central Research Labs by Demetrius Jelatis.

In 1949 Raymond Goertz filed a patent for a mechanical, bilateral master-slave manipulator, and in 1951 Raymond Goertz improved upon this design with the first tel-operated articulated arm with a design that relied on mechanical coupling between the master and slave arms through the utilization of steel pulleys and cables.

Raymond Goertz gradually became aware of the necessity of haptic senses for manipulating delicate objects and used force-feedback systems to improve the deftness of the human-machine combination.

Raymond Goertz was the recipient of the Edward Longstreth medal at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1967.

Raymond Goertz received the Radiation Industry award from the American Nuclear Society in 1969.

Raymond Goertz married Helen Boula on September 2,1950, in Cook, Illinois.

Raymond Goertz died on June 4,1970, at the age of 55 in Downers Grove, Illinois.