Photo: ArnoldReinhold, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁰

Victor Scheinman

American robotics pioneer (1942–2016)

Victor David Scheinman (December 28, 1942 – September 20, 2016) was an American pioneer in the field of robotics.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Victor Scheinman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Dec 28, 1942, died Sep 20, 2016.¹

About

He was born in Augusta, Georgia, where his father Léonard was stationed with the US Army. At the end of the war, the family moved to Brooklyn and his father returned to work as a professor of psychiatry. His mother taught at a Hebrew school.

Scheinman's first experience with robots was watching The Day the Earth Stood Still around age 8 or 9. The movie frightened him and his father suggested building a wooden model as therapy. Scheinman attended the now-defunct New Lincoln School in New York where, in the late 1950s, he designed and constructed a voice-controlled typewriter as a science fair project. This endeavor gave him entry into MIT as an undergraduate in engineering, as well as providing a foundation for his later inventions.

From Wikipedia’s article on Victor Scheinman, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

AutomatixFounder⁹

Early life and education

Date not recordedNew Lincoln School³

Career

Occupation: roboticist.⁶

Date not recordedWorked at Stanford University⁴
Date not recordedFounded Automatix⁵

Personal life

BornDec 28, 1942, Augusta⁷
CitizenshipUnited States⁸

His niece is a jazz violinist Jenny Scheinman. He was married to Sandra Auerback in August 2006. His engineer son Dave Scheinman is head of hardware for 3D printing company Carbon (company)

Victor Scheinman died on September 20, 2016, in Petrolia, California at the age of 73. Up to the time of his death, Scheinman continued to consult and was a visiting professor at Stanford University in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.