Science: New Gadgets, Dec. 14, 1953

OMan. For doing both heavy and delicate jobs under remote control, General Electric has built a monstrous, sensitive machine it calls "OMan" (for "overhead manipulator"). OMan is not beautiful; he looks like a Brobdingnagian dentist's drill. But he is a remarkable mechanical man. Obeying electric signals from a distant control console, he can lift 3,000 pounds off the floor and carry 1,000 pounds with a single arm extended horizontally. He can twist thick steel bars into pretzel shapes or tie them in knots. He can use power tools such as drills, hammers or...