Robert Adler

Infobox_Scientist
name = Robert Adler

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caption = Robert Adler
birth_date = December 4, 1913
birth_place = Vienna, Austria
residence = U.S.
nationality = American
death_date = Dda|2007|2|15|1913|12|4
death_place = Boise, Idaho, U.S.
field = Physicist
work_institution = Zenith Electronics
alma_mater = University of Vienna
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students = None
known_for = wireless remote control for televisions
prizes = Edison Medal (1980)
religion =
footnotes =

Robert Adler (December 4 1913 - February 15 2007) was an Austrian-born American inventor who held numerous patents.

Achievements

Adlea was born in Vienna, and earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Vienna in 1937. After emigrating to the United States, he began working at Zenith Electronics in the research division in 1941. In his lifetime, Adler was granted 58 US patents.

Contributions to the remote control

The invention Adler is best known for is the wireless remote control for televisions. While not the first remote control, its underlying technology was a vast improvement over previous remote control systems.

The "Flashmatic" remote control, invented by Eugene Polley, another engineer at Zenith, was the first wireless remote control, replacing the signal cable based remote control devices, which never were a success. The Flashmatic used directional flashlight in the transmitter device, and photo cells in the television set itself. One of the major shortcomings of this technology was that if the television set was exposed to direct sunlight, it could trigger one of the remote control functions "inadvertently due to the lack of sufficient protection circuitry, which is why the engineers at Zenith had to go back to the drawing board.

The idea of a radio based system was briefly mentioned, but radio waves travel through walls, and a scenario where a remote control inadvertently changes channels, or performs other commands on a television set located next door, led to that idea quickly being abandoned. Furthermore, the marketing people at Zenith requested a remote control which did not require batteries, as it was perceived at the time that if the battery died, the customer might think something was wrong with the television set itself.

This is where Adler and his remote control concept came in. His idea was to use sound to communicate with a television set instead of light. The first remote control he developed, the "Space Command", used aluminium rods, analogous to tuning forks, struck by hammers toggled by the buttons on the device, to produce high-frequency tones that would be" interpreted to control functions by the television set.

In the 1960s, Adler modified the remote control to use ultrasonic signals, a technology which went on to be used in television sets manufactured in the next 25 years.

Professional accomplishments

By the time of his retirement from Zenith, officially in 1982, Adler was the company's Vice President and Director of Research. He remained a technical advisor to Zenith until 1999. In 1980, Adler was awarded the IEEE's Edison Medal. In 1997, Adler and Polley were jointly awarded an Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Adler's latest patent application was filed on October 6 2006 for work on touch-screen technology [http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220070024599%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20070024599&RS=DN/20070024599] .

Death

Robert Adler died in a Boise, Idaho nursing home of heart failure at age 93.

External links

* [http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/adler.html Inventor of the Week Archive - Robert Adler]
* [http://inventorspot.com/node/3977 Robert Adler: Biography of the Inventor Who Made Life Easier for Couch Potatoes]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/16/obit.remote.control.ap/index.html Man who glued TV watchers to the couch dies]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602102.html The Inventor Who Deserves a Sitting Ovation] - "The Washington Post"
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602039.html Robert Adler, 93; Engineer, Co-Inventor of TV Remote Control] - "The Washington Post"
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2293441.ece Obituary] , "The Independent", 22 February 2007
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=KO1LLVRZAUQJZQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/03/13/db1303.xml Obituary] , "The Daily Telegraph", 13 March 2007
* [http://tvinterviewsarchive.blogspot.com/2007/02/co-inventor-of-wireless-television.html Obituary and Archive of American Television interview description]