Reymond Clavel

Reymond Clavel (23 June 1950 – 24 June 2025) was a Swiss roboticist and professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. He is one of the pioneers in the development of parallel robots, and the inventor of the notable Delta robot. Clavel’s research in robotics, particularly in parallel and high-precision mechanisms, helped pioneer the field of parallel robotics in the 1980s and led to numerous practical applications and awards.

Early life and education

Reymond Clavel was born on 23 June 1950 in Oulens-sous-Échallens, Switzerland. He studied mechanical engineering at EPFL and obtained his engineering degree (Diplôme) in 1973. The introduction of the Delta robot revolutionized high-speed pick-and-place operations, offering accelerations up to 50g, and it has since been widely adopted in diverse sectors including food and pharmaceutical packaging, electronics assembly, and even surgical robotics.

1998 – Grand Prix de l’Innovation in Monaco awarded to his laboratory for advances in new robot technologies.

1999 – Golden Robot Award (sponsored by ABB) for the Delta robot, recognizing its impact on industrial robotics.

2003 – Three of Clavel’s research projects each won a Swiss Technology Award (multiple winners in one year).

2005 – Winner of the Swiss Technology Award, along with the Fondation Vontobel Special Prize (“Sonderpreis”) for Inventing the Future (awarded for his lab’s innovative developments).

2006 – Winner of the Swiss Technology Award for the project “Quantum Leap into the World of Nano-EDM,” a high-precision electrical discharge machining system based on Delta robot kinematics.

2007 – Two projects from Clavel’s lab won Swiss Technology Awards: “Cyberthosis for paraplegia rehabilitation” (a robotic rehabilitation device, in collaboration with Swortec and the Fondation Suisse pour les Cyberthèses) and the “Microfactory” (a miniature manufacturing system developed with CSEM).

2024 – Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award, the world’s most prestigious robotics honor, awarded by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) for Clavel’s pioneering role in developing the Delta robot.