The technology of automation has evolved from the related field of mechanization, which had its beginnings in the Industrial Revolution. Mechanization refers to the replacement of human (or animal) power with mechanical power of some form. The driving force behind mechanization has been humankinds propensity to create tools and mechanical devices. Some of the important historical developments in mechanization and automation leading to modern automated systems are described here.
The first tools made of stone represented prehistoric mans attempts to direct his own physical strength under the control of human intelligence. Thousands of years were undoubtedly required for the development of simple mechanical devices and machines such as the wheel, the lever, and the pulley, by which the power of human muscle could be magnified. The next extension was the development of powered machines that did not require human strength to operate. Examples of these machines include waterwheels, windmills, and simple steam-driven devices. More than 2,000 years ago the Chinese developed trip-hammers powered by flowing water and waterwheels. The early Greeks experimented with simple reaction motors powered by steam. The mechanical clock, representing a rather complex assembly with its own built-in power source (a weight), was developed about 1335 in Europe. Windmills, with mechanisms for automatically turning the sails, were developed during the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East. The steam engine represented a major advance in the development of powered machines and marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. During the two centuries since the introduction of the Watt steam engine, powered engines and machines have been devised that obtain their energy from steam, electricity, and chemical, mechanical, and nuclear sources.
Each new development in the history of powered machines has brought with it an increased requirement for control devices to harness the power of the machine. The earliest steam engines required a person to open and close the valves, first to admit steam into the piston chamber and then to exhaust it. Later a slide valve mechanism was devised to automatically accomplish these functions. The only need of the human operator was then to regulate the amount of steam that controlled the engines speed and power. This requirement for human attention in the operation of the steam engine was eliminated by the flying-ball governor. Invented by James Watt in England, this device consisted of a weighted ball on a hinged arm, mechanically coupled to the output shaft of the engine. As the rotational speed of the shaft increased, centrifugal force caused the weighted ball to be moved outward. This motion controlled a valve that reduced the steam being fed to the engine, thus slowing the engine. The flying-ball governor remains an elegant early example of a negative feedback control system, in which the increasing output of the system is used to decrease the activity of the system.
Negative feedback is widely used as a means of automatic control to achieve a constant operating level for a system. A common example of a feedback control system is the thermostat used in modern buildings to control room temperature. In this device, a decrease in room temperature causes an electrical switch to close, thus turning on the heating unit. As room temperature rises, the switch opens and the heat supply is turned off. The thermostat can be set to turn on the heating unit at any particular set point.
Another important development in the history of automation was the Jacquard loom (see photograph), which demonstrated the concept of a programmable machine. About 1801 the French inventor Joseph-Marie Jacquard devised an automatic loom capable of producing complex patterns in textiles by controlling the motions of many shuttles of different coloured threads. The selection of the different patterns was determined by a program contained in steel cards in which holes were punched. These cards were the ancestors of the paper cards and tapes that control modern automatic machines. The concept of programming a machine was further developed later in the 19th century when Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, proposed a complex, mechanical analytical engine that could perform arithmetic and data processing. Although Babbage was never able to complete it, this device was the precursor of the modern digital computer. See computers, history of.
See original here:
- The Automation Conference - December 9th, 2016 [December 9th, 2016]
- The Best Home Automation Systems of 2016 | Top Ten Reviews - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- Compact Automation - Actuators, Hydraulic Cylinders, Linear ... - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- What is Home Automation? | Home Automation Systems - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- Job Seekers - Automation Personnel Services - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- iAutomation - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Beyond Automation - hbr.org - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Automation The Car Company Tycoon Game on Steam - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Automation - Wikipedia - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Build automation - Wikipedia - December 26th, 2016 [December 26th, 2016]
- Home - Enerwave Home Automation - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Automation | Technologies | Systems | Integrator ... - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Automation - DESHAZO - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Custom Automation & Machine Design | Automation GT - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- IT Automation - BMC - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Werner Electric | Automation - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automationtechies | Automation Engineering Recruiting - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automation - Mazak Corporation - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automation | Food Engineering - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Test Automation Services for Development of Regression ... - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- UI Automation Overview - msdn.microsoft.com - February 5th, 2017 [February 5th, 2017]
- The Evolution of Automation and What It Means for the Integration Industry - Commercial Integrator - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Automation, robots could replace 250000 public sector workers in the next 15 years - Computer Business Review - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- New telecom transformation goals require service automation - TechTarget - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Automation expected to displace insurance underwriters, real estate brokers - CIO Dive - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The Perks Of Automation And The Risks: Why To Think Twice About Getting Into That Driverless Uber - Forbes - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Voices Reinventing enterprise finance by overhauling AP automation - Accounting Today - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- DFLabs Launches the First Security Automation and Orchestration Platform based Upon Supervised Active Intelligence - Business Wire (press release) - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- VIDEO: Going Big on Automation in a Small Footprint Facility - ENGINEERING.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Building a better model of human-automation interaction - Phys.org - Phys.Org - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Cruise Automation Is Testing an App For Hailing Self-Driving Cars - Fortune - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- AlixPartners examines automation in manufacturing and logistics management - Logistics Management - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Women need to look out for each other in automated workplaces - The Guardian - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Automation vs. the H-1B visa program: Which matters to employees? - TechTarget - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Automation is the unavoidable future of the economy - The Daily Cougar - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Speeders beware: Legislation would allow automation crackdown ... - SFGate - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Robots versus bureaucrats: Why public sector work is ripe for automation - Financial Post - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Rockwell Automation Surged 10% in January as Growth Picked Up Steam - Motley Fool - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Global Medical Automation Market to Reach Approximately $75.6 Billion by 2025 - By End User, Application ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Automation 'key' to advancing Thai production - The Nation - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- WorkWave Releases New Lead Management And Marketing ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- 'We employ insane levels of automation' Kris Canekeratne - Times of India - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Most people are optimistic about workplace automation, social data suggests - ZDNet - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Yes, there's a job creation argument for automation and technology ... - The Hill (blog) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Technobabble: Automation and the modern worker - CIO Dive - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Improving Behavior Through Automation of Vehicle Systems - School Transportation News (blog) - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Automation Nightmare: Philosopher Warns We Are Creating a World Without Consciousness - Big Think - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Why Don't We See More Automation in Federal Networks? - Nextgov - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Automation can revitalize the US workforce - Fox News - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Readers Write (Feb. 12): The moose population; jobs, start-ups and automation; diversity in the funny pages - Minneapolis Star Tribune - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Automation can replace bureaucrats and save taxpayers money - Hot Air - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- TigerStop hopes to ride automation to new heights - The Columbian - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Your Most Valuable Resource is Time Get More of it through Automation - CMS Critic (press release) (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- What Does Device Automation Mean for Users? - Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- How To Beat Automation And Not Lose Your Job - Forbes - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Logistics firm gets automation boost - The Straits Times - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- PP Control & Automation launch new video to kick-start exciting plans for 2017 - Manufacturer.com - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Automation's Impace on Data Center Monitoring Alerts - The Data Center Journal - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Hollysys Automation Technologies Reports Unaudited Financial Results for the First Half Year and the Second Quarter ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- 4 Automation Hacks to Save You Money and Manpower - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Istuary Innovation Group and Bluewrist Partner to Bring Robotics and Automation into China's Manufacturing Sector - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Redwood Software Named a Strong Performer in Independent Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Boeing ramps up automation, innovation as it readies 737MAX | The ... - The Seattle Times - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Robots and AI are coming for our jobs, but can augmentation save us from automation? - Digital Trends - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- The Impact of Bad Data in Automation: Why Quality Management is Critical - R & D Magazine - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Automation: Are We Empowering Human Interaction Or Displacing It? - Business 2 Community - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Life in the Fast LaneAutomation with Software-Defined Intelligence - InfoWorld - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Luddite Lefty Journalists Apparently Think Workplace Automation is Conservatives' Fault [VIDEO] - Daily Caller - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Will automation define the future of network technology? - TechTarget - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Editorial: Improving automation - The Motorship - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- TigerText Unveils Role-based Scheduling Automation, Amazon Alexa integration - HIT Consultant - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- 89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - Economic Times - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Delta veers to EV parts, automation - Bangkok Post - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Robotic process automation makes nearshore outsourcing more ... - CIO - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- The working-class job that Trump could save from automation - Washington Post - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- China must be ready for automation - Basic Income News - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Bill Gates Says Robots Should Be Taxed Like Workers - Fortune - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Trump and automation challenge India's IT industry - VentureBeat - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Both Trump and Automation Are Challenging India's IT Industry - Fortune - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- 89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - ETCIO.com - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]