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400 BCE
The start
Since the beginning of time, man has investigated how to do his job with the least possible effort, which has led him to invent and build machines that solve tasks with fewer operators and less physical effort. Already in the Stone Age the first automation
devices are designed, consisting of traps for hunting animals. And humans appeared 2.5 million years ago -
378 BCE
Platon and the alarm clock
He builds it and installs it in the olive grove of his academy, to awaken his disciples. -
299 BCE
The Clepsydra
Ktesibios invented another clepsydra or water clock. Also in this century, Philo of Byzantium builds an automatic system for regulating the oil level of a lamp. -
50
Eolipila
Herón de Alejandría designed several automatic devices: a wine dispenser, an odometer (to measure the distance traveled by an object) or an automatic mechanism to open the doors of a temple. It also builds eolipila, a steam engine prototype. -
830
First automaton
Theophilus of Byzantium builds the first automaton: an object
that moves by itself. -
1240
Builders Guild
Willard de Honnecourt collects in his book Builders Guild the
design of an artificial eagle capable of moving the wings and the beak. -
Period: 1352 to
The automaton runs
Strasbourg Rooster built, an automaton that runs until
1752, and is still preserved as part of the cathedral of this city. -
Calculating machine
Blaise Pascal invented the first calculating machine. -
The Pied Piper
Vaucanson performs “The Pied Piper”, the first automatism in
History programmed with punch cards, and that was able to interpret up to 12 different melodies. -
The Duck
One year later create the Pied Piper, he create another automaton:
"The duck." -
The first automatic loom
Vaucanson applied the perforated card to direct
looms, creating the first automatic loom. -
Continuous Spinning Machine
The Englishman Richard Arkwright patents the continuous
spinning machine. -
Automatic Flour Mill
Oliver Evans designed and built an automatic flour mill
in the American city of Delaware. Forklifts and conveyor belts raised the wheat to the top of the mill and then made it easier to sift and put the flour into sacks. With only two millers, the whole process of obtaining and packing the flour was controlled. -
Centrifugal Regulator
James Watt patented the centrifugal regulator, a device that allowed to control the speed of the steam engine, improving its safety. It is the first example of feedback. -
Automatic Loom
Joseph Marie Jacquard invented an automatic loom that used
punch cards. -
Maudslay and Brunel
English engineers Maudslay and Brunel serially manufactured
130,000 pulleys with a machine built by them. With it, only 10 unskilled operators were needed, compared to the 110 they would have needed before. -
Analytical Machine
Charles Babbage presents his analytical machine, which becomes the precursor of the computer. -
The First Algorithm for the Analytical Machine
Ada Lovelace writes the first algorithm for the machine that, however, was never built due to the resistance problems of the materials of the time. -
The First Fully Automatic Lathe.
Christopher Spencer invented the first fully automatic lathe. -
The Census of the United States
Hermann Hollerith prepared the census of the United States
(63 million inhabitants) in 2 years and a half, thanks to asystem data
collection with punch cards. This procedure would be used to enter the information into the first computers. Later, Hollerith would found the company International Business Machines (IBM). -
The Standardization of the Parts Favored the Lowering of Cars.
The installation of assembly lines is a very important step in
the automation of industrial processes. The first to adopt them was the American car manufacturer Henry Ford, who used them in the
manufacture of themodel Ford T. A conveyor belt moved the vehicles
before the operators, who added a piece when they passed before them. Production in assembly lines and the standardization of the parts favored the lowering of cars. -
The Chess Player
the Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo presents “El chess player”, an automaton that played an end of king and tower
against the opposite king. Many consider it the first computer game in history. Also this year, the American Alfred Benesch has developed asystem automation specificfor electric traffic lights, in Cleveland, Ohio (USA). -
Autopilot for the Airplanes
Lawrence Sperry invents, the autopilot, which maintains the course by correcting any deviation that alters the course of the flight of an airplane. -
Word Robot
the Czechoslovak writer Karel Capek used, for the first time,
the word robot in a play, to designate an android that performed
functions of a human being. -
Mark I
The American Howard Aiken built the Mark I, a computer of 8
tons of weight, more than 15 meters long and 2.40 meters high, with 800 kilometers of cables inside. Invested 0.3 seconds in the sums and 12 seconds for the divisions. -
Period: to
Numerical Control
John Parsons began his research on numerical control. -
Final version of the ENIAC
The final version of the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator), the first electronic computer, appears. It consumed 175,000 W of power (approximately, which 220 braziers connected simultaneously). -
The Transistor
Walter Brattain and John Bardeen of Bell Laboratories in the
United States invented the transistor. It is the great advance that leads to today's world. -
The Microchip
Jack Saint Clair Kilby invented the microchip, which allows
several transistors to be integrated into a single assembly, with the
consequent evolution. -
First Microprocessor
Intel launched the first microprocessor, 4004. -
Apple II
Apple launched Apple II, which we can consider the first personal computer (PC) in history. -
Fully Automated Factories
Began to be assembled fully automated factories. -
Arduino
Engineers Massimo Banzi, Hernando Barragán and David
Cuartielles invented theplatform Arduino. -
FPGA
Theis presented IceZum Alhambra, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed with IceStudio, a graphical tool that allows us multiple possibilities.
