Centrifugal governor
Regulador centrífugo
- Date
- 1788 · confidence high
- Place
- Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- James Watt (Boulton & Watt)
- People
- 👤 James Watt1736–1819
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A device of spinning balls that closed the steam valve as the engine sped up, keeping its speed constant. It was the first automatic feedback control mechanism in industrial use.
Adapted by Watt from governors used in flour mills.
What it led to
- Control theory and cybernetics (Maxwell, 'On Governors', 1868)
- Automation of industrial processes
- Reliable engines for spinning mills and precision workshops
Built on
- Rotative steam engine (sun-and-planet gear, double acting)1781
- Thomas Mead's windmill governor
Made possible
- Corliss valve steam engine1849
- Self-propelled torpedo1866
- Cybernetics1948
- Servomechanisms
- Governors for water and steam turbines