Gyrocompass and autopilot
Girocompás y piloto automático
- Date
- 1908–1914 · confidence high
- Place
- Kiel, Germany
- Credited to
- Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe (gyrocompass, Kiel, 1908); Elmer Sperry (gyrocompass 1911, Sperry autopilot, Paris, 1914)
- People
- 👤 Elmer Ambrose Sperry1860–1930👤 Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe1872–1931
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Instruments based on gyroscopic rigidity: the gyrocompass points to true north without magnetism; the Sperry stabiliser kept an aircraft level hands-free in 1914.
What it led to
- Navigation of steel battleships and submarines
- Instrument flying and night-time commercial aviation
- Inertial guidance for missiles and spacecraft
Built on
Made possible
- PID steering control (Minorsky)1922
- V-2 ballistic missile (A4)1942–1944
- Ship's inertial navigation system (SINS)1958
- Artificial horizon
- Inertial guidance of the V-2