The history of machines encompasses a great temporal period parallel to the socio-economic progress of humanity. However, machines began to emerge thanks to the development of their predecessors, tools.
The first tools date back to Prehistory, when humans realized that their hands could be used for more than just limbs. Since then, man began to invent machines to facilitate the undertaking of new tasks and jobs.
Currently, there are two types of machines, called simple and compound. Both can be classified depending on the number of steps or processes that are needed to carry out a job, the number of parts that compose it and the technology they have .
First machines in history
The first simple machines were the looms, a weaving machine whose historical provenance is unknown. Some of these first versions are located in the Chinese tradition, during the time of the Yellow Emperor (2698-2598 BC), in the Neolithic period in Mesopotamia (4500 - 3500 BC), in the Persian Empire (600-500 BC) and even, in some indigenous tribes of South America.
At the beginning of the 14th century, water played a major role with the invention of the water wheel. In this case, the water was used to generate movement in the mills, bellows of foundries and the hammers.
In the 15th century, Leonardo Da Vinci designed the first plans for three fundamental machines for engraving coins, known as the rolling mill, the clipper and the rocker press, later perfected by Nicolás Briot in 1626.
Da Vinci's diagrams served as a guide for the composite machines of the future. Some designs consisted of gliders, war tanks, and even a wooden self-propelled vehicle.
In 1642, the French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical addition and subtraction calculator. Pascal was also the creator of the hydraulic press in 1650, whose operation bears certain similarities to that of a lever.
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution unfolded in Great Britain during the 17th century and was a process of technological, social and economic transformation, spreading throughout much of Europe and North America, and ending in the mid-19th century.
One of the most important innovations was the steam engine and the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical energy.
In 1712, Thomas Savery and his partner, Thomas Newcomen, designed the atmospheric steam engine that pumped water from the tin and coal mines. Later, a Scottish engineer named James Watt made improvements to the Newcomen design, resulting in the development of the Industrial Revolution.
The Englishman Henry Maudslay was one of the first manufacturers to fill the market need by machining parts for the construction and manufacturing industries. For the first time, mass-production machinery was used.
In the 19th century, electrical energy was converted into mechanical energy, giving rise to direct current motors together with the first linear motors, displacing steam engines.
Advances of the 20th century
In the 20th century, there were great significant advances in electronics and computing that allowed revolutionary changes for the time.
At the beginning of the 20th century these advances turned out to be completely different from the new innovations that developed in the middle of the century with the appearance of World War II.
Like any evolutionary process, steam engines were replaced by alternating and direct current engines. Beginning in 1910, the automotive industry was driven by the use of the new measurement system and standardized the micrometer as a high-precision universal measure.
With the Second World War, hard metal was created in an attempt to improve the resistance of equipment and weapons for military use, since it was more useful than steel.
At the beginning of 1970, the concept of numerical control was created, benefiting the advancement of information technology and computerized automation. The fusion between electronics and machines ushered in the beginnings of a new mechatronic era.
References
- Kibbie, Richard. (1985). Manual of machine tools. Limusa.
- Norton, Robert. (2006). Machinery design. ITESM, Mexico. MC Graw Hill.
- Ord-Hume, Arthur. (1977). Perpetual Motion: The History of an Obsession. St. Martin's Press.
- Shigley, Joseph and Uicker, (1988). Theory of machines and mechanisms. McGraw-Hill Publishing House.
- Rossi, Mario. (nineteen eighty one). Modern machine tools. Hoepli. Scientific - medical publishing.