The Brilliance of Nikola Tesla – Part 6

A 1898 electric exhibition in the newly constructed Madison Square Gardens would become the stage for Tesla to show the potential for his wireless transmission of energy (radio). The audience was not ready for what they would see, as with many of Tesla’s inventions, it was so far ahead of its time onlookers didn’t know how to react. What they saw was the world’s first radio-controlled vessel, Tesla had built a iron-hulled boat that sat in an indoor pond for the display. Tesla explained that the boat was controlled by what he called, “a borrowed mind.” Cleverly, he put the audience at ease by asking the boat questions such as “What is the cube root of 64?” lights on the boat flashed four times. At a time when only a small group of people knew about radio waves, it was assumed that Tesla was controlling the vessel with his mind. Though actually the boat was outfitted with a receiver and Tesla used a small box with control levers that send the signals.

Tesla would invent and patent the first device anywhere in the world for a wireless remote control. His vision was hundreds of operators simultaneously controlling vessels or machines through precisely tuned radio transmitters and receivers. The working model, or “teleautomaton,” responded to radio signals and was powered by an internal battery. With patent number 613,809 Tesla had once again changed the world. This new technology had unlimited potential, both for good and, as it would turn out, for evil as well. A New York Times reported questioned if Tesla could create a submersible vessel full of dynamite to use as a weapon of war. Tesla was infuriated by the notion that something he created would be used “as a wireless torpedo,” instead of what he envisioned “as the first race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race.”

Tesla’s work created the birth of robotics, though he rarely gets credit for this enormous accomplishment. His knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering blended wonderfully with the work on his remote-controlled boat. Sadly, those who saw his work could not image the potential for this new technology as it was so far ahead of its time. By the 1890′s Tesla was again thinking bigger and ready to move on with his work. He concluded that at higher altitudes where the air is thinner it would be possible to transmit electrical power without wires because the conductivity was much higher.

This educational article was written by Matthew Jorn