Remote Controls History To Amaze You!

 How many remote controls do you have laying around your home today? One for your TV, DVD, Air Conditioning, Garage, Gates, Curtains, boats, airplanes, and of course the remarkable new flying fish!!

And we have gotten so used to them that we cannot imagine life without them. No more leaving the sofa to change the channels and volume, or getting out of the car in the pouring rain to open the garage doors. Take a little journey with me through remote controls history, and you will be really surprised at how long they have been around!

 

So, when did they first begin to appear? Believe it or not, the remarkable Nikola Tesla, in 1898, created the first ever remote control! He described it in his patent as ”Method of an Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vehicle or Vehicles.”  The same year, he put on a demonstration of a radio-controlled boat at an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Tesla called his boat a ”Teleaumaton.’ 

  

 

Later, in 1903, Leonardo Torres Queveso, at the Paris Academy of Science, presented his “Telekino.” He gave a brief demonstration of the Telekino robot, whicht acted on commands given by transmitted electromagnetic waves. By 1906, Torres was able to guide a boat from the shore of the Port of Bilbao, to the delight of a huge audience, including the king. Eventually, Torres tried to apply his Telkino to torpedoes and projectiles, but had to give up his experiments due to the lack of funding. 

In 1932, the first remote airplane flew successfully, and in the 2^nd World War, remote control technology was being widely used for many military purposes. Around this same time, a few radio manufacturers were offering remote control for their top selling models, but most of these were connected to the set by wires.

 

Then, in 1939, the Philco Mystery Control was introduced; it was a battery operated low frequency radio transmitter and became the first wireless remote control. 

The Zenith Radio Corporation went on to create the first TV remote control in 1950 and called it ”Lazy Bones.”   It was connected to the TV with a wire, but later, in 1955, they came up with the wireless remote control, which they called the “Flashmatic.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Adler, in 1956, went on to develop the “Zenith Space Command,” also a wireless remote control. For a time, it was a mechanical wonder, using ultrasound to change the volume and channel. He died at the age of 93 and must have been amazed how his early ideas had progressed. 

By the 1970′s, the BBC had developed the teletext service, but the remotes of that time had only around three functions – previous channel, next channel, and on/off.  ITT worked with the BBC to develop an infrared controller and the future was set for the remote controllers of the future. 

Now, you can go to remote controlled airplane and helicopter displays and competitions, or race model cars against each other. Remote controlled robots go into dangerous situations to check out how safe it is to approach. The uses are endless. Their use has extended our eyes and senses into space, with remote controlled equipment exploring our moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, comets, asteroids, and deep exploration probes wending their ways throughout, and soon beyond, our Solar System.  

Once again, we have to thank Nikola Tesla for another of his forward thinking inventions, so that we can now have remote control flying shark floating around our living rooms!!

Filed under: Remote Control History

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!