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Table 3 Historical Inventions and Contemporary Counterparts

From: Make to learn: invention through emulation

Invention Kit

Historical Example

Contemporary Example

A. Telegraph Network

Electromechanical Relay

Motor Control (H-Bridge)

B. Telephone Network

Vacuum Tube Amplifier

Operational Amplifier

C. Electric Motor

Davenport Rotary Motor

Stepper Motor/Servo Motor

  1. The planned sequence of contemporary inventions – (A) the Relay/Motor Control Sequence, (B) the Electronic Amplifier Sequence, and (C) the Electric Motor Sequence – are at the heart of industrial automation. A 3D printer consists of microcontrollers, amplifiers, and stepper motors. An understanding of the science and engineering principles that underlie early inventions provides scaffolding for understanding the modern technologies that followed