Researched
CNC & Numerical Control
MIT demonstrates a tape-controlled milling machine in 1952 - machines follow programs instead of hand wheels.
Open in the interactive tree →John T. Parsons and MIT's Servomechanisms Laboratory developed numerical control for aircraft parts in the early 1950s. With minicomputers and microprocessors it became CNC from the 1970s. The part comes from a file instead of craftsmanship - the beginning of digital manufacturing.
Prerequisites
- Machine Tools1775
- Jacquard Loom (Punched Cards)1804Punched-tape machine control descends from Jacquard cards
- Mass Production (Assembly Line)1913
- Programmable Computer1941
- Cybernetics & Feedback Control1948CNC machines are servo-controlled; MIT's servomechanisms lab built the first one