3. Elmer Sperry developed gyroscopic stabilizers in the early 20th century
Elmer Ambrose Sperry was interested in electrical power from an early age, and founded the Sperry Electric Company in Chicago in the 1880s. He developed electrified mines, to which he sold specially designed electric mining equipment. He then developed electrified trolley systems and inclines, an electric automobile (the first American car to appear in Paris, France) and was awarded numerous patents. Eventually, he sold his electric railway businesses and patents to General Electric. In 1898 Sperry began work on gyroscopic stabilizers for ships, designed to counteract the rolling they encountered in heavy seas. His work with gyroscopes led him to design a gyrocompass. By 1913 Sperry’s gyrocompass was reduced in size, allowing it to be used in airplanes.
Sperry’s innovations were in use by the major navies of the world when World War I began in 1914. During the war years, Sperry continued to develop gyrocompasses for airplanes, and began work on both remote control and self-guided airplanes. In 1916 he began work on his own on a flying bomb. During the war years, he developed instrumentation for aircraft, including a gyro-controlled horizon indicator. By the time the United States entered World War I, Sperry was widely considered the world’s foremost authority on navigational instruments and control systems which used servo motors to respond to signals from gyroscopic sensors.