Continuous path : the evolution of process control technologies in  post-war Britain
Automation - the alliance of a series of advances in manufacturing technology with the academic discipline of cybernetics - was the centre of both popular and technical debate for a number of years in the mid-1950s. Alarmists predicted social disruption, economic hardship, and a massive de-skilling of the workforce; while technological positivists saw automation as an enabling technology that would introduce a new age of prosperity. At the same time as this debate was taking place, increasingly sophisticated control technologies based on digital electronics and the principle of feedback control were being developed and applied to industrial manufacturing systems. This thesis examines two stages in the evolution of process control technology: the numerical control of machine tools; and the development of the small computer, or minicomputer. In each case two key themes are explored: the notion of industrial failure; and the role of new technologies in Britain's industrial decline. In Britain, four projects were undertaken to develop point-to-point or continuous path automatic controllers for machine tools in the mid-1950s - three by electronics firms and one by a traditional machine tool manufacturer. However,
Hamilton, Ross
QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software ; TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery ; HD Industries. Land use. Labor ; DA Great Britain
Continuous path : the evolution of process control technologies in  post-war Britain. Automation - the alliance of a series of advances in manufacturing technology with the academic discipline of cybernetics - was the centre of both popular and technical debate for a number of years in the mid-1950s. Alarmists predicted social disruption, economic hardship, and a massive de-skilling of the workforce; while technological positivists saw automation as an enabling technology that would introduce a new age of prosperity. At the same time as this debate was taking place, increasingly sophisticated control technologies based on digital electronics and the principle of feedback control were being developed and applied to industrial manufacturing systems. This thesis examines two stages in the evolution of process control technology: the numerical control of machine tools; and the development of the small computer, or minicomputer. In each case two key themes are explored: the notion of industrial failure; and the role of new technologies in Britain's industrial decline. In Britain, four projects were undertaken to develop point-to-point or continuous path automatic controllers for machine tools in the mid-1950s - three by electronics firms and one by a traditional machine tool manufacturer. However,
continuous path evolution process control post_war britain alliance series advance manufacture_technology academic_discipline centre popular technical debate number predict social disruption economic hardship massive workforce technological positivist saw enable technology would introduce_new age prosperity time debate take_place increasingly sophisticated control technology base digital principle feedback control develop_apply industrial manufacturing system examines two_stage evolution process control technology numerical control machine tool development small computer case two_key theme explore notion industrial failure role new_technology britain industrial decline britain project undertaken develop point point continuous path automatic machine tool firm traditional machine tool manufacturer however