On a rainy September day in 1898 Nikola Tesla presented at Madison Square Garden’s first Electrical Exhibition a new invention that he called a “teleautomaton”. The invention was the first ever radio controlled device in the form of a miniature boat. He had two devices one that could be remote controlled above water and another that had a hidden loop antenna and could be controlled under water. The most significant ideas however were concealed and not even explained in his patent for fear that they would be stolen like so many of his other inventions.



The hidden technology consisted of a method for encoding and decoding Hertzian waves directly from within the device. What this required was a system within the device to toggle actions based on different signals….in other words a logic gate. But as usual his ideas were even bigger….Tesla later wrote this about his invention:

“I treated the whole field broadly, not limiting myself to mechanisms controlled from distance but to machines possessed of their own intelligence. Since that time I had advanced greatly in the evolution of the invention and think that the time is not distant when I shall show an automaton which, left to itself, will act as though possessed of reason and without any wilful control from the outside. Whatever be the practical possibilities of such and acheivement, it will mark the beginning of a new epoch in mechanics.” - Nikola Tesla from his 1890s letter to Professsor B. F. Meissner of Purdue University. Source: "Tesla Man Out of Time" by Margaret Cheney



Fast forward 50+ years to the Nobel Prize winning invention of the transistor responsible for the core technology needed to build the modern computer which now has hundreds of thousands of “AND” and “OR” logic gate operations. However as is the fate of many of Tesla’s inventions and early concepts he is rarely recognized for his contributions. That said, there is clear evidence that Tesla’s early inventions laid the foundation for the modern computer..according to Leland Anderson and expert in field of engineering and technical patents:

“I am puzzled by the reluctance of some in the computer technology field to acknowledge Tesla’s priority in this regard in contrast to the adulation given to Messrs, Brattain, Bardeen and Shockley for the invention of the transistor which made electronic computers a practical reality. Telsa’s patents contain the basic principles of the logical AND circuit element. The simultaneous occurrence of two or more prescribed signals at the input to device element produced an output form the device element. Thus the subject early Tesla patents, which were designed to achieve interference protection from outside influences in the command of radio controlled weapons, have proved to be an obstacle for anyone attempting a basic logical AND circuit element patent in this era of modern computer technology”

However, Tesla’s original use case for this technology was not computers it was for use as remote control machines and weapons to be used by the military to end all wars. Despite his efforts the U.S. government was not ready or interested in using this technology until many decades later starting with WWII where it was used in RPVs and later in UUVs which are now part of the modern capabilities used by the military.

Ok, so let’s add up the inventions and industries sparked by this and other patents:

Logic gate which is the foundation of the modern computer

Remote control military vehicles and weapons

The Robotics industry

The Wireless industry

The Radio industry

More on Tesla

For those that are interested I highly recommend the book: "Tesla Man Out of Time" by Margaret Cheney, the performance by stand-up comic and science geek, Mike Daisey entitled: “Great Men of Genius”, the fictional book based on Tesla’s real life called: “The Invention of Everything Else”, this awesome video and the Tesla Memorial Society of New York.

In a famous quote by Nikola Tesla a short time before his death he said:

“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.” - Nikola Tesla.

Filed under: nikola tesla