MAN-LIKE MACHINE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 22 November 1927, Page 7

MAN-LIKE MACHINE

ANSWERS QUESTIONS OBEYS ORDERS. WONDERFUL IN VENTION. New York, Oct. 15. An electric invention which obeys vocal commands, turns ou lights and fans and performs other spoken orders, has just been succissfully demonstrated by tire Westinghouse Electric and Manufacuring Company at its offices at 150 Broadway. The machines, three of which have already been placed iu service as “watchmen” by the War Department in AVashington, are capable of responding over the telephone to spoken queries and of performing a wide range of mechanical operations. The device, known as th© “televox,” was developed by Roy J. Wenlsey, an expert on automatic mechanism, of the Westinghouse laboratories. In Washington the machines are being used to report th© height of water in the reservoirs, giving the in formation to employees who call up on the telephones' in the regular Way. It will ultimately make possible remote control of even household tasks, the inventor said, as he tapped a tuning fork which set the machine at work running a vacuum cleaner. Remote control of electrical apparatus has been possible for some years, technicians of the Westinghouse company explained. Either electrical, mechanical or radio connections have hitherto been required as a means of exercising it. The new device differs in that it can be set in motion by sound. PRACTICAL FOB TELEPHONE L’SE. Ju this way it becomes practical for telephone use, requiring no. special wires, and, once installed, can be operated from a great number of points through the usual telephone connections. It is so constructed that no physical connection with a telephone -is needed thus making its use possible under regulations of telephone companies which permit no attachments to their instruments.

Th© first successful machine constructed in the Westinghouse laboratories opened a door at the call of “Open sesame.” The later models, however, are spoken to. by means of tuning forks. They are sensitive to sounds of a given pitch, but will not answer notes of other frequencies. Each automaton will react to three different notes. Its operation is much the same as if it contained three radio sets, each tuned to a different station and operating only when the waves of the respective radiocasting units actuated it. The operator calls the telephone number of the place where the machine is installed in the usual way. When the bell rings, an arm of th© automaton raises the receiver hook. The dispatcher strikes a tuning fork. This sound, transmitted over the telephone, passes from v ? receiver into a microphone. It is amplified and passed tiirough i series of tuned circuits of a “selector,” which closes switches or moves levers, corresponding to the tones of the notes received. TUNING FORKS. In this way, by using a series of tuning forks the operator may convey to the device a number of individual commands. Definite signals, corresponding to tones within the range of the human voice, are made by the machine, which, transmitted over the telephone, advise the distant operator that the apparatus is ready to receive orders or convey definite information. In the case of the machines in use in the War Department, a request concerning the depth of the water in the Washington reservoirs sets in motion a part of th© device which is controlled by the water’s height. A number of notes are transmitted, corresponding to the stage of the water. When the information is received, the operator gives another signal, and the machine disconnects itself in the same way that a person would hang up the receiver.

The device is so designed that “wrong number” calls do not affect it, and once called, it cannot “take a vacation” until it is released by the operator. It is especially adapted, the inventor says, for use in place of watchmen at electrical substations. so that they may be controlled by a single operator, who through the ability of the machine to “reply” can obtain immediate information on any series of recurring conditions which may be mechanically indicated.