ROBOT CONTROL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 August 1938, Page 5

ROBOT CONTROL

CHECK ON MOTOR-CAR SPEEDS. AN AMERICAN INVENTION. Two inventors in Western Pennsylvania at Beaver Falls advanced a robot speed control for automobiles “as a short of electrical conscience for drivers who really want to obey the law.” The robot flashes a red light on the dashboard, operates a buzzer and then honks the horn when the machine reaches the maximum speed limit. The control, or governor, operates by centrifugal force. The inventors, William Broad and Stephen A. Moltrup, a retired manufacturer, said a State safety campaign inspired the “robot,” and that they hoped eventually to market it, possibly to the Pennsylvannia State motor police.

As the automobile increases its speed, the control swings wider and wider until it hits the first electrical contact, causing the red warning light to flash. Then comes the buzzer, following which “you have about half a minute to reduce your speed,” Broad said. “If you don’t the control sets off the horn.”

That is where the highway patrol comes in, because if they hear the horn, “they can start looking for a speeder.” He added: “That ought to slow folks down.”

Broad said the invention attaches to the drive shaft of the transmission and can be fastened to any make of machine and regulated for any speed.