Have you ever been curious about what the first remote control was like? Do you think you could guess what the first remote control controlled?
Could it have been:
A) An Automobile
B) A Boat
C) A Blimp
D) A Car
The first remote control by radio waves was invented in 1898 by Nikola Tesla and described in his patent, U.S. Patent 613,809, He named it A Method of an Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vehicle or Vehicles. He first demonstrated his patent in a radio-controlled boat to the public in an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden Tesla referred to his invention as “teleautomaton”.
The biggest problem back then seemed to be the lack of things to control remotely. By 1930 years later and after the invention of the radio several manufacturers offered (So called) remotes for some of their more expensive models. Most of these remotes weren’t even remotes as we know them today but were connected to the radio by wires.
In 1939 Forty one years after Tesla the Philco Mystery Control was introduced. It was a battery operated radio transmitter and the first true wireless remote. It was a low frequency transmitter and used pulse-count modulation.
We’ve come a long way since then. There are thousands of remotes on the market using all types of technologies and frequencies. Next time you pick up a remote remember Nikola Tesla a man before his time.
