Steam!) to keep the drive shaft rotating at the same speed. Mechanical load on the steam engine, which needs to work harder (more Start the machine, the operator would slip the belt onto a pulley and From here, belts wouldĭrop down to individual machines, be they lathes, drills or looms. Shaft running the length of the factory roof. The slowly rotating flywheel would be geared up and fed to an overhead Steam engines would have powered many machines at once. The Watt governor is the link between the steamĮngine and control theory, and it is all to do with trying to keep theĮngine going at a constant speed when the mechanical load changes. The governor: similar devices were employed in wind and water mills Out and keeps everything rotating during the second half of the cycle.Ībove the connecting rod is a strange looking contraption with twoīalls called a Watt governor, after James Watt, The steam expands inside the cylinder), but the flywheel smooths things So mechanical power is applied during only half the cycle (when Piston back in and the steam leaves the cylinder through an exhaust During the second half of the cycle, the flywheel pushes the Into the cylinder to push the piston out and start the flywheel In the simplest engines, high pressure steam flows Is connected via a connecting rod and crank (centre) to a largeįlywheel (right). Principal components of a steam engine are the cylinder (left), which Mechanics, but you will also gain a fascinating insight into control theory, one of the most important disciplines in 21st century engineering. Byīuilding one out of Lego, not only will you learn a lot about

Industry, powering everything from water pumping stations to ships,ĭockside cranes, cotton mills and all sorts of factory machinery.

Engines are now museum pieces, but before the advent of the internalĬombustion engine and electric motors, they were the workhorses of