Mobility has always played a crucial role in the course of human development. In almost every era, man has attempted to find the means to allow him to transport people over long distances at the highest possible speed.
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| One Of First Edition Of Pre-auto |
Development history:
- About 3500 B.C. : The development of the wheel is attributed to the Sumerians
- About 1300 : Further refinement of the carriage with elements such as steering, wheel suspension and carriage springs
- In 1801 ; Étienne Lenoir develops the gas engine
- In 1870 : Nikolaus Otto builds the first four-stroke internal-combustion engine
- In 1885 Carl Benz enters the annals of history as the inventor of the first automobile. His patent marks the beginning of the rapid development of the automobile powered by the internal-combustion engine.
Pioneers of automotive technology:
Nikolaus August Otto (1832–1891):
born in Holzhausen (Germany), developed an interest in technical matters at an early age. Beside his employment as a traveling salesman for food wholesalers, he was preoccupied with the functioning of gas-powered engines. From 1862 onward he dedicated himself totally to engine construction. He managed to make improvements to the gas engine invented by the French engineer, Étienne Lenoir. For this work, Otto was awarded the gold medal at the 1867 Paris World Fair. Together with Daimler and Maybach, he developed an internal-combustion engine based on the four-stroke principle he had
formulated in 1861. The resulting engine is known as the “Otto engine” to this day. In 1884 Otto invented magneto ignition, which allowed engines to be powered by gasoline. This innovation would form the basis for the main part of Robert Bosch’s life’s work. Otto’s singular contribution was his ability to be the first to build the four-stroke internal- combustion engine and demonstrate its superiority over all its predecessors.
Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) :
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Gottlieb Daimler
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hailed from Schorndorf (Germany). He studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnikum engineering college in Stuttgart. In 1865 he met the highly talented engineer Wilhelm Maybach. From that moment on, the two men would be joined in a lasting relationship of mutual cooperation. Besides inventing the first motorcycle, Daimler mainly worked on developing a gasoline engine suitable for use in road vehicles. In 1889 Daimler and Maybach introduced the first “steel-wheeled vehicle” in Paris featuring a two-cylinder V-engine. Scarcely one year later, Daimler was marketing his fast-running Daimler engine on an international scale. In 1891, for example, Armand Peugeot successfully entered a vehicle he had engineered himself in the Paris- Brest-Paris long-distance trial. It proved both the worth of his design and the dependability of the Daimler engine he was using. Daimler’s merits lie in the systematic development of the gasoline engine and in the international distribution of his engines.
Wilhelm Maybach:
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| Wilhelm Maybach |
a native of Heilbronn (Germany), completed his apprenticeship as a technical draftsman. Soon after, he worked as a design engineer. Among his employers was the firm of Gasmotoren Deutz AG (founded by Otto). He already earned the nickname of “king of engineers” during his own lifetime. Maybach revised the gasoline engine and brought it to production. He also developed water cooling, the carburetor, and the dualignition system. In 1900 Maybach built a revolutionary, alloy-based racing car. This vehicle was developed in response to a suggestion by an Austrian businessman named Jellinek. His order for 36 of these cars was given on condition that the model was to be named after his daughter Mercedes. Maybach’s virtuosity as a design engineer pointed the way to the future of the contemporary automobile industry. His death signaled the end of the grand age of the automotive pioneers.
References:
- Fundamentals of Automotive and Engine Technology by Konrad Reif
- writes of Konrad Reif
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