Odometer
An odometer or English. Odometer (from Greek Hodos "way" and métron " dimension", ie " odometer " ) measures mechanically a distance traveled of a vehicle or pedestrian. The science of the mechanical displacement measurement is the Hodometrie.
History
Europe
The odometer was already invented in ancient times. First evidence that points to the existence of a mechanical rangefinder can be found already in the time of Alexander the Great ( reign 336-323 BC) in the form of amazingly accurate distance to the Bematisten as described by the Roman writers Pliny (NH 6 61-62 ) and Strabo ( 11.8.9 ) have been handed down. Thus, the average deviation of the distance to the Bematisten from the real distance is only 2.8 percent and 1.9 percent in Pliny, Strabo at a measured distance of a total of 2013 and 2079 English miles - a remarkably slight deviation, which is also characterized by the can be explained modified route in the last 2000 years.
The first descriptions of an odometer in the literature can be found in the Roman engineer Vitruvius (1st century BC) and the Greek inventor Heron of Alexandria (1st century AD). Both describe an apparatus which rapid wheel movement of a measuring wheel transfers as in a conventional still mechanical odometer increasingly slower rates of gears or pulleys with hooks. The accurate measurement and Roman roads with their surviving mile details between the individual towns in Roman documents, such as in the Antonine Itinerary, it can be concluded that this instrument served as the official rangefinder 2000 years ago. With a miniature, distances on maps can be " descendants " and show.
Levin presented Hulsius 1604 odometer its broad application before, in a paper entitled: Gründtliche description concerning Diensthafften and Nutzbahrn Instruments Viatorii or travel counter, So walk, can be used for horse T unnd at our feet, so to know with less effort, how far you have gone, ridden, or driven sey: as well as to learn without measure or Zehlen how far from a Orth to another. In addition, the great hidden signpost is displayed will and reported.
China
The odometer was invented in the Han dynasty and later in ancient China, possibly by the inventor and scientist Zhang Heng ( 78-139 ). In the third century, during the Three Kingdoms period, the Chinese called the unit ji li gu che, in German "Li - recording drum carriage ." According to Chinese reports from the third century, a wooden figurine turned once on its axis while the car a Li back, wondering, beating a drum. After ten Li proposed a different wooden figure of a gong or a bell.
Despite the association with Zhang He, or the still later Ma Jun, there is evidence to suggest a presumption that the invention of the odometer was a continuous process in the Han dynasty, the Huang- men, members of the court, took place.
The historian Joseph Needham asserts that it would be no surprise if this stratum of society would have been responsible for the development of such a device, especially since they had put their ingenuity and their handicraft skills with mechanical toys to the test. There are suspicions that in the first century BC, during the Western Han Dynasty, the beat of drums and gongs already automatically worked. It is possible that here a construction of a Loxia Hong (110 BC). In the year 125 AD, the mechanical Hodometerwagen in China was generally known as a mural of the Xiao Tang Shan coffin is shown. The odometer was used also in later periods of Chinese history. In the texts of the Jin Shu from the year 635, the use has been described.
Technical characteristics
The best-known form of the odometer should the odometer in vehicles (not to be confused with the tachometer, which measures the speed of the vehicle ). There are also numerous other special characteristics:
- The pedometer counts the number of steps a person or an animal.
- The meter displays to be paid for a taxi ride amount of money.
- The cyclometer is a device for measuring the distance covered in bicycles ( for the first time in 1885 in Austria arisen in military bikes ).