Automation or automatic control, is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention. Some processes have been completely automated.

The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labor; however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision.

The term automation, inspired by the earlier word automatic (coming from automaton), was not widely used before 1947, when Ford established an automation department. It was during this time that industry was rapidly adopting feedback controllers, which were introduced in the 1930s.

Automation has been achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic devices and computers, usually in combination. Complicated systems, such as modern factories, airplanes and ships typically use all these combined techniques.

Open-loop and closed-loop (feedback) control

Fundamentally, there are two types of control loop; open loop control, and closed loop (feedback) control.

In open loop control, the control action from the controller is independent of the "process output" (or "controlled process variable"). A good example of this is a central heating boiler controlled only by a timer, so that heat is applied for a constant time, regardless of the temperature of the building. (The control action is the switching on/off of the boiler. The process output is the building temperature).

In closed loop control, the control action from the controller is dependent on the process output. In the case of the boiler analogy this would include a thermostat to monitor the building temperature, and thereby feed back a signal to ensure the controller maintains the building at the temperature set on the thermostat. A closed loop controller therefore has a feedback loop which ensures the controller exerts a control action to give a process output the same as the "Reference input" or "set point". For this reason, closed loop controllers are also called feedback controllers.

The definition of a closed loop control system according to the British Standard Institution is 'a control system possessing monitoring feedback, the deviation signal formed as a result of this feedback being used to control the action of a final control element in such a way as to tend to reduce the deviation to zero.' "

Likewise; "A Feedback Control System is a system which tends to maintain a prescribed relationship of one system variable to another by comparing functions of these variables and using the difference as a means of control.'"

The advanced type of automation that revolutionized manufacturing, aircraft, communications and other industries, is feedback control, which is usually continuous and involves taking measurements using a sensor and making calculated adjustments to keep the measured variable within a set range. The theoretical basis of closed loop automation is control theory.

Control actions

The control action is the form of the controller output action.

Discrete control (on/off)

One of the simplest types of control is on-off control. An example is the thermostat used on household appliances which either opens or closes an electrical contact. (Thermostats were originally developed as true feedback-control mechanisms rather than the on-off common household appliance thermostat.)

Sequence control, in which a programmed sequence of discrete operations is performed, often based on system logic that involves system states. An elevator control system is an example of sequence control.

PID controller

A proportionalâ€"integralâ€"derivative controller (PID controller) is a control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems.

A PID controller continuously calculates an error value ${\displaystyle e(t)}$ as the difference between a desired setpoint and a measured process variable and applies a correction based on proportional, integral, and derivative terms, respectively (sometimes denoted P, I, and D) which give their name to the controller type.

The theoretical understanding and application dates from the 1920s, and they are implemented in nearly all analogue control systems; originally in mechanical controllers, and then using discrete electronics and latterly in industrial process computers.

Sequential control and logical sequence or system state control

Sequential control may be either to a fixed sequence or to a logical one that will perform different actions depending on various system states. An example of an adjustable but otherwise fixed sequence is a timer on a lawn sprinkler.

States refer to the various conditions that can occur in a use or sequence scenario of the system. An example is an elevator, which uses logic based on the system state to perform certain actions in response to its state and operator input. For example, if the operator presses the floor n button, the system will respond depending on whether the elevator is stopped or moving, going up or down, or if the door is open or closed, and other conditions.

An early development of sequential control was relay logic, by which electrical relays engage electrical contacts which either start or interrupt power to a device. Relays were first used in telegraph networks before being developed for controlling other devices, such as when starting and stopping industrial-sized electric motors or opening and closing solenoid valves. Using relays for control purposes allowed event-driven control, where actions could be triggered out of sequence, in response to external events. These were more flexible in their response than the rigid single-sequence cam timers. More complicated examples involved maintaining safe sequences for devices such as swing bridge controls, where a lock bolt needed to be disengaged before the bridge could be moved, and the lock bolt could not be released until the safety gates had already been closed.

The total number of relays, cam timers and drum sequencers can number into the hundreds or even thousands in some factories. Early programming techniques and languages were needed to make such systems manageable, one of the first being ladder logic, where diagrams of the interconnected relays resembled the rungs of a ladder. Special computers called programmable logic controllers were later designed to replace these collections of hardware with a single, more easily re-programmed unit.

In a typical hard wired motor start and stop circuit (called a control circuit) a motor is started by pushing a "Start" or "Run" button that activates a pair of electrical relays. The "lock-in" relay locks in contacts that keep the control circuit energized when the push button is released. (The start button is a normally open contact and the stop button is normally closed contact.) Another relay energizes a switch that powers the device that throws the motor starter switch (three sets of contacts for three phase industrial power) in the main power circuit. Large motors use high voltage and experience high in-rush current, making speed important in making and breaking contact. This can be dangerous for personnel and property with manual switches. The "lock in" contacts in the start circuit and the main power contacts for the motor are held engaged by their respective electromagnets until a "stop" or "off" button is pressed, which de-energizes the lock in relay.

Commonly interlocks are added to a control circuit. Suppose that the motor in the example is powering machinery that has a critical need for lubrication. In this case an interlock could be added to insure that the oil pump is running before the motor starts. Timers, limit switches and electric eyes are other common elements in control circuits.

Solenoid valves are widely used on compressed air or hydraulic fluid for powering actuators on mechanical components. While motors are used to supply continuous rotary motion, actuators are typically a better choice for intermittently creating a limited range of movement for a mechanical component, such as moving various mechanical arms, opening or closing valves, raising heavy press rolls, applying pressure to presses.

Computer control

Computers can perform both sequential control and feedback control, and typically a single computer will do both in an industrial application. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are a type of special purpose microprocessor that replaced many hardware components such as timers and drum sequencers used in relay logic type systems. General purpose process control computers have increasingly replaced stand alone controllers, with a single computer able to perform the operations of hundreds of controllers. Process control computers can process data from a network of PLCs, instruments and controllers in order to implement typical (such as PID) control of many individual variables or, in some cases, to implement complex control algorithms using multiple inputs and mathematical manipulations. They can also analyze data and create real time graphical displays for operators and run reports for operators, engineers and management.

Control of an automated teller machine (ATM) is an example of an interactive process in which a computer will perform a logic derived response to a user selection based on information retrieved from a networked database. The ATM process has similarities with other online transaction processes. The different logical responses are called scenarios. Such processes are typically designed with the aid of use cases and flowcharts, which guide the writing of the software code.

History

The earliest feedback control mechanism was the thermostat invented in 1620 by the Dutch scientist Cornelius Drebbel. (Note: Early thermostats were temperature regulators or controllers rather than the on-off mechanisms common in household appliances.) Another control mechanism was used to tent the sails of windmills. It was patented by Edmund Lee in 1745. Also in 1745, Jacques de Vaucanson invented the first automated loom.

In 1771 Richard Arkwright invented the first fully automated spinning mill driven by water power, known at the time as the water frame.

An automatic flour mill was developed by Oliver Evans in 1785, making it the first completely automated industrial process.

The centrifugal governor, which was invented by Christian Huygens in the seventeenth century, was used to adjust the gap between millstones. Another centrifugal governor was used by a Mr. Bunce of England in 1784 as part of a model steam crane. The centrifugal governor was adopted by James Watt for use on a steam engine in 1788 after Watt’s partner Boulton saw one at a flour mill Boulton & Watt were building.

The governor could not actually hold a set speed; the engine would assume a new constant speed in response to load changes. The governor was able to handle smaller variations such as those caused by fluctuating heat load to the boiler. Also, there was a tendency for oscillation whenever there was a speed change. As a consequence, engines equipped with this governor were not suitable for operations requiring constant speed, such as cotton spinning.

Several improvements to the governor, plus improvements to valve cut-off timing on the steam engine, made the engine suitable for most industrial uses before the end of the 19th century. Advances in the steam engine stayed well ahead of science, both thermodynamics and control theory.

The governor received relatively little scientific attention until James Clerk Maxwell published a paper that established the beginning of a theoretical basis for understanding control theory. Development of the electronic amplifier during the 1920s, which was important for long distance telephony, required a higher signal to noise ratio, which was solved by negative feedback noise cancellation. This and other telephony applications contributed to control theory. Military applications during the Second World War that contributed to and benefited from control theory were fire-control systems and aircraft controls. The so-called classical theoretical treatment of control theory dates to the 1940s and 1950s.

Relay logic was introduced with factory electrification, which underwent rapid adaption from 1900 though the 1920s. Central electric power stations were also undergoing rapid growth and operation of new high pressure boilers, steam turbines and electrical substations created a large demand for instruments and controls.

Central control rooms became common in the 1920s, but as late as the early 1930s, most process control was on-off. Operators typically monitored charts drawn by recorders that plotted data from instruments. To make corrections, operators manually opened or closed valves or turned switches on or off. Control rooms also used color coded lights to send signals to workers in the plant to manually make certain changes.

Controllers, which were able to make calculated changes in response to deviations from a set point rather than on-off control, began being introduced the 1930s. Controllers allowed manufacturing to continue showing productivity gains to offset the declining influence of factory electrification.

Factory productivity was greatly increased by electrification in the 1920s. Manufacturing productivity growth fell from 5.2%/yr 1919-29 to 2.76%/yr 1929-41. Field notes that spending on non-medical instruments increased significantly from 1929â€"33 and remained strong thereafter.

In 1959 Texaco’s Port Arthur refinery became the first chemical plant to use digital control. Conversion of factories to digital control began to spread rapidly in the 1970s as the price of computer hardware fell.

Significant applications

The automatic telephone switchboard was introduced in 1892 along with dial telephones. By 1929, 31.9% of the Bell system was automatic. Automatic telephone switching originally used vacuum tube amplifiers and electro-mechanical switches, which consumed a large amount of electricity. Call volume eventually grew so fast that it was feared the telephone system would consume all electricity production, prompting Bell Labs to begin research on the transistor.

The logic performed by telephone switching relays was the inspiration for the digital computer. The first commercially successful glass bottle blowing machine was an automatic model introduced in 1905. The machine, operated by a two-man crew working 12-hour shifts, could produce 17,280 bottles in 24 hours, compared to 2,880 bottles made by a crew of six men and boys working in a shop for a day. The cost of making bottles by machine was 10 to 12 cents per gross compared to $1.80 per gross by the manual glassblowers and helpers.

Sectional electric drives were developed using control theory. Sectional electric drives are used on different sections of a machine where a precise differential must be maintained between the sections. In steel rolling, the metal elongates as it passes through pairs of rollers, which must run at successively faster speeds. In paper making the paper sheet shrinks as it passes around steam heated drying arranged in groups, which must run at successively slower speeds. The first application of a sectional electric drive was on a paper machine in 1919. One of the most important developments in the steel industry during the 20th century was continuous wide strip rolling, developed by Armco in 1928.

Before automation many chemicals were made in batches. In 1930, with the widespread use of instruments and the emerging use of controllers, the founder of Dow Chemical Co. was advocating continuous production.

Self-acting machine tools that displaced hand dexterity so they could be operated by boys and unskilled laborers were developed by James Nasmyth in the 1840s. Machine tools were automated with Numerical control (NC) using punched paper tape in the 1950s. This soon evolved into computerized numerical control (CNC).

Today extensive automation is practiced in practically every type of manufacturing and assembly process. Some of the larger processes include electrical power generation, oil refining, chemicals, steel mills, plastics, cement plants, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper mills, automobile and truck assembly, aircraft production, glass manufacturing, natural gas separation plants, food and beverage processing, canning and bottling and manufacture of various kinds of parts. Robots are especially useful in hazardous applications like automobile spray painting. Robots are also used to assemble electronic circuit boards. Automotive welding is done with robots and automatic welders are used in applications like pipelines.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages of automation are:

• Increased throughput or productivity.
• Improved quality or increased predictability of quality.
• Improved robustness (consistency), of processes or product.
• Increased consistency of output.
• Reduced direct human labor costs and expenses.

The following methods are often employed to improve productivity, quality, or robustness.

• Install automation in operations to reduce cycle time.
• Install automation where a high degree of accuracy is required.
• Replacing human operators in tasks that involve hard physical or monotonous work.
• Replacing humans in tasks done in dangerous environments (i.e. fire, space, volcanoes, nuclear facilities, underwater, etc.)
• Performing tasks that are beyond human capabilities of size, weight, speed, endurance, etc.
• Reduces operation time and work handling time significantly.
• Frees up workers to take on other roles.
• Provides higher level jobs in the development, deployment, maintenance and running of the automated processes.

The main disadvantages of automation are:

• Security Threats/Vulnerability: An automated system may have a limited level of intelligence, and is therefore more susceptible to committing errors outside of its immediate scope of knowledge (e.g., it is typically unable to apply the rules of simple logic to general propositions).
• Unpredictable/excessive development costs: The research and development cost of automating a process may exceed the cost saved by the automation itself.
• High initial cost: The automation of a new product or plant typically requires a very large initial investment in comparison with the unit cost of the product, although the cost of automation may be spread among many products and over time.

In manufacturing, the purpose of automation has shifted to issues broader than productivity, cost, and time.

Lights out manufacturing

Lights out manufacturing is when a production system is 100% or near to 100% automated (not hiring any workers). In order to eliminate the need for labor costs altogether.

Health and environment

The costs of automation to the environment are different depending on the technology, product or engine automated. There are automated engines that consume more energy resources from the Earth in comparison with previous engines and those that do the opposite too. Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation.

Convertibility and turnaround time

Another major shift in automation is the increased demand for flexibility and convertibility in manufacturing processes. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing Product A to manufacturing Product B without having to completely rebuild the production lines. Flexibility and distributed processes have led to the introduction of Automated Guided Vehicles with Natural Features Navigation.

Digital electronics helped too. Former analogue-based instrumentation was replaced by digital equivalents which can be more accurate and flexible, and offer greater scope for more sophisticated configuration, parametrization and operation. This was accompanied by the fieldbus revolution which provided a networked (i.e. a single cable) means of communicating between control systems and field level instrumentation, eliminating hard-wiring.

Discrete manufacturing plants adopted these technologies fast. The more conservative process industries with their longer plant life cycles have been slower to adopt and analogue-based measurement and control still dominates. The growing use of Industrial Ethernet on the factory floor is pushing these trends still further, enabling manufacturing plants to be integrated more tightly within the enterprise, via the internet if necessary. Global competition has also increased demand for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems.

Automation tools

Engineers can now have numerical control over automated devices. The result has been a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies (or CAx) now serve as the basis for mathematical and organizational tools used to create complex systems. Notable examples of CAx include Computer-aided design (CAD software) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM software). The improved design, analysis, and manufacture of products enabled by CAx has been beneficial for industry.

Information technology, together with industrial machinery and processes, can assist in the design, implementation, and monitoring of control systems. One example of an industrial control system is a programmable logic controller (PLC). PLCs are specialized hardened computers which are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events.

Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers. Service personnel who monitor and control through HMIs can be called by different names. In industrial process and manufacturing environments, they are called operators or something similar. In boiler houses and central utilities departments they are called stationary engineers.

Different types of automation tools exist:

• ANN - Artificial neural network
• DCS - Distributed Control System
• HMI - Human Machine Interface
• SCADA - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
• PLC - Programmable Logic Controller
• Instrumentation
• Motion control
• Robotics

When it comes to Factory Automation, Host Simulation Software (HSS) is a commonly used testing tool that is used to test the equipment software. HSS is used to test equipment performance with respect to Factory Automation standards (timeouts, response time, processing time).

Limitations to automation

• Current technology is unable to automate all the desired tasks.
• Many operations using automation have large amounts of invested capital and produce high volumes of product, making malfunctions extremely costly and potentially hazardous. Therefore, some personnel are needed to ensure that the entire system functions properly and that safety and product quality are maintained.
• As a process becomes increasingly automated, there is less and less labor to be saved or quality improvement to be gained. This is an example of both diminishing returns and the logistic function.
• As more and more processes become automated, there are fewer remaining non-automated processes. This is an example of exhaustion of opportunities. New technological paradigms may however set new limits that surpass the previous limits.

Current limitations

Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of automation. Human-level pattern recognition, language comprehension, and language production ability are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems (but see Watson (computer)). Tasks requiring subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds, as well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise. In many cases, the use of humans is more cost-effective than mechanical approaches even where automation of industrial tasks is possible. Overcoming these obstacles is a theorized path to post-scarcity economics.

Paradox of Automation

The Paradox of Automation says that the more efficient the automated system, the more crucial the human contribution of the operators. Humans are less involved, but their involvement becomes more critical.

If an automated system has an error, it will multiply that error until it’s fixed or shut down. This is where human operators come in.

A fatal example of this was Air France Flight 447, where a failure of automation put the pilots into a manual situation they were not prepared for.

Recent and emerging applications

Automated retail

Food and drink

The food retail industry has started to apply automation to the ordering process; McDonald's has introduced touch screen ordering and payment systems in many of its restaurants, reducing the need for as many cashier employees. The University of Texas at Austin has introduced fully automated cafe retail locations. Some Cafes and restaurants have utilized mobile and tablet "apps" to make the ordering process more efficient by customers ordering and paying on their device. Some restaurants have automated food delivery to customers tables using a Conveyor belt system. The use of robots is sometimes employed to replace waiting staff.

Stores

Many Supermarkets and even smaller stores are rapidly introducing Self checkout systems reducing the need for employing checkout workers.

Online shopping could be considered a form of automated retail as the payment and checkout are through an automated Online transaction processing system. Other forms of automation can also be an integral part of online shopping, for example the deployment of automated warehouse robotics such as that applied by Amazon using Kiva Systems.

Automated mining

Involves the removal of human labor from the mining process. The mining industry is currently in the transition towards Automation. Currently it can still require a large amount of human capital, particularly in the third world where labor costs are low so there is less incentive for increasing efficiency through automation.

Automated video surveillance

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) started the research and development of automated visual surveillance and monitoring (VSAM) program, between 1997 and 1999, and airborne video surveillance (AVS) programs, from 1998 to 2002. Currently, there is a major effort underway in the vision community to develop a fully automated tracking surveillance system. Automated video surveillance monitors people and vehicles in real time within a busy environment. Existing automated surveillance systems are based on the environment they are primarily designed to observe, i.e., indoor, outdoor or airborne, the amount of sensors that the automated system can handle and the mobility of sensor, i.e., stationary camera vs. mobile camera. The purpose of a surveillance system is to record properties and trajectories of objects in a given area, generate warnings or notify designated authority in case of occurrence of particular events.

Automated highway systems

As demands for safety and mobility have grown and technological possibilities have multiplied, interest in automation has grown. Seeking to accelerate the development and introduction of fully automated vehicles and highways, the United States Congress authorized more than $650 million over six years for intelligent transport systems (ITS) and demonstration projects in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Congress legislated in ISTEA that "the Secretary of Transportation shall develop an automated highway and vehicle prototype from which future fully automated intelligent vehicle-highway systems can be developed. Such development shall include research in human factors to ensure the success of the man-machine relationship. The goal of this program is to have the first fully automated highway roadway or an automated test track in operation by 1997. This system shall accommodate installation of equipment in new and existing motor vehicles." [ISTEA 1991, part B, Section 6054(b)].

Full automation commonly defined as requiring no control or very limited control by the driver; such automation would be accomplished through a combination of sensor, computer, and communications systems in vehicles and along the roadway. Fully automated driving would, in theory, allow closer vehicle spacing and higher speeds, which could enhance traffic capacity in places where additional road building is physically impossible, politically unacceptable, or prohibitively expensive. Automated controls also might enhance road safety by reducing the opportunity for driver error, which causes a large share of motor vehicle crashes. Other potential benefits include improved air quality (as a result of more-efficient traffic flows), increased fuel economy, and spin-off technologies generated during research and development related to automated highway systems.

Automated waste management

Automated waste collection trucks prevent the need for as many workers as well as easing the level of labor required to provide the service.

Home automation

Home automation (also called domotics) designates an emerging practice of increased automation of household appliances and features in residential dwellings, particularly through electronic means that allow for things impracticable, overly expensive or simply not possible in recent past decades.

Laboratory automation

Automation is essential for many scientific and clinical applications. Therefore, automation has been extensively employed in laboratories. From as early as 1980 fully automated laboratories have already been working. However, automation has not become widespread in laboratories due to its high cost. This may change with the ability of integrating low-cost devices with standard laboratory equipment. Autosamplers are common devices used in laboratory automation.

Industrial automation

Industrial automation deals primarily with the automation of manufacturing, quality control and material handling processes. General purpose controllers for industrial processes include Programmable logic controllers, stand-alone I/O modules, and computers. Industrial automation is to replace the decision making of humans and manual command-response activities with the use of mechanized equipment and logical programming commands. One trend is increased use of Machine vision to provide automatic inspection and robot guidance functions, another is a continuing increase in the use of robots. Industrial automation is simply done at the industrial level.

Energy efficiency in industrial processes has become a higher priority. Semiconductor companies like Infineon Technologies are offering 8-bit micro-controller applications for example found in motor controls, general purpose pumps, fans, and ebikes to reduce energy consumption and thus increase efficiency.

Advantages

• Replaces hard physical or monotonous work
• Tasks in hazardous environments, such as extreme temperatures, or atmospheres that are radioactive or toxic can be done by machines
• Faster production and cheaper labor costs
• Automation can be maintained with simple quality checks.
• Can perform tasks beyond human capabilities.

Disadvantages

• As of now, not all tasks can be automated
• Some tasks are more expensive to automate
• Initial costs are high
• Failure to maintain a system could result in the loss of the product

Industrial Robotics

Industrial robotics is a sub-branch in the industrial automation that aids in various manufacturing processes. Such manufacturing processes include; machining, welding, painting, assembling and material handling to name a few. Industrial robots utilizes various mechanical, electrical as well as software systems to allow for high precision, accuracy and speed that far exceeds any human performance. The birth of industrial robot came shortly after World War II as United States saw the need for a quicker way to produce industrial and consumer goods. Servos, digital logic and solid state electronics allowed engineers to build better and faster systems and overtime these systems were improved and revised to the point where a single robot is capable of running 24 hours a day with little or no maintenance.

Programmable Logic Controllers

Industrial automation incorporates programmable logic controllers in the manufacturing process. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) use a processing system which allows for variation of controls of inputs and outputs using simple programming. PLCs make use of programmable memory, storing instructions and functions like logic, sequencing, timing, counting, etc. Using a logic based language, a PLC can receive a variety of inputs and return a variety of logical outputs, the input devices being sensors and output devices being motors, valves, etc. PLCs are similar to computers, however, while computers are optimized for calculations, PLCs are optimized for control task and use in industrial environments. They are built so that only basic logic-based programming knowledge is needed and to handle vibrations, high temperatures, humidity and noise. The greatest advantage PLCs offer is their flexibility. With the same basic controllers, a PLC can operate a range of different control syst ems. PLCs make it unnecessary to rewire a system to change the control system. This flexibility leads to a cost-effective system for complex and varied control systems.

Agent-assisted automation

Agent-assisted automation refers to automation used by call center agents to handle customer inquiries. There are two basic types: desktop automation and automated voice solutions. Desktop automation refers to software programming that makes it easier for the call center agent to work across multiple desktop tools. The automation would take the information entered into one tool and populate it across the others so it did not have to be entered more than once, for example. Automated voice solutions allow the agents to remain on the line while disclosures and other important information is provided to customers in the form of pre-recorded audio files. Specialized applications of these automated voice solutions enable the agents to process credit cards without ever seeing or hearing the credit card numbers or CVV codes

The key benefit of agent-assisted automation is compliance and error-proofing. Agents are sometimes not fully trained or they forget or ignore key steps in the process. The use of automation ensures that what is supposed to happen on the call actually does, every time.

Relationship to unemployment

Research by the Oxford Martin School showed that employees engaged in "tasks following well-defined procedures that can easily be performed by sophisticated algorithms" are at risk of displacement. The study, published in 2013, shows that automation can affect both skilled and unskilled work and both high and low-paying occupations; however, low-paid physical occupations are most at risk. However, according to a study published in McKinsey Quarterly in 2015 the impact of computerization in most cases is not replacement of employees but automation of portions of the tasks they perform.

Based on a formula by Gilles Saint-Paul, an economist at Toulouse 1 University, the demand for unskilled human capital declines at a slower rate than the demand for skilled human capital increases. In the long run and for society as a whole it has led to cheaper products, lower average work hours, and new industries forming (I.e, robotics industries, computer industries, design industries). These new industries provide many high salary skill based jobs to the economy.

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The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university in Sydney, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. It is part of the Australian Technology Network of universities.

History

The present-day University of Technology originates from the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (the oldest continuously running Mechanics' Institute in Australia), which was established in 1833. In the 1870s, the SMSA formed the Workingman's College which was later taken over by the NSW government to form, in 1882, the Sydney Technical College. In 1969, part of the Sydney Technical College became the New South Wales Institute of Technology (NSWIT). It was officially unveiled by Neville Wran.

It was reconstituted as the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), in 1988 under the University of Technology, Sydney Act of NSW State Parliament, which was later superseded by the University of Technology, Sydney, Act 1989 (NSW). In 1990, it absorbed the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education and the Institute of Technical and Adult Teacher Education of the Sydney College of Advanced Education, under the NSW Higher Education (Amalgamation) Act 1989.

Although its antecedent institutions go back as far as 1893, they took new shapes from the 1960s, creating a new University focused on practice-oriented education with strong links to industry, the professions and the community, and with a growing research reputation and a strong commitment to internationalisation.

UTS has had three phases in its history:

• In the first phase, effort was concentrated on embedding an amalgamation of institutions which were structurally and culturally different. This strengthened the research culture and established a more consistent approach to teaching and learning.
• The second phase, beginning in the mid-1990s, saw a strong focus on international student recruitment, combined with an expansion of professional post-graduate programs for domestic students. Greater emphasis on both research and flexible learning also became priorities during this period.
• The third phase began in 2000 with a 10-year strategic vision. This involved concentrating research funding into four major research institutes, upgrading physical infrastructure at the city campus, enhancing teaching and learning, and continuing entrepreneurial activity.

Timeline

• 1882 â€" Sydney Technical College established â€" the precursor of the NSWIT.
• 1940 â€" NSW Parliament passes Act to establish an Institute of Technology, World War II intervenes.
• 1945 â€" Technical College Annexe of Sydney Teachers College was established in the late 1940s â€" ITATE developed from this Annexe.
• 1946 â€" Lectures commenced at Balmain Teachers College with an enrolment of 210 students.
• 1964 â€" Establishment of New South Wales Institute of Technology (NSWIT).
• 1965 â€" NSWIT enrols first students into Science and Architecture; SE Barratt appointed Chairman of the Interim Council and the first Council.
• 1967 â€" NSW Institute of Business Studies established and teaching commences at the Brickfield Hill Campus, George Street, Sydney. Professional recognition of NSWIT engineering courses.
• 1968 â€" Amalgamation of the NSW Institute of Business Studies and the NSW Institute of Technology.
• 1971 â€" William Balmain Teachers' College moves to Lindfield site (Kuring-gai Campus) NSWIT incorporated and Faculty organisational structure set up.
• 1973 â€" William Balmain College declared a College of Advanced Education.
• 1974 â€" William Balmain CAE renamed Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education (KCAE). NSWIT commences post graduate courses; occupation of Tower on Broadway begins.
• 1976 â€" NSWIT establishes the first Law School in NSW outside the then university sector.
• 1981 â€" Sydney CAE incorporated â€" ITATE was one of five semi-autonomous teaching institutes.
• 1984 â€" NSWIT Brickfield Hill Campus relinquished in December after eighteen years â€" Faculties of Business and Law and the Library move to the Haymarket Campus.
• 1985 â€" The new Haymarket Campus officially opened, the building shared between NSWIT and ITATE.
• 1987 â€" Announcement on 8 October of the granting of university status to NSWIT, which was followed by the passing of the University of Technology, Sydney, Act 1987 and the appointment of RD Guthrie as Vice-Chancellor.
• 1988 â€" The School of Design of the former Sydney College of the Arts was incorporated into NSWIT on 25 January and on 26 January NSWIT became the University of Technology, Sydney, known as UTS.
• 1989 â€" University of Technology, Sydney, Act 1989 No 69 assented to 23 May, forming the new UTS in combination with KCAE and ITATE from Sydney CAE .
• 1990 â€" New UTS established from 1 January; inaugural meeting of Council on 15 November.
• 1991 â€" Academic Structure of nine Faculties and 25 schools established â€" Faculties being Business; Design, Architecture and Building; Education; Law and Legal Practice; Mathematical and Computing Sciences; Nursing; Science; Humanities and Social Sciences.
• 1999 â€" Sir Gerard Brennan QC installed as Chancellor.
• 2002 â€" RE Milbourne appointed Vice-Chancellor.
• 2005 â€" Vicki Sara installed as Chancellor.
• 2014 â€" Attila Brungs installed as Vice-Chancellor.

Campuses

Former campuses

Campus architecture

The University of Technology Sydney is an interesting mix of architectural styles reflecting the different periods in which the buildings and grounds were constructed and renovated. The famous 'Tower' building is an example of brutalist architecture with square and block concrete designs. Built following massive student protests in U.S. colleges like Berkeley and Kent State University, the building was designed to do away with large, outdoor areas and hence limit students' ability to stage large protests. The Haymarket campus (Building 5) combines a modern interior with the remaining exterior of the old markets building, and the recently completed buildings 4 and 6 are designed with an element of high-tech architecture.

In October 2006, the university's tower building was voted by 23% of the total vote in a poll hosted by The Sydney Morning Herald as ugliest building in Sydney.

The University recently acquired the former Sydney Institute of Technology building that stands opposite to Building 10 (on Jones St) and adjacent to Building 2. This building was named Building 7, but was demolished to make way for an extension of Alumni Green. Currently, the university is constructing an underground multi-purpose sports hall beside the Alumni Green. Designed by PTW Architects, this project commenced in late January 2010 and opened in April 2011.

Housing

The University offers modern, self-catering accommodation in five buildings named Yura Mudang, Gumal Ngurang, Geegal, Bulga Ngurra, and Blackfriars. Yura Mudang is the largest complex with 720 beds. The 14 levels of Housing (21 levels in total) are built on top of UTS building 6 on Harris Street. Gumal Ngurang is the second largest complex and is located on Broadway, just down the road from Bulga Ngurra.

Future infrastructure projects

2009â€"2013 will see the construction of a new building on Broadway to house the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. In the medium term future UTS will make a significant investment in its facilities intending to create a world-class campus. This is part of the UTS City Campus Masterplan which was approved by the University Council in August 2008. This plan which was unveiled to the public on 19 January 2009 will commence in mid 2009 and involve:

• A nine-storey building on the former Dairy Farmers site in Ultimo Road
• New student housing in a multi-storey block to be built over the rear of Building 6
• Extension of the Tower podium to create a new entry zone, improved Broadway street frontage and a "student commons" hub
• Refurbishment of existing buildings, including a major reconfiguration of Building 2 to house an "integrated learning commons" comprising a new library and associated study spaces
• The rejuvenation of Alumni Green, including the construction of a multi-purpose hall under its northern end
• New intra-campus pedestrian networks, including the proposed closure of Jones St to create a pedestrian thoroughfare

UTS Library

UTS provides services through the Blake Library (City Campus) as well as an extensive range of online services on the UTS Library website.

UTS is widely recognised as providing library services and facilities that are innovative, creative and user-focused. UTS Library offers numerous online and on-campus services, facilities and resources to support the University's teaching, learning and research programs.

Organisation

Faculty

Arts and Social Sciences Approximately 5000 students are enrolled in courses in Communication, Education and International Studies

Business The largest faculty at UTS and one of the largest and most prestigious business schools in Australia with almost 11,500 full-time equivalent students, over 300 academics and six prominent research centres and an active global network of almost 50,000 alumni. The Dean is Roy Green. The schools of Business and Finance have AACSB and CFA accreditation respectively.

Design, Architecture and Building The School of Design of the former Sydney College of the Arts was incorporated into NSWIT on 25 January 1988 and teaches about 3500 students.

Engineering and Information Technology | UTS Engineering is one of the largest providers of engineering education in Australia and teaches over 7,700 students, both within Australia and in international locations.

Graduate School of Health The Graduate School of Health (GSH) offers practice-based graduate-entry coursework Masters programs in Pharmacy, Clinical Psychology, Orthoptics and Physiotherapy (from 2017). Research degrees are also offered in these disciplines.

Health UTS: Health provides research and learning in a range of health disciplines, including nursing, midwifery, health management and exercise and sports science. In particular, UTS Health has one of the largest nursing undergraduate programs in NSW with about 3000 students. The Faculty has a strong commitment to Indigenous health with the inclusion of a core subject in nursing and midwifery undergraduate curricula.

Law Approximately 2,700 students and an average of 90% of undergraduate students working full-time.

Science UTS: Science has research activities including climate change, forensic science and biology, nanotechnology, health technology, biotechnology, mathematical modelling of complex systems, infectious and parasitic diseases, imaging and marine biology and teaches about 3300 students.

Academic board

The UTS Academic Board is the principal advisory body to the UTS Council on academic matters.

The Academic Board is concerned with policy development as it relates to the University's academic programs in education, scholarship and research, and community service. It refers to policy recommendations to Council and discusses matters referred to it by Council.

Academic Board plays a key role in the UTS community in providing a forum for the discussion and debate of the academic directions of the University as well as the quality of its academic programs. The Board consists of academic staff members as well as student members elected for a general period of 1â€"2 years.

Rankings

UTS is ranked 157th (fifth in Australia) in the CWTS Leiden ranking.

The university is ranked in the 301stâ€"400th bracket in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities. UTS is ranked in the top 250 universities by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 28th on the Times Higher Education list of "100 most international universities in the world". UTS ranked 9th in Australia at 193rd in the 2016-2017 QS World University Rankings.

Student life

The UTS Union is the organisation which runs a range of on-campus student services, including food & beverage outlets, cultural activities, student social events, and is responsible for overseeing UTS clubs & societies, sports clubs and other recreational activities. The UTS gym has recently been renovated. The City Campus is home to two licensed bars, 'The Underground' and 'The Loft'.

UTS has its own community radio station on campus, 2SER FM. The studio is located on Level 26 of the UTS Tower and broadcasts to the entire Sydney region. The station is jointly owned by UTS and Macquarie University, with a second studio at Macquarie University. UTS Journalism students help produce the station's news and current affairs programs including "The Wire" and "Razors Edge".

The UTS Students' Association is the representative student organisation at UTS. It publishes the student newspaper, Vertigo, runs the second hand bookshop, and advocates on behalf of students both individually and collectively.

Sports clubs

UTS sports clubs include: The UTS Hockey club (established in 1982); the UTS rowing club located at Haberfield; the Sydney Cricket Club was formed in 2007 from a merger between the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and the UTS Balmain Cricket Club; UTS Tigers (formerly UTS Jets) is the University's rugby league team, affiliated with the Balmain Tigers rugby league club; UTS Gridiron Club competes in the Gridiron NSW league (American football); UTS fencing club; the UTS Northern Suburbs Athletic Club; the UTS Volleyball Club; the UTS Basketball Club; the UTS Swimming Club was established in 2009; the UTS Australian Football Club or "The Bats" was formed in 1999; the UTS Soccer Club. Other popular sports at the University include Ultimate Frisbee, Lawn Bowls, touch rugby league and 5-a-side football. The general sporting colours at UTS are green and black.

Notable alumni

• Shawn Atleo - former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada
• Charlotte Best - Australian actress and model
• Joel Labi - News Anchor and producer
• Judith Beveridge - Australian poet and academic
• Brooke Corte - Australian journalist and television presenter
• Pat Cummins - Australian cricketer
• Nina Curtis - Australian athlete
• Anh Do - Vietnamese born Australian actor, author, comedian
• Bryan Doyle - Australian politician
• Anna Funder - Australian writer
• Nikki Gemmell - Australian writer
• Ross Gittins - economist
• Sekai Holland - Zimbabwean senator
• Morris Iemma - Australian politician
• Hugh Jackman - Australian actor, singer and producer
• Sonia Kruger - Television presenter
• Sophie Lee - Australian actor and author
• James Millar - Australian actor
• David Murray - Australian businessman
• Zoe Naylor - Austalian actress
• Tanya Plibersek - Australian politician
• Chris Plummer - New Zealand film editor
• Roger Price - Australian Politician
• Anthony Roberts - New South Wales politician
• John Robertson - Australian politician

Learn more »

Timeline of the history of medicine and medical technology.

Antiquity

• 3300 BC â€" During the Stone Age, early doctors used very primitive forms of herbal medicine.
• 3000 BC â€" Ayurveda The origins of Ayurveda have been traced back to around 4,000 BCE.
• c.2600 BC â€" Imhotep the priest-physician who was later deified as the Egyptian god of medicine.
• 2500 BC â€" Iry Egyptian inscription speaks of Iry as [eye-doctor of the palace,] [palace physician of the belly,] [guardian of the royal bowels,] and [he who prepares the important medicine (name cannot be translated) and knows the inner juices of the body.]
• 1900 BC â€" 1600 BC Akkadian clay tablets on medicine survive primarily as copies from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh.
• 1800 BC â€" Code of Hammurabi sets out fees for surgeons and punishments for malpractice
• 1800 BC â€" Kahun Gynecological Papyrus
• 1600 BC â€" Hearst papyrus, coprotherapy and magic
• 1551 BC â€" Ebers Papyrus, coprotherapy and magic
• 1500 BC â€" Saffron used as a medicine on the Aegean island of Thera in ancient Greece
• 1500 BC â€" Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical treatise (no true surgery) no magic
• 1300 BC â€" Brugsch Papyrus and London Medical Papyrus
• 1250 BC â€" Asklepios
• 9th century- Hesiod reports an ontological conception of disease via the Pandora myth. Disease has a "life" of its own but is of divine origin.
• 8th century â€" Homer tells that Polydamna supplied the Greek forces besieging Troy with healing drugs Homer also tells about battlefield surgery Idomeneus tells Nestor after Machaon had fallen: A surgeon who can cut out an arrow and heal the wound with his ointments is worth a regiment.
• 700 BC â€" Cnidos medical school; also one at Cos
• 500 BC â€" Darius I orders the restoration of the House of Life (First record of a (much older) medical school)
• 500 BC â€" Bian Que becomes the earliest physician known to use acupuncture and pulse diagnosis
• 500 BC â€" the Sushruta Samhita is published, laying the framework for Ayurvedic medicine
• c. 490 â€" c. 430 Empedocles four elements
• 510â€"430 BC â€" Alcmaeon of Croton scientific anatomic dissections. He studied the optic nerves and the brain, arguing that the brain was the seat of the senses and intelligence. He distinguished veins from the arteries and had at least vague understanding of the circulation of the blood. Variously described by modern scholars as Father of Anatomy; Father of Physiology; Father of Embryology; Father of Psychology; Creator of Psychiatry; Founder of Gynecology; and as the Father of Medicine itself. There is little evidence to support the claims but he is, nonetheless, important.
• fl. 425 BC Diogenes of Apollonia
• c. 484 â€" 425 BC Herodotus tells us Egyptian doctors were specialists: Medicine is practiced among them on a plan of separation; each physician treats a single disorder, and no more. Thus the country swarms with medical practitioners, some undertaking to cure diseases of the eye, others of the head, others again of the teeth, others of the intestines,and some those which are not local.
• 496â€"405 BC â€" Sophocles "It is not a learned physician who sings incantations over pains which should be cured by cutting."
• 420 BC â€" Hippocrates of Cos maintains that diseases have natural causes and puts forth the Hippocratic Oath. Origin of rational medicine.

Medicine after Hippocrates

• c. 400 BC â€" 1 BC â€" The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) is published, laying the framework for traditional Chinese medicine
• 4th century BC â€" Philistion of Locri Praxagoras distinguishes veins and arteries and determines only arteries pulse
• 375â€"295 BC Diocles of Carystus
• 354 BC â€" Critobulus of Cos extracts an arrow from the eye of Phillip II, treating the loss of the eyeball without causing facial disfigurement.
• 3rd century BC â€" Philinus of Cos founder of the Empiricist school. Herophilos and Erasistratus practice androtomy. (Dissecting live and dead human beings)
• 280 BC â€" Herophilus Dissection studies the nervous system and distinguishes between sensory nerves and motor nerves and the brain. also the anatomy of the eye and medical terminology such as (in Latin translation "net like" becomes retiform/retina.
• 270 â€" Huangfu Mi writes the Zhenjiu Jiayijing (The ABC Compendium of Acupuncture), the first textbook focusing solely on acupuncture
• 250 BC â€" Erasistratus studies the brain and distinguishes between the cerebrum and cerebellum physiology of the brain, heart and eyes, and in the vascular, nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems.
• 219 â€" Zhang Zhongjing publishes Shang Han Lun (On Cold Disease Damage).
• 200 BC â€" the Charaka Samhita uses a rational approach to the causes and cure of disease and uses objective methods of clinical examination
• 124â€"44 BC â€" Asclepiades of Bithynia
• 116â€"27 BC â€" Marcus Terentius Varro Germ theory of disease No one paid any attention to it.
• 1st century AD â€" Rufus of Ephesus; Marcellinus a physician of the first century AD; Numisianus
• 23 AD â€" 79 AD Pliny the Elder writes Natural History
• c. 25 BC â€" c. 50 AD Aulus Cornelius Celsus Medical encyclopedia
• 50â€"70 AD â€" Pedanius Dioscorides writes De Materia Medica â€" a precursor of modern pharmacopoeias that was in use for almost 1600 years
• 2nd century AD Aretaeus of Cappadocia
• 98â€"138 AD â€" Soranus of Ephesus
• 129â€"216 AD â€" Galen Clinical medicine based on observation and experience. The resulting tightly integrated and comprehensive system, offering a complete medical philosophy dominated medicine throughout the Middle Ages and until the beginning of the modern era.

After Galen 200 AD

• d. 260 â€" Gargilius Martialis, short Latin handbook on Medicines from Vegetables and Fruits
• 4th century Magnus of Nisibis, Alexandrian doctor and professor book on urine
• 325â€"400 â€" Oribasius 70 volume encyclopedia
• 362 â€" Julian orders xenones built, imitating Christian charity (proto hospitals)
• 369 Basil of Caesarea founded at Caesarea in Cappadocia an institution (hospital) called Basilias, with several buildings for patients, nurses, physicians, workshops, and schools
• 375 â€" Ephrem the Syrian opened a hospital at Edessa They spread out and specialized nosocomia for the sick, brephotrophia for foundlings, orphanotrophia for orphans, ptochia for the poor, xenodochia for poor or infirm pilgrims, and gerontochia for the old.
• 400 â€" The first hospital in Latin Christendom was founded by Fabiola at Rome
• 420 â€" Caelius Aurelianus a doctor from Sicca Veneria (El-Kef, Tunisia) handbook On Acute and Chronic Diseases in Latin.
• 447 â€" Cassius Felix of Cirta (Constantine, Ksantina, Algeria), medical handbook drew on Greek sources, Methodist and Galenist in Latin
• 480â€"547 Benedict of Nursia founder of "monastic medicine"
• 484 â€" 590 Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus
• fl. 511â€"534 Anthimus Greek: Ἄνθιμος
• 536 Sergius of Reshaina (died 536) A Christian theologian-physician who translated thirty-two of Galen’s works into Syriac and wrote medical treatises of his own
• 525â€"605 â€" Alexander of Tralles Alexander Trallianus
• 500â€"550 â€" Aetius of Amida Encyclopedia 4 books each divided into 4 sections
• second half of 6th century building of xenodocheions/bimārestāns by the Nestorians under the Sasanians, would evolve into the complex secular "Islamic hospital", which combined lay practice and Galenic teaching
• 550â€"630 Stephanus of Athens
• 560â€"636 â€" Isidore of Seville
• c. 620 Aaron of Alexandria Syriac . He wrote 30 books on medicine, the "Pandects". He was the first author in antiquity who mentioned the diseases of smallpox and measles translated by Māsarjawaih a Syrian Jew and Physician, into Arabic about A. D. 683
• c. 630 â€" Paul of Aegina Encyclopedia in 7 books very detailed surgery used by Albucasis
• 790â€"869 Leo Itrosophist also Mathematician or Philosopher wrote "Epitome of Medicine"
• c. 800â€"873 â€" Al-Kindi (Alkindus) De Gradibus
• 820 â€" Benedictine hospital founded, School of Salerno would grow around it
• 857d â€" Mesue the elder (Yūḥannā ibn Māsawayh) Syriac Christian
• c. 830â€"870 â€" Hunayn ibn Ishaq (Johannitius) Syriac-speaking Christian also knew Greek and Arabic. Translator and author of several medical tracts.
• c. 838â€"870 â€" Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, writes an encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic.
• c. 910d â€" Ishaq ibn Hunayn
• 9th century Yahya ibn Sarafyun a Syriac physician Johannes Serapion, Serapion the Elder
• c. 865â€"925 â€" Rhazes pediatrics, and makes the first clear distinction between smallpox and measles in his al-Hawi.
• d. 955 â€" Isaac Judaeus Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān al-IsrāʾīlÄ« Egyptian born Jewish physician
• 913â€"982 â€" Shabbethai Donnolo alleged founding father of School of Salerno wrote in Hebrew
• d. 982â€"994 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi Haly Abbas
• 1000 â€" Albucasis (936-1018) surgery Kitab al-Tasrif, surgical instruments.
• 1020 â€" Ammar ibn `Ali al-Mawsili performed the first successful eye surgery. Using a needle and removing a cataract.
• d. 1075 â€" Ibn Butlan Christian physician of Baghdad Tacuinum sanitatis the Arabic original and most of the Latin copies, are in tabular format
• 1018â€"1087 Michael Psellos or Psellus a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian. several books on medicine
• c. 1030 â€" Avicenna The Canon of Medicine The Canon remains a standard textbook in Muslim and European universities until the 18th century.
• c. 1071â€"1078 Simeon Seth or Symeon Seth an 11th-century Jewish Byzantine translated Arabic works into Greek
• 1084 â€" First documented hospital in England Canterbury
• 1087d â€" Constantine the African
• 1083â€"1153 Anna Komnene, Latinized as Comnena
• 1095 â€" Congregation of the Antonines, was founded to treat victims of "St. Anthony's fire" a skin disease.
• late 11th early 12th century Trotula
• 1123 â€" St Bartholomew's Hospital founded by the court jester Rahere Augustine nuns originally cared for the patients. Mental patients were accepted along with others
• 1127 â€" Stephen of Antioch translated the work of Haly Abbas
• 1100â€"1161 â€" Avenzoar Teacher of Averroes
• 1170 Rogerius Salernitanus composed his Chirurgia also known as The Surgery of Roger
• 1126â€"1198 â€" Averroes
• c. 1161d â€" Matthaeus Platearius

1200â€"1499

• 1203 â€" Innocent III organized the hospital of Santo Spirito at Rome inspiring others all over Europe
• c. 1210â€"1277 â€" William of Saliceto also known as Guilielmus de Saliceto
• 1210 â€" 1295 Taddeo Alderotti Scholastic medicine
• 1240 Bartholomeus Anglicus
• 1242 â€" Ibn an-Nafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and discovers the pulmonary circulation and coronary circulation
• c. 1248 â€" Ibn al-Baitar wrote on botany and pharmacy, studied animal anatomy and medicine veterinary medicine.
• 1249 â€" Roger Bacon writes about convex lens spectacles for treating long-sightedness
• 1257 â€" 1316 Pietro d'Abano also known as Petrus De Apono or Aponensis
• 1260 â€" Louis IX established, Les Quinze-vingt; originally a retreat for the blind, it became a hospital for eye diseases, and is now one of the most important medical centers in Paris
• c. 1260â€"1316 Henri de Mondeville
• 1284 â€" Mansur hospital of Cairo
• c. 1275 â€" c. 1328 Joannes Zacharias Actuarius a Byzantine physician wrote the last great compendium of Byzantine medicine
• 1275â€"1326 Mondino de Luzzi "Mundinus" carried out the first systematic human dissections since Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos 1500 years earlier.
• 1288 The hospital of Santa Maria Nuova founded in Florence, it was strictly medical.
• 1300 â€" concave lens spectacles to treat myopia developed in Italy.
• 1310 Pietro d'Abano's Conciliator (c.1310)
• d. 1348 Gentile da Foligno
• 1292â€"1350 â€" Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziya
• 1306â€"1390 John of Arderne
• d. 1368 Guy de Chauliac
• f. 1460 Heinrich von Pfolspeundt
• 1443â€"1502 Antonio Benivieni Pathological anatomy
• 1493â€"1541 Paracelsus On the relationship between medicine and surgery surgery book

1500â€"1799

• early 16th century:
  • Paracelsus, an alchemist by trade, rejects occultism and pioneers the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. Burns the books of Avicenna, Galen and Hippocrates.
  • Hieronymus Fabricius His "Surgery" is mostly that of Celsus, Paul of Aegina, and Abulcasis citing them by name.
  • Caspar Stromayr or Stromayer Sixteenth Century
• 1500?â€"1561 Pierre Franco
• Ambroise Pare 1510-1590 pioneered the treatment of gunshot wounds.
  • Bartholomeo Maggi at Bologna, Felix Wurtz of Zurich, Léonard Botal in Paris, and the Englishman Thomas Gale (surgeon), (the diversity of their geographical origins attests to the widespread interest of surgeons in the problem), all published works urging similar treatment to Paré’s. But it was Paré’s writings which were the most influential.
• 1518 â€" College of Physicians founded now known as Royal College of Physicians of London is a British professional body of doctors of general medicine and its subspecialties. It received the royal charter in 1518
• 1510â€"1590 Ambroise Paré surgeon
• 1540â€"1604 William Clowes (surgeon) Surgical chest for military surgeons
• 1543 â€" Andreas Vesalius publishes De Fabrica Corporis Humani which corrects Greek medical errors and revolutionizes European medicine
• 1546 â€" Girolamo Fracastoro proposes that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable seedlike entities
• 1550â€"1612 Peter Lowe
• 1553 â€" Miguel Serveto describes the circulation of blood through the lungs. He is accused of heresy and burned at the stake
• 1556 â€" Amato Lusitano describes venous valves in the Ázigos vein
• 1559 â€" Realdo Colombo describes the circulation of blood through the lungs in detail
• 1563 â€" Garcia de Orta founds tropical medicine with his treatise on Indian diseases and treatments
• 1570â€"1643 John Woodall Ship surgeons used lemon juice to treat scurvy wrote "The Surgions Mate"
• 1596 â€" Li Shizhen publishes BÄ›ncÇŽo Gāngmù or Compendium of Materia Medica
• 1603 â€" Girolamo Fabrici studies leg veins and notices that they have valves which allow blood to flow only toward the heart
• 1621â€"1676 Richard Wiseman
• 1628 â€" William Harvey explains the circulatory system in Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
• 1683â€"1758 Lorenz Heister
• 1688â€"1752 William Cheselden
• 1701 â€" Giacomo Pylarini gives the first smallpox inoculations in Europe. They were widely practised in the east before then.
• 1714â€"1789 Percivall Pott
• 1720 â€" Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
• 1728â€"1793 John Hunter (surgeon)
• 1736 â€" Claudius Aymand performs the first successful appendectomy
• 1744â€"1795 Pierre-Joseph Desault First surgical periodical
• 1747 â€" James Lind discovers that citrus fruits prevent scurvy
• 1749â€"1806 Benjamin Bell Leading surgeon of his time and father of a surgical dynasty system of surgery
• 1752â€"1832 Antonio Scarpa
• 1763â€"1820John Bell (surgeon)
• 1766â€"1842 Dominique Jean Larrey Surgeon to Napoleon
• 1768â€"1843 Astley Cooper surgeon lectures principles and practice
• 1774â€"1842 Charles Bell, surgeon
• 1774 â€" Joseph Priestley discovers nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride and oxygen
• 1777â€"1835 â€" Baron Guillaume Dupuytren Head surgeon at Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, The age Dupuytren
• 1785 â€" William Withering publishes "An Account of the Foxglove" the first systematic description of digitalis in treating dropsy
• 1790 â€" Samuel Hahnemann rages against the prevalent practice of bloodletting as a universal cure and founds homeopathy
• 1796 â€" Edward Jenner develops a smallpox vaccination method
• 1799 â€" Humphry Davy discovers the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide

1800â€"1899

• 1800 â€" Humphry Davy announces the anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide.
• 1813â€"1883 James Marion Sims vesico-vaganial surgery Father of surgical gynecology.
• 1816 â€" Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope.
• 1827â€"1912 Joseph Lister antiseptic surgery Father of modern surgery
• 1818 â€" James Blundell performs the first successful human transfusion.
• 1842 â€" Crawford Long performs the first surgical operation using anesthesia with ether.
• 1845 â€" John Hughes Bennett first describes leukemia as a blood disorder.
• 1846 â€" First painless surgery with general anesthetic.
• 1847 â€" Ignaz Semmelweis discovers how to prevent puerperal fever.
• 1849 â€" Elizabeth Blackwell is the first woman to gain a medical degree in the United States.
• 1850 â€" Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (later Woman's Medical College), the first medical college in the world to grant degrees to women, is founded in Philadelphia.
• 1858 â€" Rudolf Carl Virchow 13 October 1821 â€" 5 September 1902 his theories of cellular pathology spelled the end of Humoral medicine.
• 1867 â€" Lister publishes Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery, based partly on Pasteur's work.
• 1870 â€" Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch establish the germ theory of disease.
• 1878 â€" Ellis Reynolds Shipp graduates from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and begins practice in Utah.
• 1879 â€" First vaccine for cholera.
• 1881 â€" Louis Pasteur develops an anthrax vaccine.
• 1882 â€" Louis Pasteur develops a rabies vaccine.
• 1890 â€" Emil von Behring discovers antitoxins and uses them to develop tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.
• 1895 â€" Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers medical use of X-rays in medical imaging

1900â€"1999

• 1901 â€" Karl Landsteiner discovers the existence of different human blood types
• 1901 â€" Alois Alzheimer identifies the first case of what becomes known as Alzheimer's disease
• 1903 â€" Willem Einthoven invents electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
• 1906 â€" Frederick Hopkins suggests the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of vitamins causes scurvy and rickets
• 1907 â€" Paul Ehrlich develops a chemotherapeutic cure for sleeping sickness
• 1908 â€" Victor Horsley and R. Clarke invents the stereotactic method
• 1909 â€" First intrauterine device described by Richard Richter.
• 1910 â€" Hans Christian Jacobaeus performs the first laparoscopy on humans
• 1917 â€" Julius Wagner-Jauregg discovers the malarial fever shock therapy for general paresis of the insane
• 1921 â€" Edward Mellanby discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets
• 1921 â€" Frederick Banting and Charles Best discover insulin â€" important for the treatment of diabetes
• 1921 â€" Fidel Pagés pioneers epidural anesthesia
• 1923 â€" First vaccine for diphtheria
• 1926 â€" First vaccine for pertussis
• 1927 â€" First vaccine for tuberculosis
• 1927 â€" First vaccine for tetanus
• 1928 â€" Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
• 1929 â€" Hans Berger discovers human electroencephalography
• 1932 â€" Gerhard Domagk develops a chemotherapeutic cure for streptococcus
• 1933 â€" Manfred Sakel discovers insulin shock therapy
• 1935 â€" Ladislas J. Meduna discovers metrazol shock therapy
• 1935 â€" First vaccine for yellow fever
• 1936 â€" Egas Moniz discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases; Enrique Finochietto develops the now ubiquitous self-retaining thoracic retractor
• 1938 â€" Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini discover electroconvulsive therapy
• 1943 â€" Willem J. Kolff build the first dialysis machine
• 1944 â€" Disposable catheter â€" David S. Sheridan
• 1946 â€" Chemotherapy â€" Alfred G. Gilman and Louis S. Goodman
• 1947 â€" Defibrillator â€" Claude Beck
• 1948 â€" Acetaminophen â€" Julius Axelrod, Bernard Brodie
• 1949 â€" First implant of intraocular lens, by Sir Harold Ridley
• 1949 â€" Mechanical assistor for anesthesia â€" John Emerson
• 1952 â€" Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine (available in 1955)
• 1952 â€" Cloning â€" Robert Briggs and Thomas King
• 1953 â€" Heart-Lung Machine â€" John Heysham Gibbon
• 1953 â€" Medical Ultrasonography â€" Inge Edler
• 1954 â€" Joseph Murray performs the first human kidney transplant (on identical twins)
• 1954 â€" Ventouse â€" Tage Malmstrom
• 1955 â€" Tetracycline â€" Lloyd Conover
• 1956 â€" Metered Dose Inhaler â€" 3M
• 1957 â€" William Grey Walter invents the brain EEG topography (toposcope)
• 1958 â€" Pacemaker â€" Rune Elmqvist
• 1959 â€" In vitro fertilization â€" Min Chueh Chang
• 1960 â€" Invention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• 1960 â€" First combined oral contraceptive approved by the FDA
• 1962 â€" Hip replacement â€" John Charnley
• 1962 â€" Beta blocker James W. Black
• 1962 â€" First oral polio vaccine (Sabin)
• 1963 â€" Artificial heart â€" Paul Winchell
• 1963 â€" Thomas Starzl performs the first human liver transplant
• 1963 â€" James Hardy performs the first human lung transplant
• 1963 â€" Valium (diazepam) â€" Leo H. Sternbach
• 1964 â€" First vaccine for measles
• 1965 â€" Frank Pantridge installs the first portable defibrillator
• 1965 â€" First commercial ultrasound
• 1966 â€" C. Walton Lillehei performs the first human pancreas transplant
• 1966 â€" Rubella Vaccine â€" Harry Martin Meyer and Paul D. Parkman
• 1967 â€" First vaccine for mumps
• 1967 â€" Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant
• 1968 â€" Powered prothesis â€" Samuel Alderson
• 1968 â€" Controlled drug delivery â€" Alejandro Zaffaron
• 1969 â€" Balloon catheter â€" Thomas Fogarty
• 1969 â€" Cochlear implant â€" William House
• 1970 â€" Cyclosporine, the first effective immunosuppressive drug is introduced in organ transplant practice
• 1971 â€" Genetically modified organisms â€" Ananda Chakrabart
• 1971 â€" Magnetic resonance imaging â€" Raymond Vahan Damadian
• 1971 â€" Computed tomography (CT or CAT Scan) â€" Godfrey Hounsfield
• 1971 â€" Transdermal patches â€" Alejandro Zaffaroni
• 1971 â€" Sir Godfrey Hounsfield invents the first commercial CT scanner
• 1972 â€" Insulin pump Dean Kamen
• 1973 â€" Laser eye surgery (LASIK) â€" Mani Lal Bhaumik
• 1974 â€" Liposuction â€" Giorgio Fischer
• 1976 â€" First commercial PET scanner
• 1978 â€" Last fatal case of smallpox
• 1979 Antiviral drugs â€" George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion
• 1980 â€" Raymond Damadian builds first commercial MRI scanner
• 1980 â€" Lithotripter â€" Dornier Research Group
• 1980 â€" First vaccine for hepatitis B â€" Baruch Samuel Blumberg
• 1981 â€" Artificial skin â€" John F. Burke and Ioannis V Yannas
• 1981 â€" Bruce Reitz performs the first human heart-lung combined transplant
• 1982 â€" Human insulin â€" Eli Lilly
• Interferon cloning â€" Sidney Pestka
• 1985 â€" Automated DNA sequencer â€" Leroy Hood and Lloyd Smith
• 1985 â€" Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) â€" Kaery Mullis
• 1985 â€" Surgical robot â€" Yik San Kwoh
• 1985 â€" DNA fingerprinting â€" Alec Jeffreys
• 1985 â€" Capsule endoscopy â€" Tarun Mullick
• 1986 â€" Fluoxetine HCl â€" Eli Lilly and Co
• 1987 â€" Ben Carson, leading a 70-member medical team in Germany, was the first to separate occipital craniopagus twins.
• 1987 â€" commercially available Statins â€" Merck & Co.
• 1987 â€" Tissue engineering â€" Joseph Vacanti & Robert Langer
• 1988 â€" Intravascular stent â€" Julio Palmaz
• 1988 â€" Laser cataract surgery â€" Patricia Bath
• 1989 â€" Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) â€" Alan Handyside
• 1989 â€" DNA microarray â€" Stephen Fodor
• 1990 â€" Gamow bag® â€" Igor Gamow
• 1992 â€" First vaccine for hepatitis A available
• 1992 â€" Electroactive polymers (artificial muscle) â€" SRI International
• 1992 â€" Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) â€" Andre van Steirteghem
• 1996 â€" Dolly the Sheep cloned
• 1998 â€" Stem cell therapy â€" James Thomson

2000 â€" present

• 2000 26 June â€" The Human Genome Project draft was completed.
• 2001 The first telesurgery was performed by Jacques Marescaux.
• 2003 â€" Carlo Urbani, of Doctors without Borders alerted the World Health Organization to the threat of the SARS virus, triggering the most effective response to an epidemic in history. Urbani succumbs to the disease himself in less than a month.
• 2005 â€" Jean-Michel Dubernard performs the first partial face transplant.
• 2006 â€" First HPV vaccine approved.
• 2006 â€" The second rotavirus vaccine approved (first was withdrawn).
• 2007 â€" The visual prosthetic (bionic eye) Argus II.
• 2008 â€" Laurent Lantieri performs the first full face transplant.
• 2013 â€" The first kidney was grown in vitro in the U.S.
• 2013 â€" The first human liver was grown from stem cells in Japan.

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Breakthrough Initiatives is a program founded in 2015 and funded by Yuri Milner to search for extraterrestrial intelligence over a span of at least 10 years. The program is divided into multiple projects. Breakthrough Listen will comprise an effort to search over 1,000,000 stars for artificial radio or laser signals. A parallel project called Breakthrough Message is an effort to create a message "representative of humanity and planet Earth". The project Breakthrough Starshot aims to send a swarm of probes to the nearest star at about 20% the speed of light.

History

The Breakthrough Initiatives were announced to the public on July 20, 2015 at London's Royal Society. Physicist Stephen Hawking, Russian tycoon Yuri Milner, and others created the Initiatives to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in the Universe and consider a plan for possibly transmitting messages out into space. The announcement included an open letter co-signed by multiple scientists, including Hawking, expressing support for an intensified search for alien radio communications. During the public launch, Hawking said: "In an infinite Universe, there must be other life. There is no bigger question. It is time to commit to finding the answer."

The US$100 million cash infusion is projected to mark up the pace of SETI research over the early 2000s rate, and will nearly double the rate NASA was spending on SETI research annually in approximately 1973â€"1993.

Projects

Breakthrough Listen

Breakthrough Listen is a ten-year initiative with $100 million funding begun in July 2015 to actively search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications in the Universe, in a substantially expanded way, using resources that had not previously been extensively used for the purpose. It has been described as the most comprehensive search for alien communications to date.

Announced in July 2015, the project will use thousands of hours every year on two major radiotelescopes, the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia and the Parkes Observatory in Australia. Previously, only about 24 to 36 hours of telescope per year were used in the search for alien life. Furthermore, the Automated Planet Finder of Lick observatory will search for optical signals coming from laser transmissions. For processing of the massive data, the experience of SETI and SETI@home will be used. SETI founder Frank Drake is one of the project's scientists.

Overview

The project aims to discover signs of extraterrestrial civilizations by searching stars and galaxies for radio signals and laser transmissions. The search for radio signals is carried out on the Green Bank Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and the Parkes Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. The Green Bank Telescope is the world's largest steerable radio telescope, and the Parkes Telescope is second largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.

Together, the radio telescopes will cover ten times more sky than previous searches and scan the entire 1-to-10 GHz range, the so-called "quiet zone" in the spectrum where radio waves are unobscured by cosmic sources or Earth’s atmosphere.

The radio telescopes are sensitive enough to detect "Earth-leakage" levels of radio transmission from stars within 5 parsecs, and can detect a transmitter of the same power as a common aircraft radar from the 1,000 nearest stars. The Green Bank Telescope began operations in January 2016, with the Parkes Telescope due to join it in October 2016. The FAST radiotelescope in China also joined forces in October 2016 with the Breakthrough Initiatives to launch a coordinated search, including the rapid sharing of promising new signals for additional observation and analysis.

The search for optical laser transmissions is carried out by the Automated Planet Finder of Lick Observatory. The telescope has the sensitivity to detect a 100 watt laser from a star 25 trillion miles (4.25 light years) away.

Announcement

Breakthrough Listen was announced to the public on 20 July 2015 (the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing) by Milner at London's Royal Society. The event was flanked by scientists such as Frank Drake, who is known for the Drake equation that estimates the number of detectable alien civilizations, and Geoff Marcy, an astronomer who has helped find hundreds of exoplanets. The announcement included an open letter co-signed by multiple scientists, including physicist Stephen Hawking, expressing support for an intensified search for alien life. During the public launch, Hawking said:

"In an infinite Universe, there must be other life. There is no bigger question. It is time to commit to finding the answer."

Significance

The project is the most comprehensive search for alien communications to date. It is estimated that the project will generate as much data in one day as previous SETI projects generated in one year. Compared to previous programs, the radio surveys cover 10 times more of the sky, at least 5 times more of the radio spectrum, and work 100 times faster. The optical laser survey is also the deepest and broadest search in history.

Andrew Siemion, a SETI scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, describes that "We would typically get 24â€"36 hours on a telescope per year, but now we’ll have thousands of hours per year on the best instruments...It’s difficult to overstate how big this is. It’s a revolution."

Targets

As of April 2016, the targets for the radio search with the Green Bank Radio Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere include the following:

• All 43 stars within 5 parsecs
• 1000 stars of all spectral-types within 50 parsecs
• One million nearby stars
• Center regions of at least 100 nearby galaxies, including spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies, dwarf galaxies and irregular galaxies
• Exotic Stars: 20 white dwarfs, 20 neutron stars, 20 black holes

The Parkes Radio Telescope will cover similar targets in the Southern Hemisphere from 1â€"4 GHz, and also the galactic plane and center.

The targets for the Automated Planet Finder will closely match those of the Green Bank radio search, with small adjustments due to the telescope's much smaller field of view.

While the telescopes are observing, the current targets of the Green Bank Radio Telescope and the Automated Planet Finder can be viewed live at the Berkeley Seti Research Center.

Data processing

All data generated from Breakthrough Listen project will be open to the public. The data is uploaded on the initiative's Open Data Archive, where any user can download it for software analysis. Breakthrough Initiatives are developing open source software to assist users in understanding and analyzing the data, which are available on GitHub under UCBerkeleySETI.

The data is also processed by the SETI@Home volunteer computer network, with the first batch of data being made available to SETI@Home in April 2016.

Funding

The project is funded with $100 million from Yuri Milner. One third of this funding will be used to purchase telescope time. So far, the project has signed contracts for around 20 percent of the time on the Green Bank Telescope for the next five years, and 25 percent of the time on the Parkes Telescope. Another third will be used for the development of new equipment to receive and process potential signals, and the final third will be used to hire astronomy staff.

Project leadership

• Frank Drake, Chairman Emeritus, SETI Institute; Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz; Founding Director, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center; Former Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University.
• Ann Druyan, Creative Director of the Voyager Interstellar Message, NASA Voyager; Co-Founder and CEO, Cosmos Studios; Emmy Award- and Peabody Award-winning writer and producer.
• Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, Fellow of Trinity College; Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge.
• Andrew Siemion, Director, Berkeley SETI Research Center.
• Dan Werthimer, Co-founder and chief scientist of the SETI@home project; director of SERENDIP; principal investigator for CASPER.
• Pete Worden, Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation.

Breakthrough Message

The Breakthrough Message program is to study the ethics of sending messages into deep space. It also launched an open competition with a US$1 million prize pool, to design a digital message that could be transmitted from Earth to an extraterrestrial civilization. The message should be "representative of humanity and planet Earth". The program pledges "not to transmit any message until there has been a global debate at high levels of science and politics on the risks and rewards of contacting advanced civilizations".

Breakthrough Starshot

Breakthrough Starshot, announced April 12, 2016, is a US$100 million program to develop a proof-of-concept light sail spacecraft fleet capable of making the journey to Alpha Centauri at 20% the speed of light (60,000 km/s or 215 million km/h) taking about 20 years to get there, and about 4 years to notify Earth of a successful arrival.

The interstellar journey may include a flyby of Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-sized exoplanet that is in the habitable zone of its host star in the Alpha Centauri system. From a distance of 1 Astronomical Unit (150 million kilometers or 93 million miles), the four cameras on each of the spacecraft could potentially capture an image of high enough quality to resolve surface features. The spacecraft fleet would have 1000 craft, and each craft, named StarChip, would be a very small centimeter-sized craft weighing several grams. They would be propelled by several ground-based lasers of up to 100 gigawatts. Each tiny spacecraft would transmit data back to Earth using a compact on-board laser communications system. Pete Worden is the head of this project. The conceptual principles to enable this interstellar travel project were described in "A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight", by Philip Lubin of UC Santa Barbara.

Objectives

Breakthrough Starshot aims to demonstrate proof of concept for ultra-fast light-driven nano-spacecraft, and lay the foundations for a first launch to Alpha Centauri within the next generation. Secondary goals are Solar System exploration and detection of Earth-crossing asteroids. The German physicist Claudius Gros has proposed that the technology of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative may be utilized in a second step to establish a biosphere of unicellular microbes on otherwise only transiently habitable exoplanets.

In 2017, Breakthrough Initiatives and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) entered a collaboration to enable and implement a search for habitable planets in the nearby star system, Alpha Centauri. The agreement involves Breakthrough Initiatives providing funding for an upgrade to the VISIR (VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-Infrared) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. This upgrade will greatly increase the likelihood of planet detection in the system.

In August 2016, the European Southern Observatory announced the detection of a planet orbiting the third star in the Alpha Centauri system, Proxima Centauri. The planet, called Proxima Centauri b, could be a potential target for one of the projects of Breakthrough Initiatives.

Breakthrough Starshot is a proof of concept mission to send a fleet of ultra-fast light-driven nanocraft to explore the Alpha Centauri star system, which could pave the way for a first launch within the next generation. An objective of the mission would be to make a fly-by of and possibly photograph any Earth-like worlds that might exist in the system.

Concept

The Starshot concept envisions launching a "mothership" carrying about a thousand tiny spacecraft (on the scale of centimeters) to a high-altitude orbit and then deploying them. Ground-based lasers would then focus a light beam on the craft's solar sails to accelerate them one by one to the target speed within 10 minutes, with an average acceleration on the order of 100 km/s², and an illumination energy on the order of 1 TJ delivered to each sail, estimated to have a surface area of 4 m × 4 m.

If an Earth-size planet is orbiting within the Alpha Centauri system habitable zones, Breakthrough Starshot will try to aim its spacecraft within 1 astronomical unit (150 million kilometers or 93 million miles) of it. From this distance, a craft's cameras could potentially capture an image of high enough quality to resolve surface features.

The fleet would have about 1000 spacecraft, and each one (dubbed a StarChip), would be a very small centimeter-sized vehicle weighing a few grams. They would be propelled by a square-kilometre array of 10 kW ground-based lasers with a combined output of up to 100 GW. Each spacecraft would transmit data back to Earth using a compact on-board laser communications system using its solar sail as an antenna and the propulsion array as the receiver. A swarm of about 1000 units would compensate for the losses caused by interstellar dust collisions en route to the target. In more recent (albeit preliminary) work, it's suggested that mitigating the collisions with dust, hydrogen and galactic cosmic rays may not be quite as severe an engineering problem as first thought.

Technical challenges

Light propulsion requires enormous power: a laser with a gigawatt of power (approximately the output of a large nuclear plant) would provide only a few newtons of thrust. The spaceship will compensate for the low thrust by having a mass of only a few grams. The camera, computer, communications laser, a plutonium power source, and the solar sail must be miniaturized to fit within a mass limit. All components must be engineered to endure extreme acceleration, cold, vacuum, and protons. The spacecraft will have to survive collisions with space dust; Starshot expects each square centimeter of frontal cross-section to collide at high speed with about a thousand particles of size at least 0.1 μm. Focusing a set of lasers totaling one hundred gigawatts onto the solar sail will be difficult, due to atmospheric turbulence. According to The Economist, at least a dozen off-the-shelf technologies will need to improve by orders of magnitude.

StarChip

StarChip is a very small, centimeter-sized, gram-scale, interstellar spacecraft envisioned for the Breakthrough Starshot program, a proposed mission to propel a fleet of a thousand StarChips on a journey to the Alpha Centauri star system, the nearest extrasolar stars, about 4.37 light-years from Earth. The journey may include a flyby of Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-sized exoplanet that is in the habitable zone of its host star. The ultra-light StarChip robotic nanocraft, fitted with lightsails, are planned to travel at speeds of 20% and 15% of the speed of light, taking between 20 and 30 years to reach the star system, respectively, and about 4 years to notify Earth of a successful arrival. The conceptual principles to enable practical interstellar travel were described in "A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight", by Philip Lubin of UC Santa Barbara, who is an advisor for the Starshot project.

Components

Each StarChip nanocraft is expected to carry miniaturized cameras, navigation gear, communication equipment, photon thrusters and a power supply. In addition, each nanocraft would be fitted with a meter-scale lightsail, made of lightweight materials, with a gram-scale mass.

Cameras

Four sub-gram scale digital cameras, each with a minimum 2-megapixels resolution, are envisioned.

Processors

Four sub-gram scale processors are planned.

Photon thrusters

Four sub-gram scale photon thrusters, each minimally capable of performing at a 1W diode laser level, are planned.

Battery

A 150 mg atomic battery, powered by plutonium-238 or americium-241, is planned.

Protective coating

A coating, possibly made of beryllium copper, is planned to protect the nanocraft from dust collisions and atomic particle erosion.

Lightsail

The lightsail is envisioned to be no larger than 4 by 4 meters (13 by 13 feet), possibly of composite graphene-based material. The material would have to be very thin and, somehow, be able to reflect the laser beam without absorbing any of its thermal energy, or it will vaporize the sail.

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