Check out Nikola Tesla’s drone patent from 1898

Inventor Nikola Tesla had many an idea during his days in the laboratory, and one of them has only just begun to take off – drone technology.

Well, not the drones as we know them today, per se, but instead unmanned machines. Below is an image he sketched out of what he thought the future of this technology would look like. 

Via United States Patent and Trademark Office

The graphic comes from a patent that Tesla filed for the technology, entitled “Method of and apparatus for controlling mechanism of moving vessels or vehicles,” which was granted on November 8th, 1898. In the documents, Tesla explained that for the vehicle to work, it needed to be wireless and instead powered by electrical waves.

From the patent:
In a broad sense, then, my invention differs from all of those systems which provide for the control of the mechanism carried by a moving object and governing its motion in that I require no intermediate wires, cables, or other form of electrical or mechanical connection with the object save the natural modia in space. I accomplish, nevertheless, similar results and in a much more practicable manner by producing waves, impulses, or radiations which are received through the earth, water, or atmosphere by suitable apparatus‘ on the moving body and cause the desired actions so long as the body remains within the active region or effective range of such on currents, waves, impulses, or radiations.

Discovered by technologist Matthew Schroyer is a line within the patent about the potential destructiveness of this technology — specifically, that it could be so harmful to the planet as a whole, nations would opt for peace instead of use it in war.

Via @MattSchroyer

Regrettably, Tesla’s fear was never recognized. The first unmanned machine built for war was the Kettering Bug, which was meant to see action in World War I. A few things to note about it: (1) it never saw action as its construction was completed too late to be used in the war, (2) this was just as well because it did not do well in its performance tests, and (3) it didn’t use a remote control but instead was pre-programmed to fly a certain length before “deployment” (a la cruise missiles).

It wouldn’t be for another 100 years that actual, remote-controlled drone technology would be introduced to war, and recognized as an actual game changer in terms of how military operations are conducted. While it’s impressive that Tesla was able to predict the creation of this technology, it’s unfortunate that his note about its potential destructiveness is not shared by world leaders.

Via Popular Science