Editing Feedback (section)

===Mechanical engineering===
In ancient times, the [[float valve]] was used to regulate the flow of water in Greek and Roman [[water clock]]s; similar float valves are used to regulate fuel in a [[carburettor]] and also used to regulate tank water level in the [[flush toilet]].

The Dutch inventor [[Cornelius Drebbel]] (1572–1633) built thermostats (c1620) to control the temperature of chicken incubators and chemical furnaces. In 1745, the windmill was improved by blacksmith Edmund Lee, who added a [[windmill fantail|fantail]] to keep the face of the windmill pointing into the wind. In 1787, [[Tom Mead]] regulated the rotation speed of a windmill by using a [[conical pendulum|centrifugal pendulum]] to adjust the distance between the bedstone and the runner stone (i.e., to adjust the load).

The use of the [[centrifugal governor]] by [[James Watt]] in 1788 to regulate the speed of his [[steam engine]] was one factor leading to the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Steam engines also use float valves and [[relief valve|pressure release valves]] as mechanical regulation devices. A [[mathematical analysis]] of Watt's governor was done by [[James Clerk Maxwell]] in 1868.<ref name=maxwell/>

The ''[[SS Great Eastern|Great Eastern]]'' was one of the largest steamships of its time and employed a steam powered rudder with feedback mechanism designed in 1866 by [[John McFarlane Gray]]. [[Joseph Farcot]] coined the word ''[[Servomechanism|servo]]'' in 1873 to describe steam-powered steering systems. Hydraulic servos were later used to position guns. [[Elmer Ambrose Sperry]] of the [[Sperry Corporation]] designed the first [[autopilot]] in 1912. [[Nicolas Minorsky]] published a theoretical analysis of automatic ship steering in 1922 and described the [[PID controller]].<ref name="Minorsky">{{cite journal |author=Minorsky, Nicolas |year=1922 |title=Directional stability of automatically steered bodies |journal=Journal of the American Society for Naval Engineers |volume=34 |issue= 2|pages=280–309 |doi= 10.1111/j.1559-3584.1922.tb04958.x}}</ref>

Internal combustion engines of the late 20th century employed mechanical feedback mechanisms such as the [[Ignition timing#Vacuum timing advance|vacuum timing advance]] but mechanical feedback was replaced by electronic [[engine control unit|engine management systems]] once small, robust and powerful single-chip [[microcontroller]]s became affordable.