Automation is a regulated sequence of movements and steps triggered by an external signal, a «self-acting» sequence of technical processes according to a fixed plan or in relation to fixed states.
Automata are self-operating machines. From the Renaissance to the present day, the term automaton has been used for independent mechanical processes that are triggered at the push of a button.
Charles Babbage was a mathematician, a philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer at the beginning of 19th century. He originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was an English mathematician, commentator on Babbage’s Analytical Engine and writer. The Lady, today known as Ada Lovelace, lived In London 1815-1852. She was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron.
The Difference Engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. It was designed in the 1820s by Charles Babbage.
The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer. The Engine was a steam-driven mechanical computer with approx. 28,000 parts, 30 x 10 m in size. Its memory was approximately 20.7 KB.