The automatic pilot has its roots in the gyroscope, a weighted, balanced wheel mounted in bearings and spinning at high velocity. As early as 1852 the French scientist Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault had experimented with the gyroscope and found that it tended to stay aligned with its original position and also tended to orient itself parallel to the earth's axis in a north-south direction. Thus, he reasoned, the gyroscope could be used as a compass because it designated true, or geographic, north rather than magnetic north, as traditional compasses did, which varied according to their location.

By the early 1900s the gyrocompass was a crucial part of navigation. A German manufacturer, Hermann Anschutz-Kaempfe, and an American, inventor, Elmer Sperry, had produced two gyrocompasses for use on board ships. Sperry also invented the first automatic pilot for ships, named " Metal Mike," which used the information from the ship's...