Centrifugal governor

A feedback device that regulates a machine’s speed by adjusting its power input. Rotating masses move outward as speed rises, shifting a valve or other control to reduce input.

Flyball governor: A centrifugal governor that uses pivoted balls on rotating arms to move a control linkage as speed changes. Its swinging balls are the classic mechanism that converts rotation into valve movement.
James Watt: A Scottish engineer whose improvements to the steam engine helped make it a practical source of industrial power. Watt adapted centrifugal regulation for steam engines, making the governor a landmark feature of industrial machinery.
Steam turbine: A rotary engine that extracts energy from expanding steam through blades mounted on a shaft. Turbines use speed-control systems to regulate steam admission and protect against overspeed.
Flyweight governor: A speed-control mechanism that uses rotating weights to actuate a regulating mechanism. The term overlaps with centrifugal governor, but designs and usage vary across machinery.
Negative feedback: A control process in which a system’s response opposes a change in its measured condition. The governor reduces power input when speed rises, counteracting the original increase.
Steam engine: A heat engine that uses steam pressure to produce mechanical work. The governor became widely associated with regulating the speed of steam engines.
Internal combustion engine: An engine that produces power by burning fuel inside a working chamber. Mechanical and electronic governors regulate fuel or air input in engines under changing loads.
Inertial governor: A governor that responds to angular acceleration rather than steady rotational speed. It contrasts with centrifugal governors, which respond primarily to speed-dependent displacement.
Throttle valve: A valve that regulates fluid or gas flow by varying the size of its passage. In steam engines and engines, the governor can regulate speed by changing flow through a throttle.
Boulton and Watt: The engineering partnership of Matthew Boulton and James Watt, which manufactured and commercialized improved steam engines. Their engines helped spread Watt’s centrifugal governor in industrial use.

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