Centrifugal Governor

A centrifugal governor is a type of governor, a feedback device that controls the speed of an engine by regulating the flow of fuel or working fluid so the engine runs at a near constant speed. It was invented by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens in the seventeenth century to regulate windmills and water wheels, and in 1788 James Watt adapted the mechanism to control steam engines by regulating how much steam entered the cylinder, an application so significant that Watt is sometimes credited as its inventor even though he adapted an existing device. The centrifugal governor saw its widest use on steam engines during the nineteenth century Steam Age. It works through a feedback loop in which spinning balls gain kinetic energy as engine speed rises, swinging outward and upward against gravity, which narrows a throttle valve and cuts the flow of working fluid to prevent the engine from overspeeding, keeping it within a speed range rather than at one exact speed. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/