Franz von Uchatius

Franz von Uchatius (1811–1881) was an Austrian artillery general and inventor. His inventions included both military applications and pioneer work in cinematography.

Franz von Uchatius

He invented a motion picture projector in 1853,[1] developing it over the years from 1845[2] from the device then called stroboscope (Simon von Stampfer)[3] and phenakistiscope (Joseph Plateau).[4] This was the first example of projected animation,[5] demonstrated in 1853;[6] it is also described as the combination of the zoetrope with the magic lantern.[7] It was called the kinetoscope,[8] a term later used by Thomas Edison (see kinetoscope). He applied it to lecture on ballistics.[9]

He worked also on a smokeless powder,[10] improved cannons and alloys (his steel bronze was a copper-tin alloy[11]), Uchatius steel was produced industrially, by mixing granulated iron with iron oxide.[12]

His balloons,[13][14] were the earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred on July 1849,[15][16] serving as a balloon carrier (the precursor to the aircraft carrier)[17] in the first offensive use of air power in naval aviation.[18][19][20] Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 incendiary balloons, each carrying a 24- to 30-pound bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the Austrian ship SMS Vulcano. The Austrians used smaller pilot balloons to determine the correct fuse settings. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and the launching ship Vulcano.[21][22][23]