本文论证了:约二千年前我国发明和使用的指南车,是一个按扰动调整原则工作的开周自动调整系统。而约九百年前,北宋时代的苏颂和韩公廉在他们制造的水运仪象台里,发明和使用了一个天衡装置。它是一个按被调整量的偏差进行调整的闭周自动调整器。文章分析、研究了我国古代的各种类型的自动装置,认为我国古代在自动学上的成就是很突出的。 This article argues that a guide car invented and used in our country about two thousand years ago is an open-cycle automatic adjustment system that works according to the principles of disturbance adjustment. About 900 years ago, Su Song and Han Gong Lian of the Northern Song Dynasty invented and used a Tianheng device in the platform of watercraft they built. It is a closed-loop automatic adjuster that is adjusted according to the deviation of the adjusted amount. The article analyzes and studies various types of automatic devices in ancient China, and thinks that the achievements of ancient China in automation are very outstanding.