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An illustration of an automated dye-vat.

Automated Dye Vat

An illustration of an automated dye-vat.

The first completely automated loom was made by Jacques Vaucanson in 1745. A different power loom was built by Edmund Cartwright in 1785. Originally, powered looms were shuttle-operated but in the early part of the 20th century the faster and more efficient shuttleless loom came into use. Today, advances in technology have produced a variety of looms designed to maximize production for specific types of material. The most common of these are air-jet looms and water-jet looms. Computer-driven looms are now also available to individual (non-industrial) weavers. Industrial looms can weave at speeds of six rows per second and faster.

Loom

The first completely automated loom was made by Jacques Vaucanson in 1745. A different power loom was…