Tools With Intelligence

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Consider the screwdriver. Simple. Utilitarian. And hopelessly out of date. Few people who have put together a cabinet with a cordless screw turner will ever happily go back to driving Phillips-heads by hand. The most advanced power screwdrivers even come with built-in computer systems that sense when a screw is running into resistance and turn up the torque accordingly.

Having infiltrated every nook, cranny and copy machine in the modern office, the electronics revolution is starting to work its magic in the workshop. Tools that date back to the Iron Age can now take advantage of two decades of technological advances, including lightweight rechargeable batteries, custom- made computer chips, liquid-crystal readouts and semiconductor sensors. Result: a new generation of smart tools that promise to bring the benefits of the computer age to those who like to work with their hands.

The first tools to go high-tech were top-of-the-line industrial workhorses: saws with electric brakes that "knew" when to stop; routers with electronic feedback to control their cutting speeds; laser-guided graders that raised or lowered themselves automatically and could make the bumpiest construction sites as level as a putting green.

Now those same technologies -- and a few new ones -- are finding their way into tools used by weekend do-it-yourselfers, a group swelled by large numbers of electronics-savvy baby boomers. Some of these tools, like the electronic tire gauge, may be too smart for their own good, and will probably go the way of most overpriced gimmicks. But a few, including the digital level and the electromagnetic stud finder, actually make tough jobs easier to do. And if a smart tool can do that, there will always be people smart enough to buy it.