Babbage is credited with inventing the cowcatcher, a device attached to the front of locomotives to clear obstacles from the tracks. This significantly improved railway safety.

He invented a dynamometer to record the performance of engines.

He designed a uniform system of notation for all types of machinery, so it would be easy for anyone to understand how the machine works.

Babbage invented the occulting light for lighthouses, which could be programmed to flash in distinctive patterns, aiding navigation. This was an important contribution to maritime safety.

Babbage independently invented an ophthalmoscope, an instrument used to examine the interior of the eye, though his invention was overshadowed by the later, more widely adopted version developed by Hermann von Helmholtz.

Babbage designed a 'black box' to record the shocks experienced by trains during travel, contributing to railway safety and the understanding of train dynamics.

Babbage also invented or conceptualized other devices, including a type of speedometer, a seismograph, and methods for coding messages, demonstrating his broad range of interests and inventive thinking.