0 A History of Robotics: Iron Eagle

1533

Johannes Muller von Konigsberg was a German mathematician, astronomer, author, and inventor who also went frequently by a Latin pseudonym when he published his works, calling himself Regiomontanus. This extraordinary inventor was responsible for several astounding feats of engineering such as a mechanical eagle made out of wood and iron. Konigsberg also created a and mechanical fly, which like the eagle, also possessed flight capabilities.
In a book published in 1708 titled The mathematical and philosophical works of the Right Reverend John Wilkins, author John Wilkins describes the anatomical works of Regiomontanus in regards to their principals of flight. It was said by Wilkins, that the wooden eagle of Regiomontanus flew from the city of Koenigsberg to meet the emperor, saluted him, and returned. Regiomontanus also built an iron fly of which it is said it flew out of Regiomontanus's hands at a feast, taking a round of the room before returning to him.

Previous chapter: Myth and Legend
Next chapter: Coming soon!

Photo: Jupiter enthroned, with the symbols of Pisces and Sagittarius at his feet (woodcut by Johannes Regiomontanus, 1512)

Detail: A History of Robotics: Iron Eagle

0 A History of Robotics: Analytical Engine

1820

The explosion of automation during the 1820's led to the rapid growth of the weaving industry. From this wave of innovation also came inspiration for the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage who composed the idea of programmable machines. Babbage conceived, what he called an Analytical Engine with which he sought to perform multiple mathematical operations. Similar to his previously unfinished Difference Engine, the Analytical Engine would provide a quick way for a machine to execute what was essentially a program by reading punch cards. Babbage began work on the Analytical Engine in 1833 but he never finished. His work however, left Ada Lovelace deemed as the worlds first programmer as she produced numerous punch cards to be operated on the device.

Photo of the Analytical Engine from the Science Museum London

Detail: A History of Robotics: Analytical Engine

0 A History of Robotics: Hero of Alexandria

60 AD

Hero of Alexandria was an innovator in the field of automata but that's not all. It is highly likely that Hero was the inventor of the first programmable robot. The robot had three wheels and carried a group of other automatons onto a stage to preform. The robot's movement was controlled by a string wrapped around an axial with a series of pegs. The pegs were used to reverse the direction of the string so that the cart could drive itself in different "pre-programmed" directions.

Detail: A History of Robotics: Hero of Alexandria

0 A History of Robotics: Tea Serving Karakuri

1800 to 1900

The Karakuri ningyo are automata made in Japan between the 17th and the 19th century. The word karakuri translates from Japanese to "mechanisms" or "trick" and ningyo meaning person and shape. The Karakuri were intended to provide entertainment. They could gesture and conduct a variety of actions depending on what a particular Karakuri was designed for.

Many kinds of Karakuri have been created but there are a few types which are more common.

Butai karakuri

Butai karakuri were used in theatrical performances. Performances would typically last no more than ten minuted due to the limitation of how much each automaton could preform for between winding. A karakuri would typically be powered by a wound spring made of whalebone which was coupled to a set of cams and levers to control the movements of its head and limbs.

Dashi karakuri

Dashi karakuri were used in religious festivals. They where animated puppets which usually could be seen reenacting traditional stories or myths and legends.

Zashiki karakuri

Zashiki karakuri were the most common type of karakuri. They often used in homes, preforming a limited range of short "parlor tricks". Serving tea was a common feat for these small automatons. Although impractical for anything other than entertainment,  A tea-serving karakuri would start moving forward when a cup of tea was placed on the plate it held in its hands. The karakuri would then move a fixed distance in a straight line before bowing its head to signal that the tea was for drinking. While the device traveled its feet moved as if walking although it was actually propelled by a wheeled base. The karakuri would stop when the tea cup was removed and when the guest placed the cup back on the tray the robot would raise its head, turn around and returns to the spot that it had come from.

The Karakuri ningyo also had a significant amount of influence on the Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku theatre. The first Karakuri show was presented in 1662 at Osaka's Dotonbori by a clock maker named Takeda Omi. Omi took advantage of the theaters location near the river, making several of his karakuri water-powered.

Photo provided by the British Art Museum

Detail: A History of Robotics: Tea Serving Karakuri

0 A History of Robotics: Yan Shi the Artificer

1023 BC

The Lie Zi text is an ancient philosophical volume of stories which is believed by Chinese and Western scholars to have been composed sometime in the 4th century BC. The text contains numerous stories, one of which featuring an astounding account of what may be an ancient engineering marvel, much older than the text itself. The text describes a sort of engineer, an 'artificer' named Yan Shi. Sometime around 1023 to 957 BC, Yan Shi presented a marvelous invention before the fifth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, King Mu. Yen Shi had created a life-sized automaton which was able to move and preform several impressive functions. The automation could move in a like-like manner and could sing.

The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time... As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously colored white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial... The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted. - (Liezi)

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.

Previous chapter: Da Vincis Mechanical Knight

Next chapter: Not published yet. 

Detail: A History of Robotics: Yan Shi the Artificer

0 A History of Robotics: Myth and Legend

The ideas behind creating robots are hardly modern in origin. The idea of creating artificial people is rooted deep inside ancient mythology and folklore.

Within the pages of the Iliad are stories of Hephaestus, the deformed god of metalwork, who built mechanical servants to do his bidding. Hephaestus to the Greeks was named Vulcan to the Romans, both tell stories about how the god constructed mechanical entities such as golden talking handmaidens and three-legged tables that could move at their own accord. Greek mythology also tells of a figure named Pygmalion who created a statue of Galatea. The statue came to life and Pygmalion fell in love with it. The story of Cadmus tells of a prince who sowed dragon teeth in the soil which sprouted into soldiers. And yet another Greek tail describes Talos, a man made of bronze who defended Crete from invaders and pirates.

Written in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a giant named Mistcalf who was made out of clay in order to assist the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor. Rasmus B. Anderson, a former professor of Scandinavian languages at the university of Wisconsin has provided a detailed translation of the myth of Thor and Hrungner as described in the Younger Edda.

They regarded it very important who should gain the victory, and they feared the worst from Thor if Hrungner should be defeated, for he was the strongest among them. Thereupon the giants made at Grjottungard a man of clay, who was nine rasts tall and three rasts broad under the arms, but being unable to find a heart large enough to be suitable for him, they took the heart from a mare, but even this fluttered and trembled when Thor came. Hrungner had, as is well known, a heart of stone, sharp and three-sided; just as the rune has since been risted that is called Hrungner’s heart. Even his head was of stone. His shield was of stone, and was broad and thick, and he was holding this shield before him as he stood at Grjottungard waiting for Thor. His weapon was a flint-stone, which he swung over his shoulders, and altogether he presented a most formidable aspect. On one side of him stood the giant of clay, who was named Mokkerkalfe.

Jewish folklore tells of the Golem which is a clay creature brought to life by Kabbalistic magic. The most famous story is the Golem of Prauge in which the rabbi constructs the Golem out of clay retrieved from the banks of the Vltava river. Similar to Talos of Greek mythology, the Golem was a protector. However, the Golem was said to have turned on its creators in some versions of the stories.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.

Previous chapter: Da Vinci's Mechanical Knight
Next chapter: Iron Eagle

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0 A History of Robotics: Da Vinci's Mechanical Knight

1495

Sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebook were rediscovered in 1957 by Carlo Pedretti. These sketches showed detailed plans for a mechanical knight that the renaissance man had planned. The knight which would have been designed sometime around 1495 demonstrated how a machine based on of the anatomical structure of a human being could be built. It is likely that the knight had been designed to move with fluidity in combat. Leonardo Da Vinci had conducted a wide study into human anatomy. The robot knight reflected Da Vinci's knowledge, including proportional distances between joints and using pulleys and cables in the place of muscles. A close examination of the ration of the distance of the knight's limbs it is clear that the knight obeys the Canon of Proportions as described in the Vitruvian Man. The robot knight was capable of standing, sitting, raising its visor and independently maneuvering each of its arms, neck and jaw.

After the rediscovery of the sketches in 1957, further studies were carried out in 1996 by Mark Rosheim in an attempt to learn more about the knight. Information suggests that Da Vinci displayed his "robot" at a celebration hosted by Ludovico Sforza at the court of Milan. There have been several attempts to recreate the robot knight and each has successfully demonstrated that Da Vinci's plans are accurate and the knight works as he had planned. Mark Rosheim went on to construct a complete replica of the knight in 2002, based completely off of the original sketches which he had studied.

In addition to the knight, there is limited evidence, lacking any eyewitness records, which suggests that a mechanical lion was also constructed. G. P. Lomazzo suggests that a Da Vinci constructed a mechanical lion to be presented as a gift to the King of France by Giuliano de’ Medici in Lyon, on July 12th, 1515. This gift may have been a gesture for entertainment or diplomatic purposes. The lion may have been able to walk and present flowers at the end of a performance. Along with inconclusive evidence for the lion's existence it is also extremely unclear how the device would have been designed.
However, in 2009, a mechanical lion was created by a french museum, the Château du Clos Lucé and Parc. Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life at the Château, he died May 2, 1519.
A video of the lion can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/xNWE2AdfNuo

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.

Previous chapter: Vaucanson's Duck
Next chapter: Myth and Legend

Detail: A History of Robotics: Da Vinci's Mechanical Knight

0 A History of Robotics: Vaucanson’s Duck

1737

Historians know that history is not an exploratory study of the past. History is a way of looking at evidence and using it to determine what events took place and why they occurred in the manner that they did. History is not always recorded correctly and many times the most important events are not even recorded at all. History can only be recorded to the preciseness of the technology of the era in which it exists. The accuracy of recorded information is highly evident when exploring stories dating from times of pure oral tradition all the way to the modern era.

Jacques de Vaucanson created several noteworthy automata in Grenoble, France 1738. His first automaton was a flute player that could play twelve songs. Shortly after creating the flute player Vaucanson constructed others which had abilities such as one which played a flute and another a tambourine or drum. In 1739 Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck which was presented before King Louis XV. Vaucanson's had a vision he called "moving anatomy", which was his idea of modeling human or animal anatomy with mechanics. The duck moved, quacked, flapped it's wings and even ate and digested food. The food that the duck ate was chemically digested and then excreted, modeling the digestive functionality of a real duck.

It became discovered however, that the duck was a complete fraud. It had been designed with a mechanical chamber which produced predigested pellets to provide the appearance that it had consumed and digested the material it was given. Although the duck was not a real demonstration of what Vaucanson sought to create, it does not decrease the significance of his ideas. The duck itself was an engineering marvel with over over 400 parts were in each of the wings alone and carefully weighted parts to ensure that it moved just like a real duck.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Previous chapter: Water Clocks
Next chapter: Da Vinci's Knight

Detail: A History of Robotics: Vaucanson’s Duck

0 A History of Robotics: Water Clocks

322 B.C.

How do we define a robots? There has always been some debate over what makes a real robot. The main disagreement is over control. Is a robot that is controlled remotely by human intelligence really a robot or is it just a remote-controlled vehicle? Does a robot have to be autonomous, meaning that it can operate on its own without a human controlling it. The most popular definition stating that “a robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice, a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled.” Although this is a very general definition it perfect for describing the diverse selection of robots that have been created.

Circa 322 B.C. the Greek philosopher Aristotle writes...

“If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.”

In his book Politics, Aristotle speculated that automatons could someday be used to achieve human equality by replacing slaves. Of course, over twenty three centuries later iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaning robot is the perfect incarnation of Aristotle's statement. Its highly unlikely that what Aristotle was envisioning was in fact modern robotic automation. However, the ancient Greeks were fascinated by automata of all kinds, often employing them in theatrical performances.

There is only one condition in which we can imagine managers not needing subordinates, and masters not needing slaves. This condition would be that each instrument could do its own work, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation, like the statues of Daedalus or the tripods made by Hephaestus, of which Homer relates that "Of their own motion they entered the conclave of Gods on Olympus", as if a shuttle should weave of itself, and a plectrum should do its own harp playing. (Aristotle, Politics, book 1, part 4)

Later on, the Greek physicist and inventor Ctesibus of Alexandria began designing clepsydra, a kind of device which is also known as a water clock. Ctesibus created his water clocks with movable figures on them, powered by the clock's movement. This was sometime around 200 B.C. and water clocks signified a dramatic breakthrough for timepieces. Until that point, the Greeks used hourglasses that had to be turned over after all the sand had finished running through. The work of Ctesibius and his invention made it possible to measure time as a result of the force of water flowing through an opening at a constant rate.

Later in 1092, the Chinese engineer Su Song created several hydro-mechanical clocks. One astronomical clock tower implemented a clepsydra tank, water wheel, escapement mechanism, and used a chain drive to power an armillary sphere and 113 striking clock jacks to sound the hours and to display informative plaques.

This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Previous chapter: The Pigeon
Next chapter: Vaucanson' Duck

Detail: A History of Robotics: Water Clocks

0 A History of Robotics: The Pigeon

350 B.C

Humankind has had a long history of creating objects that resemble our own likeness and the likeness of other organisms. The first humans drew depictions of themselves in caves and modern archaeologists discover artifacts from all over the world that depict the human likeness. It is no mystery that the human race is intrigued by the mysteries of life, the real question should be why? Why is humanity so intent on understanding the universe. The answer is in the question: because we have that ability to ask why. There are primordial questions like “Where did we come from?”, “Why are we here?”, “What is our purpose?” that drive us. Humans have the ability to ask a question about anything in the universe and then to find out the answer. These inquiries been asked for as long as humans have had the capacity to wonder about the universe. It is questions like these that drive us to create objects that are based on ourselves.

Sometime in the years between 425 B.C and 350 B.C the Greek mathematician, Archytas of Tarentum built a mechanical bird dubbed "the Pigeon". The Pigeon that was propelled by steam and it could fly a distance of 200 meters. Although the steam-powered bird could not take off again once it landed, it still serves as one of history's earliest studies in the field of flight and robotics.

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This post is part of a series titled The History of Robotics. Each chapter is a year or era in robotics history. To see more check for posts labeled history or use the link bellow to view the next era.
Next chapter: Water Clocks

Detail: A History of Robotics: The Pigeon