The animated figures stand Adorning every public street And seem to breathe in stone, or move their marble feet. The clockwork is thought to have come originally from Rhodes, where there was apparently a tradition of mechanical engineering the island was renowned for its automata to quote Pindar's seventh Olympic Ode: The Antikythera mechanism from 150 to 100 BC was designed to calculate the positions of astronomical objects.Ĭomplex mechanical devices are known to have existed in Hellenistic Greece, though the only surviving example is the Antikythera mechanism, the earliest known analog computer. Philo of Byzantium was famous for his inventions. This tradition continued in Alexandria with inventors such as the Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria (sometimes known as Heron), whose writings on hydraulics, pneumatics, and mechanics described siphons, a fire engine, a water organ, the aeolipile, and a programmable cart. He had invented the world's first 'cuckoo clock''. Numerous water-powered automata were built by Ktesibios, a Greek inventor and the first head of the Great Library of Alexandria for example, he 'used water to sound a whistle and make a model owl move. The automata in the Hellenistic world were intended as tools, toys, religious spectacles, or prototypes for demonstrating basic scientific principles. In other Greek legends he used quicksilver to install voice in his moving statues. According to Aristotle, Daedalus used quicksilver to make his wooden statue of Aphrodite move. There are many examples of automata in Greek mythology: Hephaestus created automata for his workshop Talos was an artificial man of bronze King Alkinous of the Phaiakians employed gold and silver watchdogs. According to Egyptian lore, pharaoh Hatshepsut dispatched her squadron to the 'Land of Incense' after consulting with the statue of Amun. The statues would reply with a movement of the head. In the New Kingdom of Egypt, from the 16th century BC until the 11th century BC, ancient Egyptians would frequently consult these statues for advice. They were believed to have a soul (a kꜣ), derived from the divinity they represented. In ancient Egyptian legends, statues of divinities, mostly made of stone, metal or wood, were animated and played a key role in religious ceremonies. History Ancient The book About automata by Hero of Alexandria (1589 edition) It is more often used to describe non-electronic moving machines, especially those that have been made to resemble human or animal actions, such as the jacks on old public striking clocks, or the cuckoo and any other animated figures on a cuckoo clock. This word was first used by Homer to describe an automatic door opening, or automatic movement of wheeled tripods. The word 'automaton' is the latinization of the Ancient Greek αὐτόματον, automaton, (neuter) 'acting of one's own will'. The term has long been commonly associated with automated puppets that resemble moving humans or animals, built to impress and/or to entertain people.Īnimatronics are a modern type of automata with electronics, often used for the portrayal of characters or creatures in films and in theme park attractions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers in mechanical clocks, are designed to give the illusion to the casual observer that they are operating under their own power or will, like a mechanical robot.

A postulated interior of the Duck of Vaucanson (1738–1739) Pinocchio automatonĪn automaton ( / ɔː ˈ t ɒ m ə t ən/ PL: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. For Automata, see Automata (disambiguation). For other uses, see Automaton (disambiguation). This article is about a self-operating machine.

Gossamer automaton