![]() While not as impressive as the ancient accounts-some of which claimed the bird could fly as far as 200 meters-such a device would still represent one of history’s earliest automatons. When the air was released, it may have caused the bird’s wings to flap and triggered a counterweight, which lifted the automaton from one perch to another and gave the impression of flight. Most assume that the free flying dove described by the ancients was actually a hollow decoy filled with compressed air and connected to a pulley system. No schematics or prototypes of the bird have survived to today, so modern scholars can only guess as to how it functioned. Sometime around 350 B.C., Archytas is said to have designed and built an air or steam-powered wooden dove that was capable of flapping its wings and flying through the air. Archytas’ DoveĪrchytas of Tarentum was a renowned mathematician and politician, but according to some ancient sources, he may also be the grandfather of robotics. Since the pegs on the rotating drum system could be replaced to create different songs, some have argued Al-Jazari’s robot band was one of history’s first programmable computers. The waterborne orchestra operated via a rotating drum with pegs that triggered levers to produce different sounds, and other elements allowed the musicians and crewmen to make realistic body movements. The contraption included a four-piece band-a harpist, a flautist and two drummers-accompanied by a crew of mechanical oarsman who “rowed” the musicians around the lake. According to his “Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices,” published in 1206, he also designed a water-powered automaton orchestra that could float on a lake and provide music during parties. He invented a mechanized wine-servant, water-powered clocks and even a hand-washing machine that automatically offered soap and towels to its user. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Arabic polymath Al-Jazari designed and built some of the Islamic Golden Age’s most astounding mechanical creations. Painting depicting Al-Jazari’s floating band. The 450-year-old device is still operational today, and is held at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The robot can walk in a square pattern mouthing devotionals, nodding its head and occasionally beating its chest with its right arm and kissing a rosary and cross with its left. Working together, these elements give the impression of a monk deep in prayer. Artificial feet step up and down to imitate walking, and the friar’s eyes, lips and head all move in lifelike gestures. Completed sometime in the 1560s, Turriano’s 15-inch-tall automaton is powered by a wound spring and uses an assortment of iron cams and levers to move on three small wheels concealed beneath its monk’s robe. When the Prince recovered, Phillip II commissioned a clockmaker and inventor named Juanelo Turriano to build a lifelike recreation of beloved Franciscan friar Diego de Alcalá (later Saint Diego). According to legend, Phillip II’s son and heir suffered a head injury, and the King vowed to the heavens that he would deliver a miracle if the boy were spared. The 16th century “mechanical monk” may have been the result of King Phillip II of Spain keeping up his end of a holy bargain.
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