1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody Happy Saturday. Okay, Drew confession Uh. In part 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: because there is a new Star Wars movie, I have 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: droids on the brain really bad, So it seemed like 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: a good time to revisit an episode about mankind's early 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: attempts at automota. This episode from looks at five different 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: historical inventions that very loosely fall into the discussion of 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: early robotics. Welcome to Stuff you missed in History class 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: from house stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson Fan. 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: I'm willing to bet Tracy that when you hear the 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: term or robot, uh, you think of things like Honda's 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: Asimo or the I Robot roomba that might tutor around 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: the house tidying up floors. I think of the bad 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: Robot TV placard Yeah from J. J. Abrams production Company. Um, 15 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: but there were actually way long before check playright. Carol 16 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: Kapok coined the term robot in his Are You Are, 17 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: which did for Rassam's Universal robots. Uh. There were mechanized 18 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: creations automata that were being created without electronics or computers, 19 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 1: and many were you know, fairly simple, but they really 20 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: paved the way for robots of today. So if you 21 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: do a search for first robot or earliest robot online, 22 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: you're probably going to find all kinds of different conflicting answers. 23 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: Some of them are philosophical, some of them are mythological, 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: and some of them are religious. Uh. We know that 25 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: clockwork devices go back many, many, many years, but most 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: historians on the subject are not really eager to pinpoint 27 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: which exact one was first. Yeah, there's there are too 28 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: many possible answers because there are some of the logical 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: ones that aren't necessarily supported with hard evidence. Those ones 30 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: are a little bit tricky. Some people even refer to 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: like the Biblical story of creation as kind of a 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: first um, almost robotics experiment sort of thing. Uh So there, 33 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: it's really hard. I mean, you get into a big 34 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: philosophical debate with people if you say this was the 35 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: first robot we know about for sure, because they're like, 36 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: there's some other options. Yeah, so you want to do that. 37 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: Some of them are so far back in history that 38 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: the substantiation for them is just not add percent clear, right, 39 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: And we're going to look back at the early history 40 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of mechanized beings and clockworks and steampowered mini marvels. So 41 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: you're not gonna hear us talk about the DARPA Big 42 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: Dog or the Mars Curiosity rover. We're going incredibly old 43 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: school with this list, so nothing past the late seventeen hundreds, 44 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: and we have just selected five for the sake of 45 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: podcast length, But of course that means leaves out many 46 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: many others, because there really are many more examples of 47 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: this than I think many people realize. So think of 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: this as just a sampling of some of mankind's ventures 49 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: into automated beings. And really I'm telling a fib when 50 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: I say it's five, it's sort of five instances, but 51 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: some of them feature more than one automata. So it's 52 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: going to be fun. We're fludging our numbers, but we're 53 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: doing it with a good heart. Yes uh. And we're 54 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: going to start with one that is not easily substantiated. 55 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: We're going off of one text, but it's important, and 56 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: that's Yan Cheese Automated Man. So the first one is 57 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: in China. The reference to it can be found in 58 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: a third century b C. Taoist text, and the course 59 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: of this text a story is told of King Mu 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: of Chew, who reigned from b C. E. In it, 61 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: this so called artifice are presents an automated man. To 62 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: the king and his book Science and Civilization in China, 63 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: Volume two, writer Joseph Needham quotes a translate text about 64 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: this automa time, and in his quote he says, the 65 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with 66 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that 67 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: anyone would have taken it for a live human being. 68 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing perfectly 69 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, 70 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: keeping perfect time. As the performance was drawing to an end, 71 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: the robot winked its eye and made advances to the 72 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would 73 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: have had Yan she executed on the spot, had not. 74 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: The latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to 75 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: pieces to let him see what it really was, and 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: indeed it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue, 77 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: and lacquer variously colored white, black, red, and blue. Examining 78 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 1: it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete, liver, 79 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: gall heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach, and intestines. And over 80 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: these again muscles, bones, and limbs with their points, skin, teeth, 81 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,039 Speaker 1: and hair, all of them artificial. The king tried the 82 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: effect of taking away the heart and found that the 83 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: mouth could no longer speak. He took away the liver, 84 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: and the eyes could no longer see. He took away 85 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: the kidneys, and the legs lost their power of locomotion. 86 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: The king was delighted. So, and that's an often referred 87 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: to text when people talk about the history of robots. 88 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: And we don't have evident, hard evidence of this automaton, 89 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: but it's significant that it would have been mentioned in 90 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: a historical Daoist text that refers back seven hundred years. Uh. 91 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: It evidences this fascination with mechanical beings going away, way 92 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: way back in the ancient history, so early. Yeah, I 93 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: would be delighted too if I were the king, who 94 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: would not. Uh So that's our first one, and the 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: second one is a little more recent than that. This 96 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: one was a pigeon created by archiitis of tarentum and 97 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: archeitis was born around b C. In a Greek control 98 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: territory that's now part of southern Italy. He was a 99 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: very accomplished man. He was a philosopher, a mathematician, an astronomer, 100 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: a statesman, and a commander in chief. And sometimes he 101 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: gets called the father of mechanics. He's said to be 102 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: the most advanced of the Pythagorean mathematicians, and he classified 103 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: mathematics into four divisions geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. He 104 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: was really influential in his time, and Architis also influenced 105 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: the work of Plato and Aristotle. In fact, he said 106 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 1: to have rescued Plato from Dionysius the second. But historians 107 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: are generally pretty quick to point out that the relationship 108 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: between Plato and Architis was a complex one. It was 109 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: pretty complicated. They had similar stances on many philosophical issues, 110 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: but they also had some pretty obvious disagreements. But for 111 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: today's interest, the accomplishment of Architis that's the most relevant 112 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: is a mechanical bird. This bird, which he called simply 113 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: the pigeon, was suspended at the end of a pivoting 114 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: ball are it moved in revolutions around the bar, either 115 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: using a jet of steam or compressed air. And while 116 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: the bird, which was created somewhere between four hundred and 117 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: three fifty b C. Is often listed as a footnote 118 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: to Archiitis's body of work, it's really important to remember 119 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: that he built this mechanism more than two thousand years ago. 120 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: So it was this very simple little robotic pigeon. Yes, 121 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: some people point to it is the first robot and 122 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: recorded history, but as we mentioned earlier, and it's a 123 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: claim that a lot of people are just not willing 124 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: to make for sure about any of these. And now 125 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: there's kind of a big jump to our next one 126 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: because we are getting to Da Vinci, who many people 127 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: know was really interested in mechanics. Uh. And so Leonardo 128 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: was born in April of two. He's one of history's 129 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: most famous men. So we all know his famous paintings 130 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: like the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, and his 131 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: drawings of the Truvian Man. So he's not really a 132 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: mystery to anyone who has even a passing knowledge of history. 133 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: Late in his life, in fifteen fifteen, he created this 134 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: Automata Lion, allegedly to present to King France wid the 135 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: first the faux feline was said to have walked forward 136 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: toward the king, opened up its chest and revealed a 137 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: cluster of lilies. And while there's some lack of specificity 138 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: about the original lion, UH and Leonardo did not leave 139 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: any sketches of it, he did make detailed sketches of 140 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: the mechanisms that he likely used in its construction, and 141 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: he left some notes as well. And in two thousand nine, 142 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: Renato Boretto, a master builder of automata UH, used those 143 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: sketches and da Vinci's notes and he actually recreated the lion. 144 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: It's really really interesting to watch. You can find video 145 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: of it online and will link to some of it. 146 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: You know, it's kind of sobering to watch this sample 147 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: of robotics that's based on early fifteen hundreds ingenuity, because 148 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 1: it's still a pretty impressive piece today. To see this, 149 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: it almost looks like a giant toy. It's life size, 150 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: but it's you know, carved, so it doesn't look like 151 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: a real lion. But it just it moves along and 152 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: it kind of has wheels and its feet and it 153 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: rolls as its legs move along the floor, and it 154 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: tilts its head side to side, and it's kind of 155 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: mind blowing to me to think that that was designed 156 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: hundreds of years ago. Leonardo also designed a fully automated 157 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: man that was styled to look like an armored knight, 158 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: with a rope and gear mechanism to raise and move 159 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: the limbs, but there's no record of this one actually 160 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: being built. Italian robotics historians have also constructed a machine 161 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: based on these designs. Yeah it um. It can't do 162 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: quite the amount of moving on its own that the 163 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: lion can, which is why we focused on the lion 164 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: for this one. But I thought that the the armored 165 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: man should get at least to mention. And then we 166 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: get to a couple of entries that are really really 167 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: mind blowing. The first is Vokinson's flute player, and like 168 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: I said, this one is uh, kind of a two 169 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: for it's not really just the one. We're going to 170 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: talk about his famous duck automaton as well, which when 171 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: I have mentioned to our colleagues that we were working 172 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: on this podcast, everyone asked about the duck and I 173 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: just kind of shrug. We'll get there. So. Jacques de 174 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: Vokinson was born in Grenoble on February seventeen, o nine, 175 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: and he was the youngest child of ten born to 176 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: a glovemaker and a devout Catholic wife, and the story 177 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: goes that Jacques was obsessed with mechanical things at a 178 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: very young age. He studied with the Jesuits as a youngster. 179 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: He even entered a monastery but the age of sixteen 180 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: as a means of supporting his scientific studies because at 181 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: that point his father was gone and his mother couldn't 182 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: really just pay for him to play in his mechanized world. 183 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: And then later in seventy eight, he left the monastery 184 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: to study medicine and anatomy in Paris, and throughout his 185 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: life Wolkinson was inspired by medical science, and his passion 186 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: for an insight into the workings of anatomy garnered him 187 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: several patrons that supported his work through the years. His 188 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 1: most famous automaton was a gold plated copper duck. And 189 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: what a duck it was. It could do many of 190 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: the things real ducks could do. It could it could 191 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: quack and drink water and flap its wings and mimic 192 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: the digestive process, reminding me of many novelty items owned 193 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: by my grandfather. So yes, it's the famous pooping robot. Duck. 194 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: Everybody knows about. Uh, you know, it's one of those 195 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: like when you go, oh, ancient robots, they go pooping 196 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: robot duck right. Yes. In a letter written to the 197 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: Abbey Defontaine, he wrote, my second machine or automaton is 198 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: a duck in which I represent the mechanism of the 199 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: intestines which are employed in the operations of eating, drinking, 200 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: and digestion, where in the working of all the parts 201 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: necessary for these actions is exactly imitated. The duck stretches 202 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: out its neck to take corn out of your hand. 203 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: It swallows, it, digests it, and discharges it digested by 204 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: the usual passage. And I feel compelled to know it 205 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: didn't actually digested it. There was no chemical breakdown of 206 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: whatever you handed it. You could hand it buttons and 207 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: it would those would pass through its automated little system. 208 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: And I think when modern ears here they think of 209 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: it as this cookie novelty thing. But really he was 210 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: trying to represent a full um anatomical being. Like to him, 211 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: it was more about the science of and study of, 212 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: you know, biology, than it was like, Look, my duck poops, right, 213 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: not so much to be something you would buy in 214 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,839 Speaker 1: the back of a spencer gift, but that duck was 215 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: actually created to boost attendance at an exhibit of another 216 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: of Vokinson's works, which was his Automatic Flute Player. The 217 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: flute Player was allegedly conceived in a fevered state while 218 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: he was ill. A famous marble statue by sculpt or 219 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: Antoine Koiservo was the inspiration for the shape of the figure, 220 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: although Kanson's version was made of wood and then painted 221 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: to look like marble, and this figure was five point 222 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: five feet tall, which is about one point seven meters 223 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: uh and in the modern book Living Dolls The Magical 224 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: History of the Question Mechanical Life Gabby Wood rights of 225 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: the Mechanical Flute Player, nine bellows were attached to three 226 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: separate pipes that led into the chest of the figure. 227 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: Each set of three bellows was attached to a different 228 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: weight to give out varying degrees of air, and then 229 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: all pipes joined into a single one equivalent to a trachea, 230 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: continuing up through the throat and widening to form the 231 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: cavity of the mouth. The lips, which bore upon the 232 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: whole of the flute, could open and close and move 233 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: backwards or forwards. Inside the mouth was a movable metal 234 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: tongue which governed the airflow and created pauses. This automaton breathed, 235 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: which is cool. It's really cool. Um. It's an incredibly 236 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: complex design. And of course, uh, you know, the flute 237 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: is a hard instrument to play when you're an actual human, 238 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: so he had to do something tricky, yes, So, borrowing 239 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,079 Speaker 1: from his family's roots, he gave the flute player's hands 240 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,719 Speaker 1: a skin covering to mimic the soft touch that you 241 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: need to play a flute. That's a tricky instrumental master 242 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: even for people, and his macanoid minstrel could play twelve 243 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: different tunes. And this flute player went on display on 244 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: February eleventh of seventy eight, and the cost of entry 245 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: to see this marvel was roughly equivalent to a week's 246 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: worth of wages for the average manual laborer. So this 247 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: was a serious money maker because people were paying that 248 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: to go see it. I mean it was too fantastical 249 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: to skip, uh, which is why when the attendants fell off, 250 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: Volkinson added the duck to the exhibit, as well as 251 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: another piece called the Tambourine Player, in an effort to 252 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: bring audiences back and keep the money flowing. He sold 253 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: off his mechanical aations in seventeen forty one and at 254 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: that point became France's inspector of silk manufacturer. His adventures 255 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: in that job could really be their own podcast, they 256 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: really could. He really sort of revolutionized looms. Um. But 257 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: the flute player and the other automata changed hands several times, 258 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: and the flute player was last seen in the possession 259 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: of Gottfried Christoph Barres, doctor to the Duke of Brunswick, 260 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: and then he disappeared from history after the doctor's death. 261 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: The duck turned up a couple more times, and uh, 262 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: there are allegedly there are pictures of it or something 263 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: that's very much like it that you can find online. 264 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: But the flute player, we don't. We don't know where 265 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: it landed. Just a pity because I would really love 266 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: to see how that works. And then for our final 267 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: entry in our list of five instances, there are actually 268 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: three pieces in this but uh, they're quite marvelous. Yes, 269 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: they're the work of Pierre Jacquedras, who was born on 270 00:15:54,560 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: July seventy one in Switzerland. His family was primarily involved 271 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: in two modes of employment, farming and watchmaking, and In 272 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: seventeen thirty eight, Jacque Edras opened up his own watch 273 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: shop in le Cha Defont, and initially he specialized in 274 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: pendulum clocks, but eventually he turned his attention to automated 275 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: mechanisms and eventually began to sell small automeda to a 276 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: special clients. I also feel like we should mentioned that 277 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: he is It's kind of a side note, but he's 278 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: often credited with creating the wristwatch, so he was very 279 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: much into shrinking mechanisms down, which plays into his work 280 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: in Automeda. In seventeen seventy four, he and his son 281 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: Henri Louis, and a clockmaker Jean Frederic les Show presented 282 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: their three creations, which are still considered to be marvels 283 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: of mechanical engineering. The musician is the first one, and 284 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: it's a female and um, she plays an organ, and 285 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: it's not an actual organ, it's a custom instrument that 286 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: looks like an organ, and she will bow at the 287 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: end of her performances. Uh. And she plays five different 288 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: tunes and the mechanical works are actually all concealed neath 289 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: her gown. But her fingers move super briskly and they 290 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: tap along at the instrument's keys, and it's really quite 291 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: something to watch. The draftsman can draw floor pictures, and 292 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: he'll also blow dust and graphite off of his page. 293 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: The Draftsman looks more like a little boy, and he 294 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: looks almost identical to the third one, which is an 295 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: automaton that people sort of hold in this extremely high 296 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: regard because it's really quite a marvel. It's called the Writer, 297 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: and it's um to my mind and I think the 298 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: mind of many other others that study this subject. It's 299 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: the most impressive of the three because he can write 300 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: as many as forty letters in sequence, and because he 301 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: has built with a series of coded gears in his 302 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 1: back that can be moved, he can actually be programmed 303 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: to write new sequences. His messages aren't static, uh, and 304 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: he'll dip his pen in an ink well so that 305 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: ink needs to be refreshed whenever he writes, and he 306 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: carefully scrawls out the program message onto paper, and his 307 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: eyes actually follow his pen as he's working, which is 308 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: sort of amazing and wonderful. The fact that this one 309 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: can be programmed to do different things would probably put 310 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: him higher on the list in like the Nitpickers list 311 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: of robots, because one of in terms of today's terminology, 312 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,719 Speaker 1: one of the hallmarks of robotics is that these are 313 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: programmable things, not just things that work on like a 314 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: remote control or some kind of tether. Yeah. Uh and 315 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,199 Speaker 1: Jacket Drows would take these automoda around with him on 316 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 1: tour while he was visiting wealthy families and he would, 317 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: you know, have them do their little activities and show off, 318 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: and then he would use those charms to sell his 319 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: high end watches and smaller automoda to his elite clientele. 320 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: And he would also book them into hotel rooms and 321 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: then charge admission for people just come and see them. 322 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 1: And the Jaquet Draws name is still famous for its watches. Um. 323 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,640 Speaker 1: Just as Paul Party, who we discussed in a previous podcast, 324 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: brought branding into fashion houses, Jacque Drows did a similar thing, 325 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: and he understood the idea of building a brand in 326 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: his industry, and his touring automata were part of that brand. Today, 327 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,719 Speaker 1: this trio lives in the Museum of Art and History 328 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: in Switzerland and they all still work, which is a 329 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: testament to the extraordinary engineering and skill that went into 330 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: their creation. Yeah, those are other ones that you can 331 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: see lots of video footage of online you know, people 332 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 1: carefully programming them, and I've noticed in some of them 333 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: the writer he's a little um squeaky. In some points 334 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: they had to scoot the paper along form a little 335 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: bit because the paper actually gets kind of moved on 336 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: this little um carrier that goes back and forth underneath 337 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: his hands. But generally he's still I mean, they're all 338 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: still in great working order and pretty amazing, and I 339 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: feel like, um, we should mention as we wrap up, 340 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: we're not going to talk about this one, but uh, 341 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: I know people will ask why we didn't include it, 342 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: which is the katakui Ningio, which are Japanese automeda uh 343 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: that are generally referenced from like sixteenth through early nineteenth century, 344 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: and I really think they deserve their own podcasts, so 345 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: stay tuned. It would be weird to talk about robots 346 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: and not mentioned Japan at Also I wanted to make 347 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: sure we at least pointed those out. Uh. They also 348 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: kind of go past the point in history where we 349 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: wanted to do the cut off so much the early 350 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: it's a little later than early. Some of it's in 351 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: this realm that I was talking about, but it goes 352 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: on a little bit further, and there are many different types, 353 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,120 Speaker 1: and I feel like they just they deserve their own 354 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: whole little discussion because they're really quite amazing. But uh, 355 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: those are, like I said, a little sampling of historical 356 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: robotics and automoeda that I just I think it's sort 357 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: of beautiful and wonderful that going back these thousands of years, 358 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: we've always been obsessed with creating sort of mechanized versions 359 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: of ourselves and other natural elements of world, right, and 360 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: a lot of these to remind me of stuff that 361 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: happened much later, or things that that later would not 362 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: have been quite so impressive, like the Um you look 363 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,639 Speaker 1: at the movie Hugo and the book that it was 364 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: based off of, like that was a much more recent 365 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,719 Speaker 1: era of of clockworks and steam based things and automata 366 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: that could write things. Um, and this predates those sort 367 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: of things by some hundreds of years. Yeah, it's very 368 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: very cool. So that's historical robots will hopefully do more 369 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: perhaps in the future, in addition of the Japanese ones, 370 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,360 Speaker 1: because robots are awesome, They're really cool. I also, as 371 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: as we're reading this, I just like every description sort 372 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,439 Speaker 1: of could have ended with the sentence, and then they 373 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: all came to life and the doctor had to come 374 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: and save us. Thank you so much for joining us 375 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 1: for this Saturday classic. Since this is out of the archive, 376 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address at Facebook, U r 377 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: L or something similar during the course of the show, 378 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: that may be obsolete now, so here is our current 379 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: contact information. We are at history Podcasts at how stuff 380 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: works dot com, and then we're at Missed in the History. 381 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: All over social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, 382 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 383 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.