The Automaton: The Clock’s Playful Relative

When a cuckoo clock strikes a small set of doors opens and a little bird comes out. The bird tweets in relation to the hour. With more elaborate clocks, the doors open and a pair of dancing figures come out and twirl. There’s a whole host of little mechanical additions to clocks. We might take note of them when we see them, but they’re so common that we no longer question them.

Automata are the cousins of the clock. They’re the playful side of workaholic clocks that diligently mark the hour, minute, and second of the day. When most people think of automata, they think of the devices that came out of the heyday of automaton gadgets. The devices that were made during the times between 1860 and 1920 are definitely not to be dismissed – these are truly wonderful creations! And we’re going to introduce you to some of the all-time classic automata in this blog post.

Some of these are very complex pieces of automata. One piece is held in high regard at the Franklin Institute. Henri Maillardet created a marvelous automaton. The device is called the “Draughtsman-Writer” and a little French “doll” operates a pen. The “doll” will draw one of four pictures or write one of three poems. To power it, there are three main springs. On one side the operator would use the key to wind two of the springs and on the other side the operator would wind another spring. The pictures the automaton draws aren’t simple stick figures. One picture is of a majestic ship with full sails, rough waters, and even tiny crewmen. This automaton was created in the early 1800’s and toured the world until 1833. Perhaps this wondrous device sparked the imaginations that created the heyday.

Automata aren’t modern machines. Homer described automata in his epic the Iliad. The great inventors of Alexandria created many amazing devices. Heron would create entire mechanical theaters. The miniature theater would roll out itself before an audience, raise its own curtain, and tiny mechanical actors would act out an entire play. One such play was the tragedy the Nauplius. The early automata used weights to power the mechanics. Grain or sand would move hidden levels and gears.

Come the third century A.D, Alexandria was in decline. At this time scientific and creative endeavors came to be dominated by the Arabs. In the realm of automata the Banu Musa brothers dominated the scene. They devised practical mechanical devices that would automatically raise a wick or refill lighting oil. They also produced novelty automata. One such automaton was of a pond of mercury that carried golden boats. Around this pond were mechanical beasts that would sound out, tweet, and roar. I can only imagine the beauty of a glistening fluid pool of silver supporting golden boats!

Another Iraqi genius followed upon the heels of the Banu Musa brothers. The horologist and automata inventor al-Jazari created clocks with various puppets that marked the passage time in a variety of ways. Some puppets would strike instruments and some clocks involved birds that would drops pebbles onto cymbals. The most famous of al-Jazari’s creations is known as the Elephant Clock. Standing 8.5 meters tall, the Elephant Clock or Elephant Water Clock.

The Elephant Clock is a highly elaborate and ingenious clock automaton consisting of a large elephant figure which a chair on its back. The chair then carries a citadel with a dome on top of it. Furthermore, there are mechanized, birds, snakes and a clerk figure (of a man) holding a pencil. All of these figures on top of the elephant move mechanically with the passage of time!

There are two pieces of automata that have a bit of mystery and scandal behind them. The oldest is “The South-Pointing Carriage“. This carriage has a base of two wheels and a figure on top that always points south. At first people thought “The South-Pointing Carriage” was created in the twenty-third century B.C., but it has been dated to third century A.D. The carriage was also believed to operate with magnetism to keep the figure pointing south like an inverse compass. That is not the case. This figure always points south due to the mechanical gears. The gears on the axel are probably one of the first uses of “differential gears”. The figure, the gears, and the wheels had to be crafted to exacting standards. The smallest error would have resulted in the pointing figure being off by a single degree; and thus, travelers would be off course in just a few miles.

The second automaton that has a bit of controversy is known by several names: The Turk, or The Mechanical Turk. However it is referred to, this automaton was a Turkish character who played chess! Constructed in the 18th century by Wolfgang von Kempelen, the Mechanical Turk is a mechanical illusion and automaton both. “The Turk” was presented to the world as a mechanical device that could play chess. Human challengers often fell to the genius of this mechanical device. It debuted in 1770 and in 1820 Robert Willis revealed that it was a hoax. There were complex mechanical gears and whatnot, but the chess winning prowess was actually “powered” by a human hidden the base. The original “The Turk” was destroyed in a fire in 1854, but there’s a highly detailed replica today. One interesting point to note is that Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Marketplace has obviously been named after this famous automaton device. And, if you’ve ever read about what Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service is and what it does, I think you’ll agree that they chose an excellent name for it!

What is this obsession we have anthropomorphizing machines?

Why do humans create dolls that look like us and then give them a mechanical means to move like us?

As our technology has advanced, we’ve moved from brass barrels to microchips.

We’re now no longer happy with simply mimicking our movements; instead, through advancements in Artificial Intelligence, we’re trying to mimic our own sentience.

Sometimes this is a bit creepy and sometimes it’s completely fascinating.

But for us, the makers of the world’s first Online Alarm Clock website, the early, classic Automaton Gadgets will always hold a special place in our hearts and, we hope, in yours, too!

Tags: al-Jazari, artificial intelligence, automata, automaton, automaton gadgets, Banu Musa brothers, Chess Playing Turk, clocks, Draughtsman-Writer, Elephant Water Clock, Henri Maillardet, machines, The Mechanical Turk, The South-Pointing Carriage, The Turk, Wolfgang von Kempelen