Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{Distinguish2|[[automation]] as a process}}
{{About|a self-operating machine|other uses|Automaton (disambiguation)|Automata|Automata (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:TeaAutomatAndMechanism.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Tea-serving Japanese automaton, "[[karakuri ningyō]]", with mechanism (right), 19th century.]]
An '''automaton''' ({{IPAc-en|ɔː|ˈ|t|ɒ|m|ə|t|ən}}; plural: '''automata''' or '''automatons''') is a self-operating [[machine]], or a machine or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a predetermined sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.<ref name="definition">Automaton - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/automaton</ref> Some automata, such as [[Jacquemart (bellstriker)|bellstrikers]] in mechanical clocks, are designed to give the illusion to the casual observer that they are operating under their own power.
==Etymology==
The word "automaton" is the latinization of the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|αὐτόματον}}, ''automaton'', (neuter) "acting of one's own will". This word was first used by [[Homer]] to describe automatic door opening,<ref>Homer, [[Iliad]], 5.749</ref> or automatic movement of wheeled tripods.<ref>Homer, Iliad, 18.376</ref> 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 [[clock]]s, or the [[cuckoo]] and any other animated figures on a [[cuckoo clock]].
==History==
===Ancient===
[[File:Hero - De automatis, 1589 - 116959.jpg|thumb|The book ''About automata'' by [[Hero of Alexandria]] (1589 edition)]]
There are many examples of automata in [[Greek mythology]]: [[Hephaestus]] created automata for his workshop;<ref>
Him she found sweating with toil as he moved to and fro about his bellows in eager haste; for he was fashioning tripods, twenty in all, to stand around the wall of his well-builded hall, and golden wheels had he set beneath the base of each that of themselves they might enter the gathering of the gods at his wish and again return to his house, a wonder to behold.
''Homer, Iliad'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=2913D2E6859ACE9A00183F942240BD9E?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D18%3Acard%3D360 18. 371]</ref> [[Talos]] was an artificial man of bronze; [[Daedalus]] used [[mercury (element)|quicksilver]] to install voice in his moving statues; King [[Alkinous]] of the [[Phaiakian#The palace of King Alkinoös|Phaiakians]] employed gold and silver watchdogs.<ref>The automatones of Greek Mythology [http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Automotones.html online] at the ''Theoi Project''.</ref><ref>Hyginus. Astronomica 2.1</ref>
The automata in the [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic world]] were intended as tools, toys, religious idols, or prototypes for demonstrating basic scientific principles. 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. He had invented the world's first "cuckoo" clock"''.<ref>This "first cuckoo clock" was further stated and described in the 2007 book ''The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World'' by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid on page 132: ''"Soon Ctesibius's clocks were smothered in stopcocks and valves, controlling a host of devices from bells to puppets to mechanical doves that sang to mark the passing of each hour - the very first cuckoo clock!"''</ref> This tradition continued in Alexandria with inventors such as the [[Greek mathematics|Greek]] mathematician [[Hero of Alexandria]] (sometimes known as Heron), whose writings on [[hydraulics]], [[pneumatics]], and [[mechanics]] described [[siphon]]s, a [[Fire apparatus|fire engine]], a [[water organ]], the [[aeolipile]], and a programmable cart.<ref>{{citation |title=A programmable robot from 60 AD |author=Noel Sharkey|publisher=New Scientist|url=https://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/07/programmable-robot-from-60ad.html|date= July 4, 2007 |volume=2611}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.2307/2846790 | issn = 0038-7134 | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 477–487 | last = Brett | first = Gerard | title = The Automata in the Byzantine "Throne of Solomon" | journal = Speculum| date = July 1954 | postscript = . | jstor = 2846790 }}</ref>
[[File:NAMA Machine d'Anticythère 1.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Antikythera mechanism]] from 150–100 BC was designed to calculate the positions of astronomical objects.]]
Complex mechanical devices are known to have existed in [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic Greece]], though the only surviving example is the [[Antikythera mechanism]], the earliest known [[analog computer]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harry Henderson|title=Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Tla6d153uwC&pg=PA13|accessdate=28 May 2013|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1003-5|page=13|quote=The earliest known analog computing device is the Antikythera mechanism. }}</ref> It 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 animated figures stand
:Adorning every public street
:And seem to breathe in stone, or
:move their marble feet.
However, the information gleaned from recent scans of the fragments indicate that it may have come from the colonies of [[Corinth]] in [[Sicily]] and implies a connection with [[Archimedes]].
According to [[Judaism|Jewish legend]], [[Solomon]] used his wisdom to design a [[Solomon#Throne|throne]] with mechanical animals which hailed him as king when he ascended it; upon sitting down an eagle would place a crown upon his head, and a dove would bring him a [[Torah]] scroll. It's also said that when King Solomon stepped upon the throne, a mechanism was set in motion. As soon as he stepped upon the first step, a golden ox and a golden lion each stretched out one foot to support him and help him rise to the next step. On each side, the animals helped the King up until he was comfortably seated upon the throne.<ref>http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/1345/jewish/King-Solomons-Throne.htm</ref>
In [[History of China#Ancient era|ancient China]], a curious account of automata is found in the [[Lie Zi]] text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it there is a description of a much earlier encounter between [[King Mu of Zhou]] (1023-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork:
<blockquote>
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 [Yan Shi] 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 coloured 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.<ref name="needham volume 2 53">Needham, Volume 2, 53.</ref>
</blockquote>
Other notable examples of automata include [[Archytas]]'s dove, mentioned by [[Aulus Gellius]].<ref>''Noct. Att. L.'' 10</ref> Similar Chinese accounts of flying automata are written of the 5th century BC [[Mohism|Mohist]] philosopher [[Mozi]] and his contemporary [[Lu Ban]], who made artificial wooden birds (''ma yuan'') that could successfully fly according to the ''Han Fei Zi'' and other texts.<ref name="needham volume 2 54">Needham, Volume 2, 54.</ref>
===Medieval===
{{Cite check|section|date=January 2012}}
The manufacturing tradition of automata continued in the Greek world well into the Middle Ages. On his visit to [[Constantinople]] in 949 ambassador [[Liutprand of Cremona]] described automata in the emperor [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilos]]' palace, including
<blockquote>"lions, made either of bronze or wood covered with gold, which struck the ground with their tails and roared with open mouth and quivering tongue," "a tree of gilded bronze, its branches filled with birds, likewise made of bronze gilded over, and these emitted cries appropriate to their species" and "the emperor’s throne" itself, which "was made in such a cunning manner that at one moment it was down on the ground, while at another it rose higher and was to be seen up in the air."<ref name="Safran1998">{{cite book |title=Heaven on Earth: Art and the Church in Byzantium |last=Safran |first=Linda |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1998 |publisher=Penn State Press |location=Pittsburgh |isbn=0-271-01670-1 |page=30 |url= }} Records Liutprand's description.</ref></blockquote>
Similar automata in the throne room (singing birds, roaring and moving lions) were described by Luitprand's contemporary [[Constantine Porphyrogenitus]], who later became emperor, in his book ''[[De Ceremoniis|Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως]]''.
In the mid-8th century, the first [[wind power]]ed automata were built: "statues that turned with the wind over the domes of the four gates and the palace complex of the Round City of [[Baghdad]]". The "public spectacle of wind-powered statues had its private counterpart in the '[[Abbasid]] palaces where automata of various types were predominantly displayed."<ref>{{citation|title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |volume=2 |first=Josef W. |last=Meri |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-415-96690-6 |page=711}}</ref> Also in the 8th century, the [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Muslim alchemist]], [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] (Geber), included recipes for constructing artificial [[snake]]s, [[scorpion]]s, and [[human]]s that would be subject to their creator's control in his coded ''Book of Stones''. In 827, [[Caliph]] [[Al-Ma'mun]] had a silver and golden tree in his palace in [[Baghdad]], which had the features of an automatic machine. There were metal birds that sang automatically on the swinging branches of this tree built by [[Inventions of the Islamic Golden Age|Muslim inventors]] and [[Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world|engineers]].<ref>Ismail b. Ali Ebu'l Feda history, Weltgeschichte, hrsg. von Fleischer and Reiske 1789-94, 1831.</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2012}} The [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] Caliph [[Al-Muqtadir]] also had a golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 915, with birds on it flapping their wings and singing.<ref>A. Marigny (1760). ''Histoire de Arabes''. [[Paris]], Bd. 3, S.206.</ref> In the 9th century, the [[Banū Mūsā]] brothers invented a [[Program (machine)|programmable]] automatic [[flute]] player and which they described in their ''[[Book of Ingenious Devices]]''.<ref name=Koetsier>{{cite journal |last1=Koetsier |first1=Teun |year=2001 |title=On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators |journal=Mechanism and Machine Theory |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=589–603 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2}}</ref>
[[Image:CIMA mg 8332.jpg|thumb|Automaton in the [[Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art|Swiss Museum CIMA]].]]
[[File:cima automaton.ogv|thumb|right|An automaton writing a letter in Swiss Museum CIMA.]]
[[Al-Jazari]] described complex programmable [[Humanoid robot|humanoid automata]] amongst other machines he designed and constructed in the ''Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices'' in 1206.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} His automaton was a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His [[Mechanism (engineering)|mechanism]] had a programmable drum machine with pegs ([[cam]]s) that bump into little [[lever]]s that operate the [[Percussion instrument|percussion]]. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and drum patterns if the pegs were moved around.<ref>[http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html A 13th Century Programmable Robot] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629182810/http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html |date=June 29, 2007 }}, [[University of Sheffield]]</ref> According to Charles B. Fowler, the automata were a "robot [[Musical ensemble|band]]" which performed "more than fifty facial and body actions during each musical selection."<ref>{{citation|title=The Museum of Music: A History of Mechanical Instruments |first=Charles B.|last=Fowler|journal=Music Educators Journal|volume=54|issue=2|date=October 1967|pages=45–49|doi=10.2307/3391092|publisher=MENC_ The National Association for Music Education|jstor=3391092}}</ref>
Al-Jazari constructed a [[hand washing]] automaton first employing the flush mechanism now used in modern [[flush toilet|toilet]]s. It features a female automaton standing by a [[Sink|basin]] filled with water. When the user pulls the lever, the water drains and the automaton refills the basin.<ref>{{citation|title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics |first=Mark E. |last=Rosheim |year=1994 |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |isbn=0-471-02622-0 |pages=9–10}} also at [https://books.google.com/books?id=IxtL54iiDPUC&lpg=PP1&ots=3QqGkatkH9&dq=Rosheim%2C%20Mark%20E.%20(1994)%2C%20Robot%20Evolution%3A%20The%20Development%20of%20Anthrobotics&hl=en&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books]</ref> His "peacock fountain" was another more sophisticated hand washing device featuring humanoid automata as [[Domestic worker|servant]]s who offer [[soap]] and [[towel]]s. Mark E. Rosheim describes it as follows: "Pulling a plug on the peacock's tail releases water out of the beak; as the dirty water from the basin fills the hollow base a float rises and actuates a [[Linkage (mechanical)|linkage]] which makes a servant figure appear from behind a door under the peacock and offer soap. When more water is used, a second float at a higher level trips and causes the appearance of a second servant figure — with a towel!"<ref name=Rosheim>{{citation|title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics |first=Mark E. |last=Rosheim |year=1994 |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |isbn=0-471-02622-0 |page=9}} also at [https://books.google.com/books?id=IxtL54iiDPUC&lpg=PP1&ots=3QqGkatkH9&dq=Rosheim%2C%20Mark%20E.%20(1994)%2C%20Robot%20Evolution%3A%20The%20Development%20of%20Anthrobotics&hl=en&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books]</ref> Al-Jazari thus appears to have been the first inventor to display an interest in creating human-like machines for practical purposes such as manipulating the environment for human comfort.<ref>{{citation |title=Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics |first=Mark E. |last=Rosheim |year=1994 |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |isbn=0-471-02622-0 |page=36}}</ref>
[[Villard de Honnecourt]], in his 1230s sketchbook, show plans for animal automata and an angel that perpetually turns to face the sun. At the end of the thirteenth century, [[Robert II, Count of Artois]] built a pleasure garden at his castle at Hesdin that incorporated several automata as entertainment in the walled park. The work was conducted by local workmen and overseen by the Italian knight Renaud Coignet. It included monkey marionettes, a sundial supported by lions and "wild men", mechanized birds, mechanized fountains and a bellows-operated organ. The park was famed for its automata well into the fifteenth century before it was destroyed by English soldiers in the sixteenth.<ref name="The Garden of Earthly Delights: Mahaut of Artois and the Automata at Hesdin, Elly R. Truitt">http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1850&context=mff</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Landsberg |first=Sylvia |title=The Medieval Garden |year=1995 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=New York |pages=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Macdougall |first=Elisabeth B |title=Medieval Gardens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6lciEEzyZ8C&lpg=PA125&ots=CmsyjP-KKJ&dq=hesdin%20AND%20(park%20OR%20gardens)%20Robert&pg=PA127#v=onepage&q=hesdin%20AND%20(park%20OR%20gardens)%20Robert&f=false |publisher=Google Books |accessdate=19 July 2012}}</ref>
The Chinese author Xiao Xun wrote that when the [[Ming Dynasty]] founder [[Hongwu Emperor|Hongwu]] (r. 1368–1398) was destroying the palaces of [[Khanbaliq]] belonging to the previous [[Yuan Dynasty]], there were—among many other mechanical devices—automata found that were in the shape of tigers.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 133 508">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 133 & 508.</ref>
===Renaissance and early modern===
[[File:Cuckoo strikes the 8th hour.ogv|thumb|right|A [[cuckoo clock]] with a built in automaton of a [[cuckoo]] that flaps its wings and opens its beak in time to the sounds of the cuckoo call to mark the number of hours on the analogue dial.]]
[[File:Elephant Automaton at Waddesdon Manor.jpg|left|thumb|Elephant automaton at [[Waddesdon Manor]]]]
The [[Renaissance]] witnessed a considerable revival of interest in automata. Hero's treatises were edited and translated into Latin and Italian. [[Giovanni Fontana (engineer)|Giovanni Fontana]] created mechanical devils and rocket-propelled animal automata. Numerous clockwork automata were manufactured in the 16th century, principally by the goldsmiths of the [[Free imperial city|Free Imperial Cities]] of central Europe. These wondrous devices found a home in the [[cabinet of curiosities]] or ''Wunderkammern'' of the princely courts of Europe. Hydraulic and pneumatic automata, similar to those described by Hero, were created for garden [[grotto]]es.
[[Leonardo da Vinci]] sketched a more complex automaton around the year 1495. The design of [[Leonardo's robot]] was not rediscovered until the 1950s. The robot could, if built successfully, move its arms, twist its head, and sit up.
The [[Smithsonian Institution]] has in its collection a clockwork monk, about {{convert|15|in|abbr=on}} high, possibly dating as early as 1560. The monk is driven by a key-wound spring and walks the path of a square, striking his chest with his right arm, while raising and lowering a small wooden cross and rosary in his left hand, turning and nodding his head, rolling his eyes, and mouthing silent obsequies. From time to time, he brings the cross to his lips and kisses it. It is believed that the monk was manufactured by [[Juanelo Turriano]], mechanician to the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]].<ref>King, Elizabeth. "Clockwork Prayer: A Sixteenth-Century Mechanical Monk" ''Blackbird'' 1.1 (2002) [http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v1n1/nonfiction/king_e/prayer_introduction.htm]</ref>
A new attitude towards automata is to be found in [[René Descartes|Descartes]] when he suggested that the bodies of animals are nothing more than complex machines - the bones, muscles and organs could be replaced with cogs, pistons and cams. Thus [[mechanism (philosophy)|mechanism]] became the standard to which [[Nature]] and the [[organism]] was compared.<ref> Schultz, P.D., & Schultz, S.E. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology.(pp. 28-34).Thompson Wadsworth.</ref> [[France]] in the 17th century was the birthplace of those ingenious [[mechanical toy]]s that were to become prototypes for the engines of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Thus, in 1649, when [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] was still a child, an artisan named Camus designed for him a miniature coach, and horses complete with footmen, page and a lady within the coach; all these figures exhibited a perfect movement. According to P. Labat, General de Gennes constructed, in 1688, in addition to machines for gunnery and navigation, a peacock that walked and ate. [[Athanasius Kircher]] produced many automata to create Jesuit shows, including a statue which spoke and listened via a [[speaking tube]].
[[Image:Takeda Oumi karakuri.jpg|thumb|A Japanese automata theater in Osaka, drawn in 18th century. The Takeda family opened their automata theater in 1662.]]
The world's first successfully-built biomechanical automaton is considered to be ''The Flute Player'', invented by the French engineer [[Jacques de Vaucanson]] in 1737. He also constructed the [[Digesting Duck]], a mechanical duck that gave the false illusion of eating and defecating, seeming to endorse Cartesian ideas that animals are no more than machines of flesh.
In 1769, a chess-playing machine called [[the Turk]], created by [[Wolfgang von Kempelen]], made the rounds of the courts of [[Europe]] purporting to be an automaton. The Turk was operated from inside by a hidden human director, and was not a true automaton.
[[File:Maillardet's automaton at the Franklin Institute.webm|thumb|[[Maillardet's automaton]] is drawing a picture]]
Other 18th century automaton makers include the prolific Swiss [[Pierre Jaquet-Droz]] (see [[Jaquet-Droz automata]]) and his contemporary [[Henri Maillardet]]. Maillardet, a Swiss mechanic, created an automaton capable of drawing four pictures and writing three poems. Maillardet's Automaton is now part of the collections at the [[Franklin Institute]] Science Museum in [[Philadelphia]]. Belgian-born [[John Joseph Merlin]] created the mechanism of the [[Silver Swan (automaton)|Silver Swan]] automaton, now at [[Bowes Museum]].<ref>[http://www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk/Collections/ExploreTheCollection/TheSilverSwan.aspx Bowes Museum: History of the Silver Swan]</ref> A musical elephant made by the French [[clockmaker]] Hubert Martinet in 1774 is one of the highlights of [[Waddesdon Manor]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEPhe2Gp0Y&feature=youtu.be A Marvellous Elephant]</ref> [[Tipu's Tiger]] is another late-18th century example of automata, made for [[Tipu Sultan]], featuring a European soldier being mauled by a tiger.
According to philosopher [[Michel Foucault]], [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick the Great]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|king of Prussia]] from 1740 to 1786, was "obsessed" with automata.<ref>See Michel Foucault, ''[[Discipline and Punish]]'', New York, Vintage Books, 1979, p.136: "The classical age discovered the body as object and target of power... The great book of Man-the-Machine was written simultaneously on two registers: the anatomico-metaphysical register, of which Descartes wrote the first pages and which the physicians and philosophers continued, and the technico-political register, which was constituted by a whole set of regulations and by empirical and calculated methods relating to the army, the school and the hospital, for controlling or correcting the operations of the body. These two registers are quite distinct, since it was a question, on one hand, of submission and use and, on the other, of functioning and explanation: there was a useful body and an intelligible body... The celebrated automata [of the 18th century] were not only a way of illustrating an organism, they were also political puppets, small-scale models of power: Frederick, the meticulous king of small machines, well-trained regiments and long exercises, was obsessed with them."</ref> According to [[Manuel de Landa]], "he put together his armies as a well-oiled [[clockwork]] mechanism whose components were robot-like warriors".
[[Japan]] adopted automata during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1867); they were known as ''[[karakuri ningyō]]''.
Automata, particularly watches and clocks, were popular in China during the 18th and 19th centuries, and items were produced for the Chinese market. Strong interest by Chinese collectors in the 21st century brought many interesting items to market where they have had dramatic realizations.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Kolesnikov-Jessop|first=Sonia|title=Chinese Swept Up in Mechanical Mania|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/fashion/26iht-ACAW-AUTOMATON26.html|accessdate=November 25, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 25, 2011|quote=Mechanical curiosities were all the rage in China during the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Qing emperors developed a passion for automaton clocks and pocket watches, and the "Sing Song Merchants", as European watchmakers were called, were more than happy to encourage that interest.}}</ref>
===Modern===
[[File:Singing Bird Box by Bontems.JPG|thumb|left|A [[singing bird box]] made about 1890 by Bontems. Bird dressed with iridescent hummingbird feathers and case made of tortoiseshell.]]
The famous magician [[Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin]] (1805–1871) was known for creating automata for his stage shows.
[[File:Automa Manzetti 1840.JPG|thumb|150px|The flute-player by [[Innocenzo Manzetti]] (1840)]]
In 1840, Italian inventor [[Innocenzo Manzetti]] constructed a [[flute]]-playing automaton, in the shape of a man, life-size, seated on a chair. Hidden inside the chair were levers, connecting rods and [[compressed air]] tubes, which made the automaton's lips and fingers move on the flute according to a program recorded on a cylinder similar to those used in [[player piano]]s. The automaton was powered by clockwork and could perform 12 different arias. As part of the performance it would rise from the chair, bow its head, and roll its eyes.
The period 1860 to 1910 is known as "The Golden Age of Automata". During this period many small family based companies of Automata makers thrived in Paris. From their workshops they exported thousands of clockwork automata and mechanical singing birds around the world. It is these French automata that are collected today, although now rare and expensive they attract collectors worldwide. The main French makers were [[Blaise Bontems|Bontems]], Lambert, Phalibois, Renou, [[Roullet & Decamps]], Theroude and Vichy.
Contemporary automata continue this tradition with an emphasis on art, rather than technological sophistication. Contemporary automata are represented by the works of [[Cabaret Mechanical Theatre]] in the [[United Kingdom]], Dug North and Chomick+Meder,<ref>[http://www.chomickmeder.com Chomick+Meder]</ref> [[Thomas Kuntz]],<ref>[http://www.artomic.com/gallery/automata/automata.html Artomic Automata]</ref> [[Arthur Ganson]], [[Joe Jones (Fluxus artist)|Joe Jones]] in the [[United States]], [[Le Défenseur du Temps]] by French artist Jacques Monestier, and François Junod in [[Switzerland]].
Some mechanized toys developed during the 18th and 19th centuries were automata made with paper. Despite the relative simplicity of the material, paper automata require a high degree of technical ingenuity.
==In education==
The potential educational value of mechanical toys in teaching transversal skills has been recognised by the [[European Union]] education project ''Clockwork objects, enhanced learning: Automata Toys Construction'' (CLOHE).<ref>[http://www.clohe-movingtoys.eu/ CLOHE]</ref>
==Clocks==
{{main|Automaton clock}}
Examples of [[automaton clock]]s include [[Chariot clock]] and [[Cuckoo Clock]]s. The [[Cuckooland Museum]] exhibits autonomous clocks.
{{expand section|date=December 2016}}
==Animatronics and mechatronics==
{{main|Animatronics|Mechatronics}}
{{expand section|date=December 2016}}
==Robotics==
{{main|Robotics|History of robots|Android (robot)}}
{{Portal|Robotics}}
{{expand section|date=December 2016}}
==See also==
{{list|date=December 2016}}
* [[Automata theory]]
* [[Automation]]
* [[Brazen head]]
* [[Cellular automaton]]
* [[Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art]]
* [[Robochrist Industries|Christian Ristow]]
* [[Computer]]
* [[Ctesibius]]
* [[Giles Walker]]
* [[Golem]]
* [[Hero of Alexandria]]
* [[La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin]] display of 19th century automata
* [[Maillardet's automaton]]
* [[Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum]]
* [[Orchestrion]]
* [[Singing bird box]]
* [[Theo Jansen]]
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Bailly |first1=Christian |title=Automata: The Golden Age: 1848-1914 |year=2003 |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |isbn=9780709074038}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beyer |first1=Annette |title=Faszinierende Welt der Automaten : Uhren, Puppen, Spielereien |date=1983 |publisher=Callwey |location=München |isbn=9783766706591 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Q. David |title=Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments |date=1974 |publisher=Vestal Press |location=Vestal, NY |isbn=9780911572087 |edition=4. printing}}
* {{cite book |last1=Brauers |first1=Jan |title=Von der Äolsharfe zum Digitalspieler: 2000 Jahre mechanische Musik, 100 Jahre Schallplatte |date=1984 |publisher=Klinkhardt & Biermann |location=München |isbn=9783781402393}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chapuis |first1=Alfred |last2=Gélis |first2=Edouard |title=Le monde des automates; étude historique et technique |date=1928 |oclc=3006589}}
* {{cite book |last1=Critchley |first1=Macdonald |last2=Henson |first2=R. A. |title=Music and the brain. Studies in the neurology of music |date=1978 |publisher=Heinemann |location=London |isbn=9780433067030}}
* {{cite book |last1=Waard |first=R. D. |year=1967 |title=From music boxes to street organs |oclc=609338403}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chapuis |first1=Alfred |last2=Droz |first2=Edmond |title=The Jaquet-Droz mechanical puppets |date=1956 |publisher=Historical Museum |location=Neuchatel |oclc=315497609}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hyman |first1=Wendy Beth |title=The Automaton in English Renaissance Literature |date=2011 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Farnham, Surrey |isbn=0-7546-6865-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cardinal |first1=Catherine |last2=Mercier |first2=François |title=Museums of horology La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle |date=1993 |publisher=Banque Paribas |location=Geneva |isbn=9783908184348}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Montiel |first1=Luis |title=Proles sine matre creata: The Promethean Urge in the History of the Human Body in the West |journal=Asclepio |date=30 June 2013 |volume=65 |issue=1 |doi=10.3989/asclepio.2013.01}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lapaire |first1=Claude |title=Clock and Watch Museum, Geneva |date=1992 |publisher=Art and History Museum |location=Geneva |isbn=9782830600728}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ord-Hume |first1=Arthur W. J. G. |title=Clockwork music: an illustrated history of mechanical musical instruments from the music box to the pianola, from automation lady virginal players to orchestrion |date=1973 |publisher=Crown Publishers |location=New York |isbn=9780517500002}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ord-Hume |first1=Arthur W.J.G. |title=Barrel organ: the story of the mechanical organ and its repair |date=1978 |publisher=A.S. Barnes |location=South Brunswick, N.J. |isbn=9780498014826}}
* Rausser, Fernand; Bonhôte, Daniel; Baud, Frédy (1972). ''All'Epoca delle Scatole Musicali'', Edizioni Mondo, 175 pp.
* {{cite book |last1=Carrera |first1=Roland |last2=Loiseau |first2=Dominique |last3=Roux |first3=Olivier |last4=Luder |first4=Jean Jacques |title=Androids: The Jaquet-Droz Automatons |date=1979 |publisher=Scriptar |location=Lausanne |isbn=9782880120184}}
* {{cite book |last1=Troquet |first1=Daniel |title=The wonderland of music boxes and automata |date=1989 |location=Sainte-Croix |oclc=27888631}}
* {{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Graham |title=The musical box handbook |date=1984 |publisher=Vestal Press |location=Vestal, NY |isbn=9780911572360 |edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book |last1=Weiss-Stauffacher |first1=Heinrich |last2=Bruhin |first2=Rudolf |title=The marvelous world of music machines |date=1976 |publisher=Kodansha International |location=Tokyo |isbn=9780870112584}}
* {{cite book |last1=Winter-Jensen |first1=Anne |title=Automates & musiques: pendules |date=1987 |publisher=Musée de l'horlogerie et de l'émaillerie |location=Genève |isbn=9782830600476}}
* Wosk, Julie (2015). ''My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Androids, and Other Artificial Eves.'' {{ISBN|9780813563374}}.
==Notes and references==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt=automaton |commons=Category:Automata |n=no |v=no |q=no |s=1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Automaton |b=no}}
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kinetic-arts/sculpture/automata.htm The Automata and Art Bots mailing list home page]
* [http://automata.co.uk/History%20page.htm History]
* [http://www.modernautomatamuseum.com/ Modern Automata Museum]
* [http://www.automatomania.com AutomatomaniA - The largest online gallery of automata]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070821154911/http://www.fi.edu/pieces/knox/automaton/index.html Maillardet's Automaton]
* [http://www.karakuri.info/ Japanese Karakuri]
* [http://www.jstor.org/stable/432766 J. Douglas Bruce, 'Human Automata in Classical Tradition and Mediaeval Romance', ''Modern Philology'', Vol. 10, No. 4 (Apr., 1913), pp. 511-526]
* [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2915500 M. B. Ogle, 'The Perilous Bridge and Human Automata', ''Modern Language Notes'', Vol. 35, No. 3 (Mar., 1920), pp. 129-136]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160113214335/http://cite-automate.fr/ conservation of automata]
* [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/123_years_later_voice_of_thoma.html Thomas Edison's talking doll]
* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2488165/The-worlds-Mechanical-boy-built-240-years-ago-engineered-act-writing.html Was this automaton the world's first computer? Incredible mechanical boy built 240 years ago who could actually write] ''Daily Mail'', November 6, 2013, "The Writer" created by watchmaker [[Pierre Jaquet-Droz]] in the 1770s. Large color photos.
* [http://collection.waddesdon.org.uk/search.do?view=detail&page=1&id=41380 Elephant automaton at Waddesdon Manor]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEPhe2Gp0Y Video of elephant automaton]
{{Robotics}}
[[Category:Robotics]]
[[Category:18th century in technology]]
[[Category:Automation]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek technology]]
[[Category:Automata (mechanical)| ]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]' |
