I saw this metal sculpture outside the mall yesterday as I was waiting for the train. It reminded me of the movie I'd just seen, Hugo. Hugo is about a boy who rebuilds a broken automaton (accent on the 2nd syllable) - a miniature mechanical man that can draw and write. (What a perfect movie for a roboticist!) Supposedly this story was inspired by a real automaton, the "Draughtsman-Writer," built by Henri Maillardet in 1800. Maillardet was called a mechanician by trade - basically a clockmaker who built other brass machines, but what an interesting-sounding profession. His automaton is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. I'll have to put this on the retiree "must-see" list.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Automatons
I saw this metal sculpture outside the mall yesterday as I was waiting for the train. It reminded me of the movie I'd just seen, Hugo. Hugo is about a boy who rebuilds a broken automaton (accent on the 2nd syllable) - a miniature mechanical man that can draw and write. (What a perfect movie for a roboticist!) Supposedly this story was inspired by a real automaton, the "Draughtsman-Writer," built by Henri Maillardet in 1800. Maillardet was called a mechanician by trade - basically a clockmaker who built other brass machines, but what an interesting-sounding profession. His automaton is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. I'll have to put this on the retiree "must-see" list.
