[Phono-L] OT: Antique Clockwork Automaton

[Andrew Baron]

Hi All ~
A fascinating, 200 year old, spring-wound machine that some of you  
might find inspiring is the Maillardet Automaton at the Franklin  
Institute in Philadelphia.

I had the honor of being asked to restore this marvel last year, and  
now it is being prepared to be put on display as part of a larger core  
exhibit called "The Amazing Machine", which will open in about a week  
and a half.

This automaton has the figure of a small boy, kneeling at a writing  
desk atop a large ornate chest.  It has the largest known memory of  
any mechanical device and was featured in Byte Magazine some years ago  
as a historically significant distant relative of our modern computers.

When you wind him up and set him in motion (there are two spring- 
driven motors with fusees), he draws beautiful and ornate pictures,  
and writes poetry in a graceful, flowing script.  He is bilingual,  
writing in French and English.  Every piece of the mechanism is  
lovingly and elegantly wrought.

To see him in action, you can type in a search for Franklin Automaton,  
and it should be the first link that comes up. Or to open a page that  
shows two videos, including a close-up of it actually creating an  
elaborate illustration (scroll down to where you see the actual video  
panes, beyond the links), try:  http://www.fi.edu/learn/sci-tech/automaton/automaton.php?cts=instrumentation

(On youtube, but only the more distant view): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfeNC28vpYo

For anyone who may be interested, I can email my detailed summary of  
the restoration work.

I hope some of you may enjoy this novel distraction.  Imagine how it  
must have been perceived in a world where the older generation were  
active when powdered wigs were in vogue, three quarters of a century  
before the beginning of the electric light era, and at the very dawn  
of the gaslight era and the age of steam.

Andy Baron