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CLOCKWORK ROBOTS
Automated robots developed around the 17th and 18th century are some of the early examples of "true" robots because
they were programmable through a system of interchangeable
cams.
These cams allowed them to perform different actions; an example of this is a dancing
automaton. When different cams are used, different dances are preformed.
The creators of automatons in that time era
were clockmakers, and for them to be able to create such complex and sophisticated automatons at that time was an
amazing accomplishment. Since these were so complex, they took a large amount of time and skill to create and
because of that the automatons were mainly introduced into the higher levels of society. Since automatons could
perform actions that were similar to humans, their creators gave them the form of humans. As impressive as these
automatons sound, Pierre Jacquet-Droz created automatons that were at another level.
Pierre Jacquet-Droz was a
famous 18th century Swiss watchmaker, who made intricate and beautiful automatons with his son Henri Jacquet-Droz
around the late 1760's and 1770's. One of their crown achievements was the "Little Writer", an automaton that could
produce over twenty different drawings that were programmed into the machine through various cams. The feature of their
automatons which made them so unique, was that Pierre and Henri incorporated more than one cam into their automatons,
which made them much more functional. Their remarkable achievement led to the manufacturing of watches and the
advancement in
micro techniques
to a new level. The advancements of automatons in this time frame led the way for the
building of robots and gave people a new perception of automated machines. Unfortunately they weren't all positive.
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