Today's variety of robots and other mechanical and electronic toys can hardly surprise anyone. Their production has long been an industry. But there were times when self-moving dolls were considered a luxury. It was considered good form among wealthy people to order such a copy from the puppeteer so that everyone exclaimed: "How alive!"
Over time, a mechanic came to the aid of the puppet masters, and the dolls began to walk, talk, dance, play musical instruments and even help with the housework. In fact, they were the first robots.
CHINESE FOCUS
It is not known when the history of robots began on Earth, but the first mentions of them can be found in the legends and myths of ancient China, Greece, Egypt.
Suffice it to recall the myth of Hephaestus, who built 20 copper tripods that moved on wheels and served the guests. And even two of his maids, made of gold, caring for Hephaestus and entertaining him with singing.
But these are myths, and their interpretation is not always unambiguous. But in China, a book was recently found dating back to the 9th century, which mentions a certain Yang Ulyan, a craftsman who creates mechanical people. One of his brainchildren is a begging monk. The figure of the monk was made of wood, in his hand he held a bowl for alms. When the bowl was completely filled, the monk said: "Alms collected." It is clear that such a collector was served more often and more than a living person. Another inventor described in this book, King Lang Ling, in the 7th century, invented and constructed a mechanical dancer who could sing and dance to his own singing. And here's what is surprising, by the way: the doll's face did not look like a Chinese!
And in medieval Europe there were many ingenious inventors who created talking heads, manipulator hands, and flying machines. Back in 1495, Leonardo da Vinci made a mechanical doll that could move its arms and turn its head.
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Or take, for example, Caliph al Mukhtar, who loved to entertain his guests with the singing of mechanical birds adorned with precious stones and sitting on a golden tree. Arab technicians at one time succeeded in creating mechanisms. At the beginning of the 8th century, one of these designers wrote a work called "The Book of Knowledge about Amazing Mechanisms." This "popular mechanic" has been rewritten many times. Now the world knows eleven surviving copies of the "Book of Knowledge".
And it is possible that one of them is in the famous missing library of Ivan the Terrible.
IRON MAN
Today they write and talk a lot about the library of Ivan the Terrible. But the Russian tsar became famous not only for the unique collection of books. At his court there was one more outlandish thing that merchants and ambassadors from all over the world came to see - the "iron man". Historian Peter Dancy was interested in this miracle, and he began to search the archives for eyewitness accounts. His search was crowned with success - the notes of Johan Wem, a merchant who repeatedly visited the Russian royal court on business, have survived. Wem mentioned in them a certain "iron man": "The iron man was beaten for the amusement of those who feasted on the tsar's bear and the bear ran away from him in wounds and abrasions." In addition to having fun with animals, according to the merchant, this "man" served the guests and the king. He brought bowls of wine, weighed bows and even sang something. What exactly the mechanical servant was singing, the foreign merchant could not understand,because he did not know Russian well.
Peter Dancy understood that if such a curiosity existed at court, then there must be some other records of other eyewitnesses who were in Russia at that time. The historian had to shovel a whole mountain of archival materials before he was able to find evidence of two more foreign merchants: “The iron man serves the king at the table, gives him a caftan in front of the guests stunned by this spectacle, sweeps the courtyard with a broom. When the king was objected that this thing was not created by the art of the master, the king at first became angry. But, having drunk a cup of Malvasia, he called three artisan-looking people, dressed in boyar style, and ordered them something. They opened the covers hidden under the clothes of the iron man, in it there were gears and springs that moved the arms, legs and head. The guests sobered up in fright, and the Russian tsar boasted that such servants were in Russia two or three centuries ago.
If earlier the phrase "iron man" could be taken as a metaphor characterizing the endurance and patience of a Russian person, then after reading these documents, the historian realized that there were "iron men" in the literal sense of the word in Russia. And the king was served not by a man dressed in metal clothes, but by a real mechanical doll or, if you like, a robot.
Information about the earlier existence of mechanical dolls in Russia was not found. But the journalist D. Larin, having thoroughly worked in the archive, found information that during the time of Ivan the Terrible not only the tsar had an “iron man” in his service. Some of his contemporaries had such "men" and even "women".
WOODEN PETER
Another mention of humanoid dolls at the royal court dates back to the reign of Peter I. The king had an associate, Jacob Bruce, a scientist, politician who had a huge amount of merit in scientific and military activities. It was he who created the first Russian observatory in the Sukharev Tower.
The name of Jacob Bruce has always been covered with legends. They said that he knows astrology, is engaged in magic and can even change the fate of people. And Pushkin generally considered him "Russian Faust". But the most amazing story was the story of a doll made by Bruce for Peter I, which could walk and talk. There is no documentary confirmation of this fact, but why not assume that a person with such a baggage of technical knowledge used the library of Ivan the Terrible and created a mechanical doll?
There is an opinion that the doll was not made for the king, but after his death. It is known that according to the exact parameters of the body of Peter I, a wooden figure "Person" was created. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, she was dressed in a ceremonial uniform, her arms and legs could move with the help of hinges. Even the wig of "Persona" was made from real hair of Peter I. The eyes were drawn so precisely by the artist A. Ovsov that the doll could not be distinguished from a living person. They said that the brainchild of the inventor was equipped with mechanisms with which the doll could stand up and repeat the imperative gesture of Peter I. And, most surprisingly, her face had facial expressions, which frightened those present very much. Where this amazing invention disappeared, no one knows. There is only speculation that Bruce destroyed it himself,since the successor of the tsar, Anna Ioannovna, could not stand any mention of her predecessor.
ANDROIDS
Those who think that "android" is just the name of an operating system are mistaken.
At the end of the 18th century, Swiss watchmakers father and son Pierre and Henri Droz began to create mechanical people. The dolls were named "androids". The name comes from two Greek words - "people" and "the same". The mechanisms of the 18th century androids were powered by a system of springs, levers and gears. In fact, these were the same watch movements.
Pierre Droz worked on his first mechanical man for almost two years. And in 1772 the android "Scribe", consisting of six thousand parts, was ready. Outwardly, the doll looked like a child 5-6 years old, about 70 cm tall, who was sitting at a small table. In her right hand was a goose feather. At the request of the audience, "The Scribe" accurately printed a certain text on paper. To do this, he dipped the pen into an inkwell, then, having brushed it off twice, began to write. At the same time, like a real person, he tilted his head and seemed to follow the text with his eyes. As soon as the page ended, the "Scribe" put a full stop. Then he sprinkled a sheet of paper with sand to dry the ink, and then brushed off the grains of sand. A mechanical scribe could determine where the edge of the sheet was, transfer the text to another line and write phrases up to 40 characters long. It was all controlled by a deviceconsisting of a set of cams responsible for the shape, height of the letters and the spacing between them. Of course, the scribe could only write certain words and phrases, but the use of differently shaped cams could expand his capabilities.
Another android, created by the son of Pierre Henri in 1773, was the "Draftsman". A mechanical man like a boy, composed of 2,000 pieces, held a pencil in his hand and drew pictures. Like a real artist, the boy paused, contemplated his drawing, blew away debris from it and even fidgeted on the bench. The possibilities of the draftsman, like the scribe, were limited. He could create only three drawings: the portrait of Louis XV with the dog "Mon toutou" ("My dog"), Marie Antoinette with Louis XVI and Cupid driving a chariot, which was harnessed to butterflies. The android was also controlled by a cam device driven by a clockwork mechanism.
The third android that brought glory to the Dro family - "Musician", was assembled from 2500 parts. An attractive, petite girl with red hair, performing five tunes, immediately gained popularity and sympathy of the audience. The music performed by "The Pianist" was not recorded. Android actually pulled it out of the custom harpsichord by touching the keys with its fingers. The curls swayed slightly to the beat of the pianist's movements, the chest heaved, as if breathing, covered with the finest lace, coquettishly lowered eyes followed the flight of graceful fingers. After finishing playing, the doll stood up and bowed to the audience. In a word, a real musician. The mechanism controlling it was under the tool and consisted of a system of pipes and bellows, a set of cams and a crank mechanism.
All of these dolls were created so much like people that many viewers were convinced of the deception. To preserve his reputation, the inventor had to leave the backs of the "Scribe" and "Draftsman", where the mechanism was hidden, open during the demonstration.
No less famous are the mechanical dolls of Jacques Vaucanson, created by him in 1737. His "Flutist" was made in human height, and his movements were completely human. The doll blew air out of its mouth, and its fingers pressed on the necessary holes of the flute. Vaucanson's second musician was of a more complex structure: with one hand he held a flute and played it, and with the other he accompanied the tambourine. The musician had 20 tunes in his arsenal. The third famous Vaucanson doll is a mechanical duck that behaved like a real one: eating, drinking, quacking, splashing.
THE MYSTERY OF KARAKURI
Modern Japan is one of the recognized leaders in robotics. But even in the ancient book "Konjaku Monogatari", which was published in the distant 1120, it is told about the unusual doll of Prince Kaya (794-871). During a drought, the prince made a doll depicting a boy with a jug. When filling the jug with water, the doll lifted it above its head and poured it over itself. People from all over Japan came to see the miracle and brought water, which helped save the rice fields from drought. This is a legend, but, most likely, it contains some grain of truth. Prince Kaya's doll may have initiated the medieval art of karakuri-ninge. "Karakuri" in Japanese means "complex mechanical device", and "ninge" - "doll". Indeed, these dolls were purely mechanical. Japanese craftsmen were forbidden to divulge the secret of the creation of karakuri,therefore, all information was transmitted from generation to generation only orally. The Japanese treated karakuri not as a mechanism, but as something living. They were not allowed to disassemble, and it was the height of indecency to be interested in the internal structure of the doll.
Karakuri was made only from a certain species of wood (in each region of its own), while not a single nail was used. Mechanical puppets were used for theatrical performances, housework and guest entertainment. The most famous kakrakuri, the tea-dispenser, moved around the house on wheels, which were hidden under a long kimono. Most often, the doll was in the far corner of the room, from where it approached the guest. She held a cup of tea on a tray and waited for a guest to pick it up. When the guest received a treat, the karakuri bowed and returned to its corner. The Japanese loved this doll because it helped create a relaxed atmosphere and improve relations with the guest.
Another interesting karakuri depicted the archer "Yumi-iri-Doi". A mechanical archer took an arrow from a special stand, put it on the string, turned his head towards the target, as if assessing it, and fired.
It's amazing how in medieval Japan, in the absence of modern knowledge, the craftsmen managed to create mechanisms that could move and perform some actions. Today karakuri are rightfully considered the ancestors of modern robots.
BTW
A robot (Czech robot, from robota - forced labor, rob - slave) is a machine with anthropomorphic (human-like) behavior, which partially or completely performs the functions of a person (sometimes an animal) when interacting with the surrounding world. The first mentions of humanoid machines are found in ancient Greek myths. The term "robot" was first introduced by K. Chapek in the play "RUR" (1920), where robots were called mechanical people.
In the book by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, "I Am a Robot", three laws of robotics are formulated:
· A robot cannot kill a person.
· No robot can harm a person by its inaction or allow harm to be done to a person.
· The robot ensures its own safety.
At the end of the 17th century, the French abbot Mical created two talking heads. Antoine de Rivarol wrote: “A fantastic mechanism can be observed in the Temple castle. It attracts connoisseurs and amateurs to gawk at a miracle. These are two ore heads that speak in real sentences, and very clearly. They are incredible in size, and their voices are inhuman. It is not known how the inventor was able to make the heads speak. In Rivarol's notes, there are only some vague details that the heads were equipped with what looked like huge keyboards, and cylindrical parts with markings of intervals between words.
Galina BELYSHEVA