“The Writer” ——— a robot built 240 years ago ——— in Switzerland

A fascinating video about this automaton, a contemporary of Mozart, click here to watch him write.

A forerunner to today’s computers, it uses cam technology to control movements of hand and pen. Eyes follow the text being written and move to watch the pen when it is being filled with ink.

Designed and built by Pierre Jaaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis, and Jean-Frédéric Leschott. It was built to advertise Swiss watches to Europe’s nobility.

He now resides, along with a sister and brother, at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

1 Comment

Brian on November 15, 2013 at 12:15 pm

IIR the man who built this stopped showing it because half the time he would wind up on trial for witchcraft.
Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Albert Einstein
“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness”

~ Albert Einstein
Edward R. Murrow
“The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer”

~ Edward R. Murrow
Hoagy Carmichael
"Slow motion gets you there faster"

~ Hoagy Carmichael
Marilyn Thomsen
"While it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfilment in being ordinary"

~ Marilyn Thomsen
testi 1
“We’re giving a good name to a four-letter word — dull”
testi 2
“Glitz and glam — not worth the bother”
testi 3
“We don’t try to keep up with the Joneses — who are the Joneses anyway?”
testi 4
“Time is a great invention — it’s what keeps everything from happening all at once”
Will Rogers
“Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there”

~ Will Rogers