During the 18th century the world was enthralled with the wonder of mechanization. One of the most interesting artifacts of this interest is the automaton. Often made by clock or watch makers and engineers as a show case of their skills, these early robots became prized possessions of royalty and the extreemly wealthy. The most prized automatons were humanoid and performed common human actions (some even were able to play musical instruments). The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia has a marvelous example of automata in its collection that is capable of drawing two intricate pictures and writing three poems. This automaton built around 1800 has the largest "memory" of any known atomaton, storing the complex complex motions required to transcribe its output on brass disks housed in the automaton's base. (This is very similar to the method used by Disney imagineers to control the motions of the characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride when it first opened in 1967 at Disneyland). For more information about the Franklin Institutes's drawing atomaton and the history of automatons, check out the links below.

Maillardet's Automaton at the Franklin Institute [via Gizmodo]
Wikipedia's automaton entry
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