Remarkable engineering.

[Falcon]

The Writer Automaton, Switzerland

A 240 year old doll that can write, a clockwork creation by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, a Swiss watchmaker. The doll is able to write any custom text up to 40 letters long, and it uses a goose feather to write, which he inks from time to time, including a shake of the wrist to prevent ink from spilling. His eyes follow the text being written, and the head moves when he takes some ink. You can view this doll in person at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.

www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton

 

[SifuPhil]

Amazing.

But then, so many of the automatons of that period were.

 

[imp]

Fantastic! And without a "microprocessor"! From the 1920s a machine called the Violano Virtuoso, built by Mills Novelty Co. in Chicago, mechanically played a real violin. It was programmed entirely mechanically, in various ways. One used a rotating drum having protrusions which actuated air valves, those in turn controlling air flow to cylinders which moved the bow and squeezed the strings appropriately.

My Dad was a Tool and Die Maker employed by Mills back then. imp

 

[imp]

House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wisconsin

Happened to think of this place, been there 3 or 4 times. Most astounding and nostalgic. Whole orchestras of mechanically driven standard musical instruments, among many other things. Learned of it through my Uncle who lived nearby in retirement. imp