By Jeremy Cook
From our 21st century viewpoint, we normally think of automation and robots as being conceived of in the mid-to-late 1900s, further developed in the early 2000s, and in a constant state of evolution toward perfection (or dystopia, depending on your views) in the present moment. However, modern robotics are an evolution of an idea of automated helpers that traces its roots all the way back to ancient times.
Water Clocks and Early Automation (Circa 4000 BC)
Water clocks were one of the earliest time-measuring instruments, and one of the first forms of early automation invented by humans. Such clocks existed in the Middle East, as well as Asia, potentially as early as 4000 BC. They’re also described in Greco-Roman texts. Such clocks typically transfer liquid from container to container with time-calibrated markings, showing the passage of the day.
These water clocks set the stage for other water-based automations, which often used the changing weight of water-bearing vessels to induce motion. One notable water automation from the 1100s AD out of modern-day Turkey, was the Peacock Fountain. A peacock’s mouth poured water for washing, while miniature “servants” appeared in sequence to dispense soap and then a towel, all under water power.
Modern Take: Proliferation of Automatic Soap Dispensers
Since the events of 2020, society has become much more aware of handwashing, especially in an automated form. While ancient people didn’t have PIR sensors to turn on a faucet, soap dispenser, or drying mechanism, it’s hard to miss the parallel between the elaborate Peacock Fountain and the automation that we often take for granted in public bathrooms.
You might argue that such modern implements are little more advanced automation-wise than the peacock fountain of old, but perhaps the technology is at the appropriate level for the given task. On the other hand, one could see IoT functionality implemented here in order to notify maintenance staff when consumables are out, or when there’s a mechanical problem.
Antikythera Mechanism (Circa 150 BC)
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, and is so advanced that it was at first thought to be a fake. While only a portion of this system was recovered, the device's 30 bronze gears were used to predict the movement of celestial bodies over a long period of time, and modern replicas have been constructed in different forms.
The ancient Greeks, including the genius inventor and mathematician Archimedes (whose death in roughly 212 BC puts him near the oldest estimates of the Antikythera Mechanism’s construction) were fascinated with automation. Their legends are filled with mechanical curiosities, so much so that it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. For example, Talos, a gigantic rock-throwing, liquid-metal-blooded robot was certainly fictional, and the 5th century BC poet Pidnar’s description of Rhodes as having animated figures on every public street might have been an exaggeration. However, the existence of the Antikythera Mechanism indicates there was some truth to these early robot descriptions, if not always to the literal scale they described.
Modern Take: Virtual Assistants, Supply Chain Concerns
Automation in the sense of processing data has advanced much faster than physical android-like automations. One might note that Alexa/Google Home/Siri are extremely common in households, while assistants for household chores are generally limited to the occasional Roomba.
Considering what it would take to actually make the Antikythera Mechanism, it’s clear that what was required was not simply a singular genius like Archimedes, or even a small group working together to ponder out the mechanism itself, but an entire collection of techniques, tools, and material supplies developed over centuries of refinement. Our modern technology depends on a vast supply chain to manufacture components, from the humble toilet paper roll to the most advanced computers. As we’ve seen in the last few years, if this chain is broken or disrupted, modern technology quickly becomes out of reach.
Gutenberg Press (1454)
Before the mid-1400s, copying a book, or even a pamphlet, was an extremely labor-intensive task. As such, books were quite rare, and thus the reach of the information they contained was limited. This all changed in 1454 when Johannes Gutenberg put his movable-type printing press to commercial use. This new technique facilitated the ability to transfer information over wide physical distances and even time, a revolution that’s hard for us to appreciate today.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the European Renaissance occurred in the 1400s-1500s, with an explosion of learning, culture, and engineering, leading to further technological advances. While not a computer per se, one could argue that the words printed on each sheet could be programmed by moving the type.
Modern Take: Mobile Internet, Open Source
Just as the Gutenberg Press was a giant leap forward in access to information, today we no longer have to even go to a library or bookstore to get physical media, but can pull it up on one of any number of devices. One might argue this information-on-demand age started with dialup and wired ethernet, which has quickly moved to data on our mobile phones. We now, quite literally, have the world’s information in the palm of our hands.
At the same time, there’s been a philosophical shift to open source technology in engineering, where data is shared between people and industries. While not appropriate in every situation, being able to see a number of other designs by others, and building upon those for your project, is extremely useful. Modern open source successes include software projects like Linux and KiCad, and open source hardware like Arduino dev boards and the RISC-V architecture have helped spread engineering to a wider audience.
Shrinking Mechanical Clocks (1200s to 1900s)
Mechanical clocks first started appearing in the 1200s, installed in towers in Italy, and eventually throughout Europe. After centuries of advancements, by the mid-1900s, mechanical clocks went from room-sized to small enough to easily be worn as wristwatches.
While there have certainly been advances since then, the advent of electronic watches in the late 1900s meant inexpensive electronic alternatives to mechanical ticking. One might also argue that anything smaller than something easily viewable at wrist distance is impractical.
Modern Take: Shrinking Processing Power, Smart Wearables
The obvious parallel here is that electronic computers, which once filled an entire room, were eventually shrunk to the point where they could fit on or under a desk, and can now dwell in your pocket as a smartphone. Smartwatches provide the timekeeping functionality of their mechanical ancestors, and can contain a rather impressive amount of computing power in their own right. Companies are even starting to explore smart rings, though this is still a rather nascent technology.
Mechanical Turk (1770)
The Mechanical Turk was a chess playing machine created by Wolfgang von Kempelen in the late 1700s. Appearing as a mechanical man dressed in Ottoman robes, it was able to intelligently compete with–and win against–humans. It could even maintain a conversation using a letter board. The device was extremely popular in its day, even playing with chess with Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte.
This device was a brilliant fake of course, using a series of clockwork controls to allow a person inside of its cabinet to play chess by manipulating the Turk’s movements. Given how well it played, the person inside must have been very skilled, and good at staying in a confined space for long periods of time.
Modern Take: Amazon Mechanical Turk, Robotic Surgery
While true computer automation of data tasks advances every day, there are some tasks where human interaction is still needed. In this case, you can use a platform like Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to crowdsource these tasks to humans over the Internet. It’s not a huge stretch to see how this relates to the original chess playing Turk’s intelligence being derived from a real human via mechanical linkages.
Another modern analog to the Turk is robotic-assisted surgery. While one might shorten this to “robot surgery,” it’s important to note that the robot isn’t making the decisions, and is typically a high-precision extension of the surgeon’s hands. Such systems can include tremor-filtration technology, meaning that the surgeon’s manipulations can be more precise and steadier than ever before. We can expect this technology to improve in the future, perhaps to the point where a human surgeon acts more like an advisor, dictating the robot’s strategy while it makes cuts and performs movements with exacting precision.
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Today's Innovations Are Echoes of the Past
The 1800s brought a series of impressive automations, including the continued development of precision machine tools, steam power, and electricity. This would usher in the 1900s, in which practical automation as we know it today would take root, supercharged by the invention of the transistor.
In the current millennium, one might see mass-manufactured smartphones as the pinnacle of our technology. In the near future we’ll likely see machine learning continue to mature until a machine can “think” in a manner that more closely approximates a human, though how that will ultimately play out is anyone’s guess.
Just like the ancient Greeks with their automation legends, we seem to still be inspired by our own legends (i.e. science fiction). One can’t help but notice the similarity between cell phones, iPads, and wearable displays and the far-future world of Star Trek. Looking ahead, perhaps we’ll see a useful humanoid, flying cars, or even an auto-doctor system that heals us with little to no human interaction—all popular sci-fi tropes.
While such ideas might seem far-fetched, imagine telling someone in 1980 that you can have access to the world’s information, at all times, in the palm of your hand for somewhere around $50 per month. Perhaps we’re already living in the future.
