Tag Archive for greek

Robotics: Robots of the Ancients Revisited (w/Videos)

Photo: Robot Maria from the 1929  silent movie Classic “Metropolis.” SOURCE Google Public Domain

Nothing New under the Sun might be the subtitle of this post. I suddenly realized I have been neglect in research into, and reporting on, the early days of the study of Robotics.  After all to understand the future you must study the pass. So let’s go back. … Way back. . . EDITOR

from Robotics Zeitgeist

Ancient Greek programmable robot replica

Posted by Awesome-o

The editors at New Scientist have constructed a replica of what is believed to be the earliest known programmable robot.

“In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart’s drive axle, and Sharkey reckons this string-based control mechanism is exactly equivalent to a modern programming language.” SOURCE New Scientist . . . Read Complete Report

from youtube

New Scientist recreates a robot made by the ancient Greeks

Uploaded by  on Jul 5, 2007

Technology feature editor Ben Crystall explains how he recreated a programmable robot dating from 60 A.D.  More here:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg19526111.600

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from Environmental Griffiti

The Legacy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Incredible Robot

2 years ago

EXCERPT

Why Did da Vinci Create “the Robot”?

The schema, known today as Leonardo’s robot, was developed around the year 1495, however, rediscovered only in the 1950s. No one knows if there has been any endeavor to build the invention.

Da Vinci fashioned the robot to demonstrate to himself that the frame of a human being could be mimicked. He was also interested in exhibiting for his patron, Lodovico Sforz, the robot’s manner of operation when they attended parties. Da Vinci’s intention was to catapult party members into astonishment with his own competency for melodrama. . . . Read Complete Report w/Photos

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from http://www.bme.uconn.edu/davinci/

Reconstructing Our Own Da Vinci Robot

UConn BioMedical Engineering “Da Vinci” Robot

 

Photo: Da Vinci Robot (Full View) SOURCE http://www.bme.uconn.edu/davinci/

New Light on The Da Vinci Robot

Over the summer of 2004, Dr. John D. Enderle was reading The Da Vinci Code when he came across a segment based upon the lost sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci’s robot. The readings sparked his interest and he began researching the history of this “lost” robot. He enlisted a team of students to research the structure and function of the robot. Information was limited due to the fact that the robot was created in 1495 and the estimated 14,000 pages of sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci are lost to the world of science and engineering. . . . Read Complete Report

THEI Feature Film
Metropolis (1929 Silent Classic

Published on Sep 11, 2012 by 

This science fiction expressionist film concerns itself with class conflict in a futuristic totalitarian society.

 

THEI Selected Short Subject

from youtube

Leonardo’ Robot

Uploaded by  on Jul 6, 2007

Animated stills of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Robot from the Drama /Documentary, ‘Leonardo’, starring Mark Rylance as DaVinci, written & Directed by Alan Yentob. Leonardo’s Robot recreated by Mark Rosenheim. BBC 2003. Music: ‘My Head’ by Dias M. No copyright infringement intended. . . . Text posted with video on youtube

Ancient cave speaks of Hades myth

Featured Illustration: (Hortus Deliciarum – 12th century Hell (Hölle) Artist: Herrad von Landsberg (about 1180) {{PD-Art}} Category:Hortus Deliciarum)

from USAToday

By Dan Vergano

Hades wasn’t the happiest place, the Department of Motor Vehicles of the ancient Greek afterlife.

There, in a gloomy underworld, departed heroes such as Achilles gathered mostly to grouse about their boredom, and await the verdict of the judges of the dead.

“I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man’s house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead,” said Achilles, the greatest of Greek heroes, commenting on the scenery, according to the ancient poem, The Odyssey. (Tough break for Achilles, but perhaps he was later cheered to learn that Brad Pitt played him in the 2004 filmTroy. )

MORE: Vergano columns

But for archaeologists, a Greek cave that has sparked comparisons to Hades looks more like heaven. Overlooking a quiet Greek bay, Alepotrypa Cave contains the remains of a Stone Age village, burials, a lake and an amphitheater-sized final chamber that saw blazing rituals take place more than 5,000 years ago. All of it was sealed from the world until modern times, and scholars are only now reporting what lies within.

“What you see there almost cannot be described,” says archaeologist Anastasia Papathanasiou of the Greek Ministry of Culture, . . . Read Complete report