The field of robotics based on electromechanics is a recent science, developing in the last 50 or 60 years. However, throughout human history, automata have been built that would put many modern robots to shame. The karakuri ningyō — Japanese wooden automata built between the 18th and 19th centuries — fit into this category. Hundreds of years after they were designed, they continue to amaze us.
When we see modern robots, we can only marvel at their enormous abilities. But despite the “futuristic atmosphere” that surrounds these inventions, the truth is that humanity has been building more or less complex automata for centuries.
A Brief History of Automata
The origins of automata date back about 4,000 years, when in ancient Egypt statues of gods and kings were built that moved their mechanical arms. Others, like the statue of Osiris, emitted fire from its eyes.
During the Middle Ages, around the 17th century, an Arab roboticist named Al-Jazari wrote a book titled “The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices,” which compiled many ingenious mechanisms from previous centuries, while also presenting some created by the author. The mere existence of that book gives us an idea of how many mechanisms of this kind had been built up to that date.
The Karakuri Ningyō
But few ancient artifacts can compare to the karakuri ningyō, a series of Japanese automata built mainly from wood between the 18th and 19th centuries. Endowed with extraordinary beauty and colored in a way only an Oriental can do, their “guts” are full of wooden gears, levers, and pulleys. These elements form a mechanism of such complexity that, even without motors or electronic chips, they can perform feats such as shooting arrows at a target, writing characters of the Japanese language kanji, or even serving a cup of tea.
“Karakuri” could be translated as “mechanical devices to produce surprise in people,” and “ningyō” is synonymous with “pet,” “puppet,” or “doll.” Leaving aside our poor ability in Japanese, we can consider karakuri ningyō as true “surprising mechanical puppets,” and in fact, that is what they are.
Currently, several examples of these wonderful automata are preserved. Their value—both economic and cultural—is so high that their preservation is guaranteed. Some have a long history behind them, and several are famous for other reasons. There is one, for example, that stands out from the rest because it was created by none other than the founder of Toyota and is capable of writing up to four different characters.
The Masters and Their Legacy
The “great masters” of this art are Hosokawa Hanzo Yorinao, Tanaka Hisashige, and Ohno Benikichi, each with several karakuri ningyō to their credit. Hisashige, for example, is famous for having built a “perpetual” clock and calendar, capable of correctly displaying dates and other data corresponding to a period of 10,000 years.
On the other side of the scale, the Casio DataBank watch with “latest microelectronic technology” that I have on my wrist will only be able to give me the correct date until 2039. Of course, new generations continue to build karakuri ningyō, though sometimes incorporating other materials and even (some “heretics”) motors or circuits.
While electronics and all the advances humanity has made in terms of motors and servomechanisms have made possible the existence of toys as complex as the robot dog from Boston Dynamics or the fast industrial robots used in car manufacturing, we should not forget the ingenuity of these true masters, capable of achieving automata like the ones you can see in these videos using materials as unsophisticated as wood.
https://old.neoteo.com/el-leon-mecanico-de-leonardo-da-vinci-creado-para-el-rey-de-francia-en-1515/
Wikipedia
