- Analog Tonalities by Fran Blanche -
A montage of closeups illustrating the dance of the inner workings of the 220+ year old Maillardet Automaton in action. I shot this footage in February 2014 during some routine maintenance at the Franklin Institute, with Andrew Baron and William LaFond also present. What, no audio? Actually the sports exhibit hall is right outside the door and the noise of that drowned out any sounds the Automaton makes, which is actually almost nothing. The Maillardet Automaton is quiet by design, as its clockwork is entirely encased in the cabinet base, so when running it makes no noticeable sounds.
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By Fran

14 thoughts on “The living automaton”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ella Banana says:

    NOPE!

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MultiDesignGuy says:

    Oh..my..god wow incredible freaky but incredible😳😉

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Kishore Nedumaran says:

    Awesome video! Living in India I haven't got to see an automaton in real, it'd be great if you could share a CAD file (if it exists) or something to understand the underlying mechanism

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dean Emery says:

    Fun Fact!
    Henri Maillerdet, the creator of this automaton, is actually my great ancestor! Over the course of the years, obviously our family surnames have changed, and my grand dad is really into history and he has researched our family history for years, and he eventually led it all the way back to Henri Maillerdet!
    We think that I got my brains (I had an iq of 147 when I was six, and I'm 11 now) and my eye colour (because everyone else in my fami,y has either blue or green eyes, and I'm the only one in our whole living family to have hazel eyes!) from this genius of my ancestor, henri maillerdet.

    Fran Blanche, please pin/favourite this comment because , as I've said in this comment, I'm related to Henri Maillerdet and I'd love to know that your genually interested in the history of it and that it's not just for the views… so ye 🙂

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars 58singleman says:

    To see more about this type of machine watch the movie "Hugo". A similar Atomaton is part of the show.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars 58singleman says:

    For some more stuff about Automaton watch the movie "Hugo" where a similar device makes an apperance.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Desmond's Corner says:

    what's sad about this is we could be so far more advanced in the field of robotics if automatons like this and animatronics that came later weren't passed off as art pieces and carnival tricks
    heck i imagine this could even have been adapted to be a form of primitive telepresence with some work and creativity, though i guess until the television was invented few would have even considered the idea

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tripledonkey says:

    Very cool and slightly scary.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars itsGeorgeAgain says:

    Reminds me of Syberia.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Daniel Johnson says:

    So amazing. I love this.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Claudio G. says:

    That's so cool

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars SubSonicFrequencies says:

    very very cool

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Henner Zeller says:

    Mmmh, would be interesting to write a program that reads GCode/DXF/Vector Drawing, and converts it to the kinematics of this machine, spitting out the shape of the brass disks to control the movement to be machined (I assume they can be swapped out to switch the drawings ?). Creating new "software" for an historic artifact is in essence active curation.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars In Joel's Garage says:

    Fran, Thank you for Sharing! Absolutely amazing!… Joel

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