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Robotics Science

Ancient Robot Was Programmed with Rope 141

Posted by Zonk from the would-you-like-any-more-mead-master dept.
Pingu93 writes "New Scientist has a feature about the 'worlds first' programmable robot, dating from 60AD. It was designed by a Greek inventor who was, appropriately enough, called Hero. He designed his rolling machine so that it could be programmed using rope and pegs in different configurations. Some of the writers at New Scientist went so far as to build their own version of the robot and the technology blog has some video of it in action."
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Ancient Robot Was Programmed with Rope More

Ancient Robot Was Programmed with Rope

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  • Actually, his name was Hiro (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07, 2007 @03:43PM (#19782177)
    And he suddenly appeared one day, and disappeared just as mysteriously. He also had Asian features which were very out of place in Greece.
    • Hiro Protagonist?

      • Re:Actually, his name was Hiro (Score:4, Funny)

        by locokamil ( 850008 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @03:55PM (#19782273) Homepage
        I just finished reading Snow Crash. At the beginning, I thought Hiro's story would not end well. By page 700, I thought it wouldn't end at all...

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Cecil ( 37810 )
          Indeed, isn't it a fantastic book?

          I keep telling people to read it. Sooner or later, everbody listens to Reason...

          • Re: Snowcrash. (Score:1, Informative)

            by Colin Smith ( 2679 )

            Indeed, isn't it a fantastic book?
            Nope, it isn't.

             

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by thc69 ( 98798 )

              Indeed, isn't it a fantastic book?
              Nope, it isn't.
              Liar.

              (Or as they say on digg: FAIL.)
              • No. I've simply read more books than you. Snowcrash doesn't rate more than a 5 out of 10. 6 if I'm in a good mood.

                 

                • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

                  by thc69 ( 98798 )
                  That's possible, or perhaps (more likely) you've somehow managed to read better books than I have. I've read quite a large quantity of books in the past approximately 15 years or so.

                • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                  by mstahl ( 701501 )

                  No. I've simply read more books than you.

                  Or, you're just an asshole. You can disagree about Snow Crash, but don't belittle someone and then presume yourself to be better read than they are simply because you disagree.

                  • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

                    by Colin Smith ( 2679 )

                    You can disagree about Snow Crash, but don't belittle someone and then presume yourself to be better read than they are simply because you disagree.
                    What can I say. Anyone who thinks Snow Crash is a fantastic book by definition has no idea what a they're talking about. There are two options. Either they are an idiot, or they haven't read much. I was being generous.

                     
          • Lots and lots and lots of interesting bits and pieces. The problem is that bits and pieces don't an intersting book make. Also, the style of writing verged on infodump for vast tracts. Fortunately, these defects were fixed in time for Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle (which all rank in my top 50).
            • Interestingly, I thought exactly the opposite- I couldn't get through the Baroque Cycle (which was some many thousands of pages long) and I had to force myself to read Cryptonomicon, and even then, I didn't get half of it on the first go-around and had to read it again. Snowcrash, I could just pick up and read.

              I did really like the Diamond Age, too.
              • To each his/her own! I haven't read Diamond Age yet, although it is on my list of books to read-- I hear good things about it.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by jgrahn ( 181062 )

                  I haven't read Diamond Age yet, although it is on my list of books to read-- I hear good things about it.

                  Yes, it's good.

                  More on topic, it features a Turing-complete computer made of cogwheels and chains. I bet that greek guy's rope wasn't Turing-complete ...

              • Snowcrash is a fun book in a lighthearted sort of way. It's not very ambitious, although it does go into the Sumerian material in an interesting if superficial way. The Diamond Age gets a bit deeper and more interesting, but is still essentially a sci-fi yarn. Cryptonomicon gets vastly more interesting and deep, perhaps because it has a historical basis and there is more of an onus on the author to hew to reality. The Baroque Cycle continues the progression of more deep and more interesting, and there is an

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by ATLgerm ( 684919 )
          Page 700? ...runs to bookshelf... What kind of large type edition do you have? Mine ends on 468. Hardly a long book...is yours illustrated? Now Quicksilver, there's a longy. The 927th page left me rabid for two more 900+ page volumes & I STILL didn't get enough. But hey, one mans Hemingway is...well, crap actually but you get the idea. ;-P
      • If you made one that had enough intelligence in its programming to be able to arrange to have its lead heart lifted up again when it was sinking low, it could conceivably run forever.

        Say, it knows well enough to hook its counterweight up to a pully, a tree limb perhaps, attach a rock to the end, and push the rock off a cliff.

        Eternal life!
    • He was caught thinking freely, and some bastard monopolist patent-troll threatened him with crucifixion.
      "Crucifixion or freedom?" asked the civil servant.
      "Freedom. I saw that flick, and I'll just hop the next boat headed for the Seychelles, thanks," replied Hero, demonstrating pragmatism over commitment to art.

    • Just imagine, ROBOTS could have built the Pyramids, and we could have skipped Slavery and SERFDOM...

      Just suppose Robots and AI based computers could do ALL our WORK ?

      NOW, more ROBOTS means more FREEDOM for HUMANs !! as long as we take it ALL the way and restructure the economy into what you will come to know as TEAM INFINITY's WAGELESS ROBOTIC ECONOMY.

      http://TeamInfinity.com/TRANSFORMER_WAGELESS [teaminfinity.com]

      Robotics & Artificial Intelligence together can ELIMINATE ALL HUMAN JOBS, and MONEY in one fell s

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
      • So what do we do when the robots start demanding emancipated themselves?
    • There's something exactly like this in the Castle of Turing in Stephenson's book The Diamond Age. It's worth reading.
      • That was fictional. This was apparently for reals.

        I wonder what sort of knotty problems this computer was able to unravel.

        • > I wonder what sort of knotty problems this computer was able to unravel.

          I dunno if it was turing complete. It sure was "multithreaded" though.

          It also likely sparked a debate whether 640 knots would be enough for everybody.

    • Some of the writers at New Scientist went so far as to build their own version of the robot and the technology blog has some video of it in action.
      .. Linux?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by andphi ( 899406 )
      No, no. If it was Hiro's doing, the robot would need to shout "Yatta!" a lot.

  • Geezz (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Wow, has it been THAT long since Heathkit went under?

  • Visual Rope (Score:3, Funny)

    by padlocked.swings ( 1113899 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @03:52PM (#19782241)
    Or Vrope?

    Or .rope instead of .net?

    Microsoft Rope?

    Rope++

    Compiler converts Rope to Chain?

  • I was just about to submit my patent on a new rope robot...

  • GrEkZ (Score:5, Funny)

    by helfen ( 791121 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:03PM (#19782349)
    along with this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism [wikipedia.org]
    we should already have on /. plenty of HoMeRz, 4r1st0tl3, 4l3x4nd3rz and even one S0cr4t3s.

  • "Can you do better?" (Score:5, Funny)

    by wile_e_wonka ( 934864 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:05PM (#19782371)

    And now we're issuing a challenge: can you to do better? Can you build a version of Hero's robot that can perform as well as the inventor's original?


    Could you please give us a video of the original, please, for comparative purposes?
  • I saw that episode [wikipedia.org]

  • Name (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Poromenos1 ( 830658 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:06PM (#19782381) Homepage
    Actually, the name doesn't have anything to do with the actual word hero, it's just that enough letters were dropped in the English transliteration that it now is written the same. In Greek the name is and the Greek word for hero is - (ancient-modern).

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Poromenos1 ( 830658 )
      OK, slashdot doesn't like greek characters. The name is Hron and the word for hero is Hros-Hroas.
      • Yeah--I had the darnest time properly trying to write uTorrent using the letter mu once (even using the HTML form of the letters doesn't work).

  • steam engines and automatic plays (Score:5, Interesting)

    by wizardforce ( 1005805 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:08PM (#19782393) Journal
    The Greeks used these rope powered machines to function in their plays. they would set up what amounts to be an automatic play, it would be set up beforehand, they would program it and let it run through and the audience was thus amazed. The Greeks were also the first to create a primitive steam engines, it consited of to curved spouts attached to a wheel of some sort which would spin. they used it primarily as entertainment for the emperor and such. if only they had thought about using that power like we learned how to over 1500 years later, imagine what the world would be like.

    • Re:steam engines and automatic plays (Score:5, Informative)

      by tscola ( 14621 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:38PM (#19782629)
      "The Greeks were also the first to create a primitive steam engines"

      It was, in fact, the very same Hero of Alexandria who invented the steam engine.

      • Re:steam engines and automatic plays (Score:5, Informative)

        by I(rispee_I(reme ( 310391 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @06:24PM (#19783423) Journal
        It was, in fact, the very same Hero of Alexandria who invented the steam engine.

        I did my Humanities project on Hero last semester. The professor tried to give me guff because I "didn't specify who the hero was."

        Seriously.

        Other fun facts about Hero of Alexandria:

        He invented the first vending machine, a coin-operated fountain;
        the first pedometer, which tracked miles traveled with pebbles;
        and a primitive nickelodeon that performed an automatic play.

        I couldn't get my model of his aeolipile to work. Oh well. No shame in being shown up by the ancient Greeks.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by WilliamSChips ( 793741 )
          Wasn't he also the one responsible for the formula for a triangle's area? (Next time, use the alternate transliteration Heron)

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Tablizer ( 95088 )
          I couldn't get my model of his aeolipile to work.

          Dammit, you keep your hands off those innocent children!
                 
      • With a steam engine driving an axle, the Greeks could have started an Industrial Age right then. It's too bad that easy access to cheap (slave) labor made industrialization unattractive in the short-term. We are in a similar situation today. The US and Europe want to solve their labor "shortage" by bringing in huge numbers of immigrants, including many who are hostile to Western Civilization. In Japan they are solving that problem through robotics [newenglishreview.org].
        • It is tempting to think so, but every technological advance is highly dependent on previous advances. I recommend watching Burke's first Connections series (which I first heard about on /.). To make industrial machinery economical you need fuel, the ability to measure and cut to close tolerances, etc. There are some very common, simple technologies that required a lot of sophistication to be mass produced. The french press leaps to mind (though please charitably ignore the fact that coffee was still, at

  • Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

    by sesshomaru ( 173381 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:08PM (#19782397) Journal
    Hero? I always thought the name was Mechanicles...

  • Sorry but... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...I prefer a programming method with no strings attached thank you.

  • SMP ETC (Score:5, Funny)

    by toddhisattva ( 127032 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:16PM (#19782455) Homepage
    I heard they had a multi-threaded design as well....
  • We already know it was multi-threaded.
  • It's interesting, but it isn't anything like "programming languages" or computers or anything of the sort, despite the breathless comparisons by proponents. It's no more sophisticated than a slotted cam, just slightly harder to conceptualize.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by fatphil ( 181876 )
      I've not read the full article, but I do remember that New Scientist ran an article almost identical to this in April 1987 or 1988. The year's not the important part of the date, if you follow my drift. They contructed NOT, NAND, NOR, etc. from ropes and ratchets.

    • A Turing Machine isn't a terribly complex device, and there are a number of low-tech ways to make one. This isn't one of them, though. You'd need some way to change the pegs as the machine runs.

      A way to make an infinitely long piece of rope is left as an exercise to the reader.

    • My, I bet you're a lot of fun at parties!
  • Be warned: this robot was created before the rules of robotics; it would have no problem killing you and everyone that you care about.

  • don't read too fast... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pinkoir ( 666130 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:56PM (#19782771)
    Wow....I read that headline too fast and it came out "Ancient Robot Wars Programmed by Pope" which, frankly, would have been a pretty interesting story. I'm disappointed now.

    -Pinkoir

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )
      Wow....I read that headline too fast and it came out "Ancient Robot Wars Programmed by Pope" which, frankly, would have been a pretty interesting story. I'm disappointed now.

      Try the Dislexic Dialy Chronicle
             

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jagdish ( 981925 )
      Well I read it as "Ancient Robot Was Programmed with Dope" which also sounds spaced out.

  • Great info, bad article. Here's how it works. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Animats ( 122034 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @05:11PM (#19782863) Homepage

    Clever little piece of early technology. Main article is link to a paysite. Video has too much talking head and not enough of the thing working.

    Actual YouTube link. [youtube.com] About two minutes of talking head (skip that part), five seconds of the thing working. The second sequence of the robot, where you see how the cord is wound around the axles, makes it obvious how the thing works.

    The basic idea is that you have a 3-wheeled platform with two powered wheels and an idler. The powered wheels are on a split shaft, and each half of the shaft has a drum around which a cord is wound. The cords go up to a pole, through a pulley, and down to a weight.

    If that was the whole thing, it would just go in a straight line. The clever part is that there are some pins in the rollers, and those are used to reverse the winding direction of the cords. So by putting in appropriate pins and winding the cord in alternate directions, you can set it to move forward, turn in place in either direction, or reverse. Simple, cute, and reasonably accurate, because the programming setup determines the distance in each mode, not the time.

    You can't cycle it, though; it's a one-shot thing. Once it's run, you have to manually redo all the proper winding and setup. This is significant, because, unlike something cam-driven, it has no potential as an industrial technology. It doesn't lead to, say, an automatic weaving loom.

  • Not full article (Score:2, Informative)

    by LiquidFire_HK ( 952632 )
    Either no one RTFA (yes, I know, I must be new here) or everyone is subscribed to the magazine:

    This is a preview of the full article. New Scientist Full Access is available free to magazine subscribers
    Sure, the second link with the video works, but what's the point of linking to paid content?
  • In Neal Stephenson's book "The Diamond Age" there is a bit where Nell, the owner of the "young lady's illustrated primer" has to escape from a castle that was run by robots programmed with ropes or chains, which were effectively Turing Machines. The odd thing is, the character of Stephenson's earlier book "Snow Crash" was named Hero. So my question, is this a new discovery? Or might the author have been inspired by these rope-bots?
    • Actually, he was called Hiro Protagonist, with "Hiro" being the short form of "Hiroaki". It was a nice pun, but probably not an example for a particularly contrived historical reference.

  • GHOST SHIP with ancient computer? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    With the ancient calculator/computer this would validate my theory that an ancient unmanned cargo ship would be possible...barring any storms.

  • Hero was smart (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bxwatso ( 1059160 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @05:45PM (#19783079)
    This is a good reminder that people from all times and all places were just as smart and innovative as we are today. They had the same drives as all people. The difference between Hero and the Woz is the Woz drew from a more robust technological base. That is why investigation into basic sciences such as materials, chemistry, and physics is important. It lays the groundwork for future technologies.
  • With enough rope and enough height for that weight to drop, you could build something to... ... TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!

    (and demand like 1.000.000,= euro's)

  • This complete post is 2525 words long. (Score:3)

    by drcagn ( 715012 ) on Saturday July 07, 2007 @07:40PM (#19784051) Homepage
    To continue reading this post, subscribe to drcagn. Get 4 posts by drcagn and instant access to all online content for only USD $4.95.
  • From the video

    I took my sons scooter & cut it in half

    Thanks alot dad !

    I cut up some broomsticks

    Thanks hun, hope you don't mind me putting a new vaccuum on the card !
  • Oh great. You give robots just enough rope to hang themselves.
  • which was "one yank" robot startup.
         
  • As a mechanical engineer with interest in feedback control systems I find this very intriguing. It actually is possible to create a system (although somewhat simple) that is controlled completely in a mechanical realm, without the use of electronics or complex algorithms. This system is controlled completely by the laws of Physics and does not require any interpretation of a coding language. In a sense if any program could be modeled in a physical representation it could be universally understood by thos

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