Automat

Automat (množina: automata) je samostalna mašina koja je dizajnirana tako da pomoću mehanizma raznih zupčanika ponavlja neke operacije. Neke automate, kao zvonari u satovima, daju iluziju samostalnog kretanja.

Etimologija

Reč „automat“ — potiče iz grčkog αὐτόματον, automaton, „onaj koji radi samostalno“. Reč je prvi put upotrebio Homer, da opiše automatsko otvaranje vrata,^[1] ili automatsko kretanje točkova na kočijama.^[2] Automati su napravljeni tako da liče na čoveka ili životinje akcije, kao što je kukavica u satu.

Istorija

Drevni automati

Postoji mnogo primera automata u grčkoj mitologiji: Hefest je stvorio automate za svoju radionicu;^[3] Talos bio veštački čovek od bronze; Dedal koristi živu da postaviti glas u svom pokretne statue; Kralj Alkinoj zapošljava zlatne i srebrne pse čuvare.^[4]^[5]

Automate su u Helenističkoj eri su zamišljali kao alate, igračke, verske idole, ili prototipe za demonstraciju osnovnih naučnih principa. Prvi automat na vodu je napravio Ktesibije, grčki pronalazač i prvi šef Velike biblioteke u Aleksandriji, na primer, „koristio je vodu za zvuk zvižduka i napravio model sa pokretima sove. On je izmislio prvi u svetu sat sa kukavicom“.^[6] ova tradicija se nastavila u Aleksandriji sa pronalazačima kao što su grčki matematičar Heron Aleksandrijski (ponekad se naziva Heron), čija dela vezana sa hidraulikom.

Kompikovani mehanički urećaji su postojali još u Staroj Grčkoj, ali je jedini preživeli primerak Antikiterski zupčanik. On predstavlja analogni kompjuter. Iako se prvo smatralo da potiče sa Rodosa, gde je postojala tradicija mehaničkoj inženjeringa, ovo ostrvo je poreklo automata, prema Pindarovoj sedmoj Olimpijskoj odi.

Animirane figure stoje
kraseći ulice,
izgleda kao da kamen diše
ili hoda na mermernim nogama.

Međutim, podaci prikupljeni iz nedavnih istraživanja navode vezu sa Korintom i Sicilijom, kao i povezanost sa Arhimedom.

Srednjovekovni automati

Automat koji piše pismo u Muzeju mehaničke umetnosti u Švajcarskoj.

Napomene i reference

^ Homer, Iliad, 5.749
^ Homer, Iliad, 18.376
^ Him she found sweating with toil as he moved to and fro about his bellows in eager haste; for he was fashioning tripods, twenty in all, to stand around the wall of his well-builded hall, and golden wheels had he set beneath the base of each that of themselves they might enter the gathering of the gods at his wish and again return to his house, a wonder to behold. Homer, Iliad 18. 371
^ The automatones of Greek Mythology online at the Theoi Project.
^ Hyginus. Astronomica 2.1
^ This „first cuckoo clock“ was further stated and described in the 2007 book The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid on page 132: „Soon Ctesibius’s clocks were smothered in stopcocks and valves, controlling a host of devices from bells to puppets to mechanical doves that sang to mark the passing of each hour — the very first cuckoo clock!“

[1] Homer, Iliad, 5.749

[2] Homer, Iliad, 18.376

[3] Him she found sweating with toil as he moved to and fro about his bellows in eager haste; for he was fashioning tripods, twenty in all, to stand around the wall of his well-builded hall, and golden wheels had he set beneath the base of each that of themselves they might enter the gathering of the gods at his wish and again return to his house, a wonder to behold. Homer, Iliad 18. 371

[4] The automatones of Greek Mythology online at the Theoi Project.

[5] Hyginus. Astronomica 2.1

[6] This „first cuckoo clock“ was further stated and described in the 2007 book The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid on page 132: „Soon Ctesibius’s clocks were smothered in stopcocks and valves, controlling a host of devices from bells to puppets to mechanical doves that sang to mark the passing of each hour — the very first cuckoo clock!“

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