A Closer Look
Before there were robots, there were automatons— mechanical machines made to move and act like humans or animals. More than 2,000 years ago, Archytas, an inventor from ancient Greece, built a wooden dove that that seemed to fly by itself. Most likely, it flapped its wings using a hidden pulley. In the 12th century, Muslim inventor Ismail al-Jazari, considered a father of robotics, designed and built more than a hundred automatons. Many were powered by water. One was a peacock fountain that moved its head, neck, and tail.
But the funniest automaton might have, it could eat kernels of corn and excrete pellets that looked like, well, duck poop.
