Robot knight. Ingenious inventions and mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci dating bot corrupts

The Leonardo Robot is a humanoid machine whose technology was developed by Leonardo da Vinci around 1495.

The blueprints for the robot were found in Leonardo's papers discovered in the 1950s. It is not known if the development was carried out.

German-Italian knightly armor was put on the robot frame, it was programmed to imitate human movements (get up and sit down, move its arms and neck) and had an anatomically correct jaw structure. The technology was partly based on Leonardo's research in anatomy, in particular.

A few years ago, mechanic Gabriel Nicolai, head of the TeknoArt studio, conceived the idea of ​​restoring a ceremonial robot created by da Vinci for the Duke of Florence. The robot had to act without any help from a person.

The structure was driven by a propeller driven by wind or water flow. Due to the restrictions imposed by the energy source, the robot could move, but could not move in space.

The device of the mechanical knight was contained in two dozen drawings and notes by Leonardo da Vinci. Having assembled the robot, Nicolai realized that it did not work. At first, the engineer decided that da Vinci simply failed to create a working design. However, he soon discovered that the artist had encrypted the correct design by adding drawings of extra or broken nodes.

Leonardo da Vinci was an expert in human anatomy and personally performed over 30 autopsies. He created his robot in the image and likeness of a man. Looking through the artist's papers, Nicolai discovered a drawing of a cylinder. As it turned out, he is the heart of the robot and sets the right rhythm for the whole mechanism.

Now the knight is on display at the Sydney exhibition. Leonardo da Vinci, in addition to paintings, left behind a lot of drawings, notes and documents. Last year, French mechanics managed to restore a mechanical lion created by the artist for the King of France in 1515.

Another of Leonardo's inventions was recently presented to the general public. In France, a modern master, Renato Boaretto, invented a mechanical lion from partly leftover drawings from the time of Leonardo. The lion, made of wood and papier-mâché, walks leisurely, looking around, opening its mouth and raising and lowering its tail. But if you stroke his mane, a door will open in the side, from which several lilies pop out. The lion is made in a life size and is wound by a key, like an old clock or a children's wind-up toy. But this plant, unfortunately, is enough for him for 10 steps.

Initially, the mechanical lion was invented during the accession of Francis I to the throne. In front of him, the king of France, was a lion who was able to move from his place and open his chest from which lilies peeked out. Unfortunately, Leonardo da Vinci's robot lion has not been preserved.
Now, the lion, recreated with all diligence, has become part of the exposition, which can be admired by ordinary citizens visiting the museum on the site of the last dwelling of the great Leonardo, in the Clos Luce castle.

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Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was one of the most famous Italian artists, inventors, architects and writers of the Renaissance. Today I present to your attention a list of ten of his greatest and most amazing inventions for which he became famous.

10 Robot Knight

It is known that Leonardo was very fond of anatomy from childhood. Surely it was she, as well as a great desire to help humanity, that contributed to the emergence of this technology around 1495. For a long time, da Vinci studied the human body and decided to create his own mechanical prototype of a person (he could rise and sit, move his arms and neck), naturally different from modern cyborgs. But, it is he who is the primary source for further improvements in robotics.

9. Propeller

This is a prototype of a modern helicopter, which had "blades" and if you give them enough speed, then aerodynamic pressure was formed, thanks to which it could take off. In the presence of air under the blades, the propeller rose to a sufficiently high distance, but could not fly independently. The propeller was driven by people walking around the axle and pushing the levers.

8. City of the future

The city of the future Leonardo da Vinci was a multi-tiered settlement, where each building had an individual water supply, similar to those that exist now. The creation of such a city was facilitated by the plague raging in those days, unsanitary conditions and dirt. Leonardo sought to create a city where there would be no such diseases and which would be suitable for comfortable living. It is interesting that after this invention, schemes of similar cities appeared among other scientists, but the primacy belongs to da Vinci.

7. Self-propelled cart

The self-propelled cart is very similar and in fact is the ancestor of our car. It was invented by da Vinci in such a way that it could move with or without a driver - a kind of "robot car". Unfortunately, scientists were not able to study in detail the design, thanks to which the car moved, but they made the assumption that it was a spring mechanism. He was hiding inside the cart itself, it had to be turned on by hand, after which the spring unwound and the cart moved.

6. Tank

This invention is considered the prototype of modern tanks. It was a conical-shaped machine, equipped with guns around the perimeter. Could move through the muscular strength of a crew of eight people. Most likely, it was intended to intimidate the enemy, and not to be used as a serious military weapon.

5. Diving suit

The diving suit was invented for underwater sabotage. So that divers, dressed in this attire, could open the bottoms of enemy ships that sailed to Venice. The costume was made of leather. Divers could breathe using a flexible breathing tube made from pieces of cane attached to wine bottles or a floating bell on the surface.

4. Machine gun

Leonardo da Vinci proposed to put together 11 muskets on one rectangular platform, then fold three platforms into a triangle and place the shaft inside. It was understood that while one row of muskets fired, the other two would cool down and reload. As you know, not one of the inventions of da Vinci for murder was not built, but if this machine gun were built, it would be extremely destructive for the enemy.

3. Ornithopter

It's no secret that Leonardo da Vinci was interested in everything that flies, so the Italian inventor developed the ornithopter, a device with which you can take to the air and fly like a bird, flapping mechanical wings driven by muscle power. From the point of view of aerodynamics, this device was very successful, and scientists have proven that if it were built, a person would really take off!

2. Parachute

In 1483, Leonardo da Vinci drew a sketch of a pyramidal parachute - a “tent” made of starched linen measuring 12x12 cubits. As he himself indicated, thanks to this device, a person could fall from any height and not be injured. Surprisingly, these calculations are close to the size of a modern parachute.

1. Bearing

Perhaps the greatest invention of Leonardo da Vinci is the bearing. This mechanism is so small that we simply do not notice it in Everyday life, but it is impossible to imagine our life without it! The bearing was part of most of the invented mechanisms of Leonardo, it is he who is the basis of almost every moving mechanism today.

Byzantine beasts

Where: Constantinople

When: 10th century

In the early Middle Ages, Byzantium was almost the most powerful state in Europe. At that time, unique works of art were created there, among which were unusual mechanisms. The Italian diplomat Liudprand of Cremona described the ceremonial throne room in the imperial palace of Constantinople, where the ruler of Byzantium received foreign guests. According to the Italian, the throne of the emperor was surrounded by golden lions, which "made a formidable roar with open mouths and trembling tongues and waved their tails back and forth." Next to the throne stood a golden tree, the branches of which were strewn with dozens of gilded birds, each of which sang a song appropriate to its species. At some point, the throne of the emperor soared up to the ceiling, in which a hatch opened. After that, the ruler descended into the throne room in disguise. There is no information left about how exactly these mechanisms worked, and they also disappeared.

Middle Eastern Robot Musicians

Where: Diyarbakir, Turkey

When: 12th century

At the court of the Turkic Artuqid dynasty, whose capital was located in the east of modern Turkey, the inventor and engineer Al-Jazari worked. Its mechanisms are one of the proofs of the flourishing of science in the Muslim world of the Middle Ages. He is best known for musical automatons. These were complex humanoid devices that could play various musical instruments. They did this thanks to a built-in system of small vessels, when water was poured between which their bodies and faces moved. According to eyewitnesses, Al-Jaziri automatons owned 50 facial expressions, and the melody they played could be programmed using a system of pegs that changed the rhythm of the internal mechanism.

da vinci robot

Where: Milan

When: 15th century

Shortly after the completion of the Last Supper fresco, Leonardo da Vinci decided to take on the role of the creator of man and began work on drawings of a mechanical knight. Externally, the robot looked like a man, fully dressed in medieval metal armor. Inside it was a complex mechanical system that made the knight move his limbs. The robot was able to sit down, stand up, move its arms and neck, and open its jaw, which was anatomically very similar to a human one. According to the drawings, the robot was driven by two separate mechanisms. One was responsible for the upper limbs and head, the second for the legs. Everything worked with the help of the interaction of scales and liquids. For the first time, the robot was presented at the feast of the Duke of Milan Ludovic Sforza in 1495, and in the 20th century, according to the newly acquired drawings of da Vinci, they made a copy of the automaton - fully functional.

Mechanical Satan

Where: Italy

When: XV-XVI centuries

In Catholic Italy, where the forces of the Counter-Reformation were successful in keeping the ideas of Protestantism from spreading, the church authorities were sure that the flock should be kept in fear of images of hellish punishment for sins. This was achieved, among other things, with the help of automatons. According to travelers (for example, Briton William Lambard), in Italian churches, mechanical devils could be found who were able to “bend down and lift themselves up, shake and rotate hands and feet, nod their heads, roll their eyes, arch their eyebrows ... and collect on their faces expressions of rage, determination and contempt when they pretend, as if offended, or to show the most friendly smile of joy and calmness when they want to appear benevolent.

Little dead monk

Where: Spain

When: 16th century

A small figurine of a monk, which, with the help of an internal mechanism, begins to move around the room, occasionally raising and lowering a cross or a rosary, as well as opening its jaw, actually depicts a prayer. It was made at the court of the Spanish king in gratitude to the divine powers. According to legend, the son of the ruler of Spain fell ill with a serious illness, and no means could help him recover until the relics of a monk who died about 100 years ago were placed in his bed. Incredibly, the prince recovered, and his father thanked God with a copy of the remains, which, like the son of the king, miraculously came to life.

french duck

Where: Paris

When: 18th century

The French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson produced a mechanical creation that was admired by all his educated compatriots. Voltaire even said that, apart from the mechanism of Vaucanson, little was capable of showing the achievements of the French people. The inventor's robot was a duck that did everything normal birds do. She flapped her wings, rotated her head, opened her beak into which food could be placed. At the end of the performance, the duck defecated. Inside the duck and its pedestal were filled with hundreds of details that set the mechanism in motion. True, she still did not digest food. The food stuffed into the duck through its beak remained in one of the internal reservoirs, while the real duck excrement was excreted by the bird, which was previously placed in another compartment.

Mechanical children of the Enlightenment

Where: Switzerland, France, Britain

When: 18th century

Another engineering genius of the 18th century showed himself in the commercial field. The Swiss Pierre Jacques-Droz built three automaton children to promote his own production of watch movements. The operation of the devices was based on a system of cam mechanisms. They could be programmed so that the automatons performed different tasks: Jacques-Droz created the "Musician", "Drawer" and "Writer". The "musician" with the appearance of a woman was able to play a real harpsichord with finger presses, as well as imitate breathing with chest movements. The "draughtsman" with the help of a real pencil reproduced on paper one of four images: a portrait of King Louis XV of France, a portrait of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, a dog with the inscription "My dog" and a naked cupid in a cart drawn by a butterfly. The “Writer” had the most complex mechanism, which could be programmed to write customized text. The automaton used a real quill pen, which he dipped in ink from time to time. The robots are still in working condition, and you can see them in the Swiss Neuchatel.

Angry musical tiger

Where: Maipur, India

When: 18th century

In the 18th century, the Rajah of Maipur principality in the territory of modern India fought against the British invaders-colonists. After the news that the son of one of the enemy commanders was killed by a tiger, the ruler, who had an unhealthy love for these animals (many of his things were painted like a tiger skin), ordered to capture the death of a person in the form of a moving model on a scale of 1: 1. The resulting mechanism rather comically depicts the death of an Englishman. (the tiger is doomed to forever gnaw his throat), and inside the beast there is a small organ that still works.

The authorities of Ecuador have deprived Julian Assange of asylum in the London embassy. The founder of WikiLeaks is detained by the British police, and this has already been called the biggest betrayal in the history of Ecuador. Why is Assange being avenged and what awaits him?

Julian Assange, a programmer and journalist from Australia, became widely known after the WikiLeaks website he founded published secret documents from the US State Department, as well as materials related to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010.

But it was quite difficult to find out who the policemen, supporting by the arms, were taking out of the building. Assange grew a beard and did not look at all like the energetic man that he had so far presented in photographs.

According to Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, Assange's asylum was denied because of his repeated violations of international conventions.

He is expected to remain at a police station in central London until he appears before Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Why the President of Ecuador is accused of betrayal

Former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa called the decision of the current government the biggest betrayal in the history of the country. "What he (Moreno. - Approx. ed.) did is a crime that humanity will never forget," Correa said.

London, on the contrary, thanked Moreno. The British Foreign Office believes that justice has prevailed. The representative of the Russian diplomatic department, Maria Zakharova, has a different opinion. "The hand of 'democracy' is squeezing the throat of freedom," she said. The Kremlin expressed the hope that the rights of the arrested person would be respected.

Ecuador harbored Assange because ex-president adhered to the center-left views, criticized US policy and welcomed the publication by WikiLeaks of classified documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even before the Internet activist needed asylum, he managed to get to know Correa personally: he interviewed him for the Russia Today channel.

However, in 2017, the government in Ecuador changed, the country headed for rapprochement with the United States. The new president called Assange "a stone in the shoe" and immediately made it clear that his stay on the territory of the embassy would not be delayed.

According to Correa, the moment of truth came at the end of June last year, when US Vice President Michael Pence arrived in Ecuador on a visit. Then everything was decided. "You can be sure: Lenin is just a hypocrite. He has already agreed with the Americans about the fate of Assange. And now he is trying to make us swallow the pill, saying that Ecuador allegedly continues the dialogue," Correa said in an interview with Russia Today.

How Assange made new enemies

The day before the arrest Chief Editor WikiLeaks Kristin Hrafnsson said that Assange was under total surveillance. "WikiLeaks uncovered a massive spy operation against Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy," he said. According to him, cameras and voice recorders were placed around Assange, and the information received was transmitted to the administration of Donald Trump.

Hrafnsson specified that Assange was going to be expelled from the embassy a week earlier. This did not happen only because WikiLeaks made this information public. A high-ranking source told the portal about the plans of the Ecuadorian authorities, but the head of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, Jose Valencia, denied the rumors.

Assange's expulsion was preceded by a corruption scandal involving Moreno. In February, WikiLeaks published the INA Papers package, which traced the operations of the offshore company INA Investment, founded by the brother of the Ecuadorian leader. In Quito, they said that this was a plot by Assange with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and former head of Ecuador Rafael Correa to overthrow Moreno.

In early April, Moreno complained about Assange's behavior in Ecuador's London mission. “We have to protect the life of Mr. Assange, but he has already crossed all the lines in terms of violating the agreement that we reached with him,” the president said. “This does not mean that he cannot speak freely, but he cannot lie and hack ". At the same time, back in February last year, it became known that Assange at the embassy was deprived of the opportunity to interact with the outside world, in particular, he was turned off access to the Internet.

Why Sweden stopped persecuting Assange

At the end of last year, Western media, citing sources, reported that Assange would be charged in the United States. This was never officially confirmed, but it was precisely because of Washington's position that Assange had to take refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy six years ago.

Sweden, in May 2017, stopped investigating two cases of rape in which the founder of the portal was accused. Assange demanded compensation from the country's government for legal costs in the amount of 900,000 euros.

Earlier, in 2015, Swedish prosecutors also dropped three charges against him due to the statute of limitations.

Where did the rape investigation lead?

Assange arrived in Sweden in the summer of 2010, hoping to get protection from US authorities. But he was under investigation for rape. In November 2010, a warrant for his arrest was issued in Stockholm, and Assange was put on the international wanted list. He was detained in London, but was soon released on bail of 240 thousand pounds.

In February 2011, a British court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden, followed by a series of successful appeals for the founder of WikiLeaks.

The British authorities placed him under house arrest before deciding to extradite him to Sweden. Breaking his promise to the authorities, Assange asked for asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​which was granted to him. Since then, the UK has had its own grievances against the founder of WikiLeaks.

What's next for Assange?

The man was re-arrested following a U.S. extradition request for publishing classified documents, police said. At the same time, Deputy Foreign Minister Alan Duncan said that Assange would not be sent to the United States if he faced the death penalty there.

In the UK, Assange is likely to appear in court on the afternoon of 11 April. This is stated on the WikiLeaks Twitter page. It is likely that the British authorities will seek a maximum sentence of 12 months, the man's mother said, citing his lawyer.

At the same time, the Swedish prosecutor's office is considering reopening the investigation into the rape allegation. Lawyer Elizabeth Massey Fritz, who represented the interests of the victim, will seek this.

Modern robots are already far from their predecessors, and it is impossible to recognize the history of the first mechanized devices in them. Nevertheless, these were very interesting automata and robots that used the most unpredictable principles and mechanisms in their work. Among them there is even an artificial duck! Learn about seven original devices from the past, some of which are still in use today, and some have been lost and are kept only in memory and literary evidence.

Knight Leonardo da Vinci

The great painter and inventor Leonardo developed many unique devices. Among his creations were even a hydraulic clock and a robotic lion. The most outstanding of all was an artificial man in the form of an armed German knight. It was assumed that it would be moved by a mechanism with cables, with the help of which the robot would move its head, bend its arms and raise its visor. To this day, not a single complete draft of the automaton has survived, but evidence confirms that Da Vinci did build such a knight in 1495. In 2002, robot specialist Mark Rosheim tried to restore the device from scraps of records. The device turned out to be working, which allows us to consider Leonardo da Vinci a pioneer of robotics. Not all of his inventions were successful, but it is really working and can impress anyone who is fond of robots and all kinds of mechanisms - it can compete with many modern devices of a similar nature.

Mechanical Monk

The mechanical monk that appeared in the sixteenth century was the result of a kept promise by King Philip II. His son was suffering from a head injury and the king swore he would create a miracle if the boy recovered. When health really returned, King Philip II ordered the figure of the Franciscan monk Diego de Alcala from the watchmaker. By 1560 it was completed. The figurine was controlled by a stretched cable with various weights and levels, as well as three small wheels hidden under a monk's robe. The monk could move his legs to give the appearance of walking, and also moved his eyes, lips and nodded his head. The figurine plausibly created the impression of a praying person. The device is still in operation and is on display at the Smithsonian Mechanics Museum in Washington DC.

Al-Jazari Flying Band

The Arab mathematician Al-Jazari created unique mechanical figurines at the end of the twelfth century. He created a robot that could dispense wine, a water-operated watch, and a hand-washing machine that dispensed soap and towels. The pearl of the collection was an automatic orchestra that could float on water and play music as it moves. It included four instruments - a harp, a flute and two drums. In addition, the orchestra housed mechanical rowers who would move the device across the lake. The mechanism was based on a spinning drum that moved the cables, leading to the creation of different sounds. Special elements made the musicians and rowers move realistically. By changing the drum, it was possible to change the melody being played. It turns out that the Al-Jazari orchestra was one of the first programmable computers in history. Unfortunately, not a single figurine has survived to this day, the drawings and diagrams have disappeared. To reproduce the device or to know the exact principle of its operation remains impossible to this day - the greatest invention of Muslim culture exists only in literary works.

Dove Archytas

Archytas was a famous mathematician and politician. According to some sources, he could also be the founder of robotics. For 350 years BC, he invented a wooden dove that moved under the influence of steam. He could flap his wings and fly into the air. Schemes and prototypes have not survived to this day, so modern scientists can only guess how the device worked. Some believe that the dove moved on a rope, under the influence of compressed air placed inside. Be that as it may, the oldest device still impresses the imagination - this is one of the first robots in history. There were no attempts to reproduce the device.

Silver swan

An amazing device that still works today was created in 1773. Using a complex system of clockwork, the bird-shaped robot can move like a real swan floating in a turbulent stream. The bird bends its neck and opens its beak with impressive realism, and many small mechanisms throughout the body create the illusion of water moving along the sides with fish moving in it, which the swan seems to be catching and eating. Inside is a music box that accompanies the performance with sounds.

Robots by Jacques Droz

The Swiss inventor Pierre Jacques Droz became famous as the creator of luxury watches, but he also created three unique mechanical figures. The first was a doll created in 1768. It was a figurine in the form of a boy sitting at a desk. Using a complex system of thousands of moving parts, the robot could dip a pen into ink and write up to forty letters on a piece of paper, which were programmed in advance. Then two more dolls were created, acting on a similar principle - the artist's doll could draw a portrait of King Louis the Fifteenth, and the musician performed five different songs on a miniature organ. Each robot had an expressive face with eyes that moved according to the action of the doll. The music doll could even breathe and bow. Droz's robots amazed the courtiers until the end of the eighteenth century, and then they were transferred to the museum, where they are still kept. Surprisingly, they still work.

Wacanson duck

In 1730, French inventor Jacques Wacanson wowed audiences with some incredible robots. He created a mechanical flutist who used artificial lungs to play a repertoire of twelve songs. Then a robot was created that played the trumpet and the drum. He played melodies faster than any living person. Wacanson's masterpiece, the mechanical duck, appeared in 1739. This bird could flap its wings, splash in a pool of water, and eat grain from the hands of onlookers. She "digested" the grains and defecated in compressed lumps on a silver plate. The amazing mechanism worked with the help of many details and elements. A flexible rubber tube served as the intestines, which provided the main focus - eating and digesting food. The duck made the creator so famous that he introduced it to royal families all over Europe. Wacanson was respected by Voltaire himself, who compared the inventor to Prometheus and noted that Wacanson's duck represented the glory of France.