Al-Jazari - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Al-Jazari - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Automata

Al-Jazari built automated moving peacocks driven by hydropower.[29] He also invented the earliest known automatic gates, which were driven by hydropower.[28] He also created automatic doors as part of one of his elaborate water clocks,[1] and designed and constructed a number of other automata, including automatic machines, home appliances, and musical automata powered by water.[30] He also invented water wheels with cams on their axle used to operate automata.[22] According to Encyclop�dia Britannica, the Italian Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci may have been influenced by the classic automata of Al-Jazari.[31]
Mark E. Rosheim summarizes the advances in robotics made by Arab engineers, especially Al-Jazari, as follows:
'Unlike the Greek designs, these Arab examples reveal an interest, not only in dramatic illusion, but in manipulating the environment for human comfort. Thus, the greatest contribution the Arabs made, besides preserving, disseminating and building on the work of the Greeks, was the concept of practical application. This was the key element that was missing in Greek robotic science.'[32]
'The Arabs, on the other hand, displayed an interest in creating human-like machines for practical purposes but lacked, like other preindustrial societies, any real impetus to pursue their robotic science.'[33]"