Jacques De Vaucanson: Automated Objects
By: Renee Plummer
Pipe-and-Tabor Player
The flutist
Digesting Duck
- In 1739 Jacques created another robot that had a pipe in one hand and a tabor (drum) in the other.
- The automated objected played 20 different songs.
- This duck had over 400 moving parts in each wing.
- Somethings it did would be flaping its wings drinking water digesting grain and defecating.
- This robot was his very first and took himm four years to complete.
- The flute player was life-sized and imitated all the motions needed to "play the flute".
- These motions include moving lips, moving hands, and lung inhalation.
- The robot had a play list of 12 different songs.
Jacques De Vaucanson
Automata
- Jacques most famous robots was the flutist, pipe-and-tabor player, and the digesting duck.
- All of these were presented in memoire to the Gentlemen of Royal-Academy of Sciences.
- Jacques was born in Grenoble, Frace February 24, 1709. The youngest of 10 and passed on November 21, 1782.
- He began making automata in 1735.
- De Vaucanson made three well known robots, The flutist, The pipe-and-tabor player, and the most famous the digesting duck.