A Robot is Born: Heron’s Programmable Robot

Robotics are often seen as future endeavors which will open a world of possibilities at some point beyond our own. However, the first robot was invented long ago…

What comes to mind when you hear the word robot? Some might envision a plethora of fictional robots. Perhaps R2D2 or C3PO from Star Wars, The Robot from Lost in Space, Wall-E, Rosey from the Jetsons, or even an intelligent robot like Data from Star Trek come to mind. Maybe you have also thought of more modern, realistic creations that mimic humans, fake robots in the form of children’s toys, or robotic arms that assemble cars in factories. Whichever robot you envision, you probably view robots as not yet future inventions. Sure, they have their uses at present, but aren’t robots from the future? What if I told you that the first robot was invented in AD 60?

That’s right, technology often has surprising roots and robots are no exception.

That’s right, technology often has surprising roots and robots are no exception. Robots can trace their origins to ancient Greece and Egypt, about two-thousand years ago. Heron has been credited as their maker (Garfinkel and Grunspan 22).

Heron lived in the city of Alexandria. If you remember your history class, Alexandria was a center of art, philosophy, math, science, and technology. Yes, their technology looked very different from our own, but remember, before the car could be invented, the wheel had to be created. In the middle of this culture, Heron set himself up as one of the most accomplished inventors of all time.

Among some of his most famous inventions (besides the robot, which we will get back to), was the first vending machine, used to dispense holy water, and the first steam engine. Heron loved to invent and he proved himself to be a brilliant mathematician. Modern scholars often see Heron’s inventions as thousands of years ahead of their time.

But, back to Heron’s robot. His invention was incredibly simple. It was made with a simple statue on top of a platform. The robot moved by using lead weights, rope, three wheels, an axle, and pins. The statue itself was stationary, but it moved around by way of the platform it was mounted on for a few minutes.

Here’s how the robot worked. The lead weights provided the power for the robot. As they fell down a tube they would pull the rope which was wrapped around the axle, making the axle spin. Pins located on the axle allowed the winding of the rope to change directions which in turn caused the axle to spin in a different direction and the robot could change direction and turn.

But there’s another exciting piece to Heron’s robot, it is programmable.

But there’s another exciting piece to Heron’s robot, it is programmable. In our modern world, we often think of programming as complex languages that you spend weeks and months learning. However, more simply programming is only a set of instructions carried out in a sequential order. That’s what Heron’s robot did.

The rope which was wrapped around the robot’s axle allowed the robot to be programmed. By changing the direction of the rope’s winding and where and how often it ran around the pins, the operator could change the robot’s behavior. Thus, the robot could perform different actions depending on how the rope was wound. Unfortunately, the time the robot ran depended upon the length the weight had to fall. Once the weight reached the ground, the robot would stop (“New Scientist recreates…”).

This brilliantly simple mechanism was discovered and tested by a British scientist by the name of Noel Sharkey in 2007. He demonstrated the robot’s operation with a few household items and some pieces taken off his children’s toys. I’m not sure how his children felt about it, but the final product is pretty cool (for a demonstration visit this YouTube video). Amazingly the system Heron invented, has been replicated for thousands of years and was even used for punch-card computers in the twentieth century (“New Scientist recreates…”).

Robots have a multitude of uses today. Heron invented his robot for entertainment, initially it would run around on a stage and delighted audiences (Garfinkel and Grunspan 22). Some robots still have this function while others are performing work and able to do some tasks faster and safer than humans.

Technology today, and throughout its long history, has been about automation.

Although Heron’s robot was built for entertainment, this is the first example we see of automation. Automation has become quite popular today and the word is frequently used in the context of smart home technology, but automation is an extremely important concept. Technology today, and throughout its long history, has been about automation. Automation takes tasks normally accomplished by humans and does them without human interaction. We are able to relax and enjoy entertainment because of automation.

Heron’s robot isn’t only a cool piece of history, it’s an influential piece in the history of modern computing. Let’s review some important concepts behind this invention. First, remember the importance of automation. This is the entire purpose of technology, to automate. Automation seeks to move tasks from humans to machines. This allows humans to accomplish more complex tasks without worrying about the more mundane aspects of life or invention. Automation also frees up time for humans to relax and seek other skills, educational opportunities, and entertainment.

Entertainment often drives technology forward just as much as need does.

Second, although need wasn’t an integral part of this robot’s invention, entertainment was. Entertainment often drives technology forward just as much as need does. Look at the film industry or even theme parks. Entertainment has pushed filmmakers to invent new effects and create new methods for accomplishing complex activities. Theme park engineers have often been some of the first individuals to explore the boundaries of technology. Entertainment has given us many inventions that would otherwise never have been created.

As I’m sure you’ve seen, technology is exciting. Technology has enabled humans to seek out new methods of entertainment, replaced boring mundane tasks with exciting opportunities to explore, and pushed our boundaries for what we thought was possible. The last few weeks have presented devices that may seem unsophisticated to the modern eye, but are in fact incredibly complex and innovative. Thousands of years ago the pieces of our technology were being created and invented. As we continue on our journey through computing history, you will be able to see your modern iPhone taking shape.

Heron’s robot represents an important leap in mankind’s understanding of what technology can do and an early look at the power of automation. Heron’s programmable robot is our fourth major milestone in the history of computing.

Works Cited

Engineering, Interesting. “Heron: The Industrial Engineer Long Before the Industrial Age.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2019, interestingengineering.com/heron-the-industrial-engineer-long-before-the-industrial-age .

Garfinkel, Simson, and Rachel H. Grunspan. The Computer Book: from the Abacus to Artificial Intelligence, 250 Milestones in the History of Computer Science. Sterling, 2018.

New Scientist. “New Scientist recreates a robot made by the ancient Greeks.” YouTube, 5 July 2007, https://youtu.be/xyQIo9iS_z0 .