Silver Swan Automaton… no motors, built in 1773 and still working perfectly. By belgian mechanical genius John Joseph Merlin.
https://v.redd.it/sfn6yn8yro1h1
Posted by GloomyCity9841
Silver Swan Automaton… no motors, built in 1773 and still working perfectly. By belgian mechanical genius John Joseph Merlin.
https://v.redd.it/sfn6yn8yro1h1
Posted by GloomyCity9841
12 Comments
No motors… It literally says in the subtitles that he used three clock work motors
Misleading engagement bait title.
> no motors
The narrator at literally the 3rd sentence in the video:
> “3 clockwork motors”
Aha, de Belgische “Hans Voralberg” uit België. (Syberia game series).
Belgian made marvel I never heard about before. People in the comments watching 10 seconds with the need to point out the ‘3 motors’ quote in the movie.
Pretty neat how moving water was portrayed and eating a fish. I wonder how much upkeep it needs to keep fully functional though.
Geniaal
Automates/Automatons were basically invented alongside manual wind watches/clocks. Back then these were party pieces / objects to flex with at your fancy dinner parties.
To the smartasses commenting “motor”:
They don’t have motors, they are spring or counterweight driven just like manual wind watches/clocks, you wind a main spring that then transfers its energy to a series of wheels and cogs that make the object move.
The Silver Swan Automaton was created in the 18th century as a luxury showpiece combining art and engineering: it was designed by businessman James Cox and built by inventor John Joseph Merlin, using intricate clockwork mechanisms to mimic a real swan that appears to move, preen, and catch a fish in water.
Damn, as if actual swans weren’t already terrifying enough! Science just had to create the terminator version. /s
Where is this marvel exhibited? Anyone knows?
“Almost lifelike!”
It is from before Belgium…
John Joseph Merlin went on to invent inline skates!