Ancient Greek programmable robot replica

The editors at New Scientist have constructed a replica of what is believed to be the earliest known programmable robot.

In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart's drive axle, and Sharkey reckons this string-based control mechanism is exactly equivalent to a modern programming language.

By the way, Noel Sharkey is a computer scientist at the University of Sheffield, UK, who recently discovered that one of Leonardo da Vinci's robotic creations was based on Hero's designs.

Here is the video of the replica as constructed by the magazine's editors,

This robot does not really qualify as a real robot in my opinion because it cannot sense its environment and react to it. Regardless, considering that this automaton was designed and built for the first time almost 2,000 years ago, I have to say that I am really amazed by it. The Greeks had a fascination with autonomous mechanisms; one can find descriptions of robotic creatures in their mythology and philosophy. Greek engineers are also well known for having constructed a number of automata such as Archytas' mechanical bird that was propelled by steam. Also don't forget about the Antikythera Mechanism that was recently revealed to be an ancient analogue computer used for astronomical calculations.