I was looking up how to fix the Hexbug that my buddy Hugo gave me (it's going round in circles) when I wandered into the world of early robots (I was looking up the Greek for "someone who designs robots" - Automatodemiurge is the best I can do). Below are some of the Tales of Talos, a cross between Pinocchio and the Terminator!
The World’s First Robot: Talos
Uncanny mechanical humanoids, automatons, robots, and replicants, so popular in modern fiction and film, are usually thought to be inventions of the 17th century (Louis IV commissioned several mechanized figures). But the creation of artificial humans is a very ancient dream—or nightmare. Daedalus, the most ingenious inventor of Greek myth, was credited with making many marvelous mechanical wonders. His well-known experiment with man-made wings ended tragically with the death of his son Icarus., but Daedalus also created the first “living statues.” These realistic bronze sculptures appeared to be endowed with life as they moved their limbs, rolled their eyes, perspired, wept, and vocalized. Such animatronic statues were not just figments of the mythic imagination—they were actually constructed in classical antiquity.
Robots made to obey commands were also engineered by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention and technology. Talos, the gigantic animated bronze warrior programmed to guard the island of Crete, was one of Hephaestus’s creations. Like Hollywood’s imaginary Robo-Cop or the Terminator, Talos was the ancient forerunner of autonomous cyborgs capable of deploying lethal force.
Sounds totally like the ancients had robots! The concept of an artificial man or woman seems anachronistic to the age, although the
Antikythera Mechanism clearly indicates that the Greeks had much higher technical skills than previously thought.
more here...
http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2012/03/the-worlds-first-robot-talos.html
This page contains a good timeline of
Robots in History
there's also this
Ancient Greek Programmable Robot with instructions! It's very similar to the hexbug, it can go forwards backwards and turn, depending on the winding of string round it's axles, and it uses gravity as an automotive power source. Here's a video from New Scientist about the same device:
