Posts Tagged ‘1913’
1913 – Giant Mechanical Mosquito – Dr. Gustav Luchy (Swiss)
During some earlier research on Walking Machines, discovered an article in The Salt Lake Tribune. (Salt Lake City, Utah), March 09, 1913 headlined "The Giant Mechanical Mosquitoes Of Dr. Gustav Luchy." Now that it's come time to write it up, I see that Lyle Zapato's in his blog ZPi has already done a fine job in researching the material. So I will just add the picture and text transcribed here.
Picture Diagram Illustrating the Inventor's Idea of the Development of the Luchy Machine, Drawn from Sketches of the Small Working Model. The Essential Points of the Invention Can Be Grasped Easily by Study of the Carefully Worked Out Illustration. The Artist Has Shown the Machine at Work in the Antarctic, Boring Through the Ice Cap Down into the Internal Fires of the Earth. While the Inventor Has Suggested the Possibility of Tapping Earth's Heat in This Way, Other Scientists Believe Such a Development Highly Improbable. Not Only Would the Tools Have to Be of Impossible Length and Size, but It Would Not Be Possible to Generate Enough Power to Run Them. Besides, the Internal Fires, When Struck, Would Destroy the Tools Instantly. The Future of the Invention Lies, It Is Believed, in Smaller Machines Which Are Able to Carry Men into Places Inaccessible to Other Means of Conveyance and at the Same Time to Provide Shelter.
Giant Mechanical Mosquitoes to Conquer Nature!
Astonishing Machines Suggested by a Swiss Scientist to Open Up Earth's Remotest Places, and to Make Impossible a Repetition of the Captain Scott Tragedy
Milan, Feb. 20.[1913]
SELF-MOVING mechanisms modelled on the lines of gigantic mosquitoes and designed to enable man to conquer Nature in those places where the climate or the formation of the country make it impossible for him to enter or to remain for any length of time have been invented by Dr. Gustav Luchy, a Swiss scientist. Dr. Luchy, who has been collaborator with the Chevalier Pini, [actually Ing. Guiseppe Pino] the inventor of astonishing machines for exploring the sea bottoms, asserts that if Captain Scott had been equipped with one of his mechanical mosquitoes he could have made his way to the South Pole within a few hours after leaving his base. He also claims that the machines will make impossible any repetition of the Scott tragedy [from 1912], and will enable man to wrest from the Antarctic continent its mineral treasures without exposing their operators to the slightest danger.
Despite man's boasted mechanical progress, his engines of locomotion are singularly limited. The locomotive is dependent upon rails; the automobile demands at least a fairly smooth surface on which to run, and the flying machine as yet lacks efficient carrying power. None of the three is equipped to provide adequate shelter for any length of time in parts of the earth's surface where without shelter man cannot exist. Dr. Luchy's problem was to find a mechanism which could be independent of rails, would not be deterred by obstacles impassable to the automobile, would have practicable carrying power, and would provide shelter to a sufficient number of men for a sufficient length of time to enable them to do whatever they had set out to do.
In the formation of the mosquito he claims he found the combination of leg height with carrying power that he desired. The appearance of the machines in action would recall vividly the appearance of the Fighting Machines of the Martians in H. G. Wells's "War of the World's," a description of which is reprinted on this page. [See original for excerpt under the title "The Weird, 'Living' Machines of the Octopus-Like Martians".]
Only small working models of the mechanical mosquitoes have as yet been made by the inventor, but these seem to be as practicable as the paper plans promised. A large working model forty feet high when the long, articulated legs are fully expended, is now in course of construction. In the body are the engines which, provide its motive power and the quarters for a crew of ten men. The head is nothing more than a huge engine, from which are operated the drills, cutting tools, lifting cranes or whatever it is that is necessary for the work at hand. The inventor has in mind still larger machines built on exactly the same lines. He believes that there is no limit to the size of his mechanisms, and that it will be possible to build a mechanical mosquito big enough to walk through the shallower depths of the ocean, and to be powerful enough to cut through earth's crust to the internal fires—the same plan that has been suggested by the famous astronomer, Camille Flammarion, as a solution of the problem of our future source of energy when our coal beds give out.
The Luchy machines, besides being foreshadowed in Wells's fanciful story, have actual predecessors in travelling stages in use at Whitby, England, for marine work. These machines, the invention of Messrs. W. Hill & Co., are now being used for the construction of concrete breakwaters and similar operations. A description of their simpler mechanism will serve to make a trifle clearer the mode of locomotion of the Luchy machines. The Hill stages have eight legs and feet, four of which are used at a time when in motion. There are two massive steel framework structures, one inside the other, the outer being square, and the inner rectangular, the latter being somewhat smaller than the other. The legs, comprising stout members, which can be moved up and down vertically for a considerable distance, are fitted at the corners of each stage, and are pointed at the lower end to secure a firm grip upon the rocky seabed.
The walking action is secured as follows: The outer frame has its front legs lowered until the spuds (or feet) secure a grip upon the seabed. The legs of the inner stage are then raised to clear all obstructions when the stage is moved for ward the full extent of its travel, which brings it against the forward end of the outer stage, when its legs are lowered to the ground. The legs of the outer stage are now elevated vertically, so that the latter rests upon the former.
The outer stage is now moved forward until the inner stage is brought into contact with the rear end of the outer stage. The legs of the last named are then lowered, those of the inner stage raised, and the same cycle of operation is repeated.
The "walking man" is quite a massive affair. The outer frame is 48½ feet square, and it stands 33 feet high from the bottom of the spuds to the working deck level. The inner stage is 29½ feet by 40¼ feet. The result is that the machine can make a forward stride of about ten feet, while the inner stage can move sideways for about three feet. The feet are raised and lowered by screw gearing driven by electric motors. A complete movement can be effected in fifteen minutes.
It has been found that, with this travelling stage, work can be continued in the roughest weather. Indeed, it was the heavy seas experienced at Peterhead that led to its invention.
The Luchy machines have six articulated legs, three on each side of the body. Each leg ends in a deeply ridged foot, designed to give gripping power and to insure stability. The parts where the legs come from the mechanical body move on ball joints, thus giving free movement in all directions.
A study of the diagram on this page gives more clearly than any written description could, the essential principles of the Luchy invention.
In the Antarctic are enormous fields of mineral wealth. Captain Scott reported great coal beds and evidences of platinum, gold, iron and other useful minerals have been reported by other explorers. The great question has been how to get this mineral wealth away from such a place. The land is frozen and for a great part of the year is swept by terrific blizzards, in which man can hardly live, much less work. But it is claimed for the Luchy invention that several machines, each capable of holding crews of forty or fifty men, could be taken down to the Antarctic land mass. There they could be adjusted and could be effectively worked for the greater part of the year at least.
The boring tools in the head of the mosquitoes can be manipulated entirely from the inside of the machine itself and the body of the mechanism provides perfect shelter against the worst climatic conditions that could be encountered.
The machines will be made of steel and aluminum, and are not inordinately heavy. They are run by the Diesel oil machines, and the problem of fuel is the difficult one. It would be with coal. It will even be possible to use one machine as an operating mechanism and to use several others as carriers for whatever ores or other earth's treasures their crews are after.
For work in deserts, where the only means of access is by caravan, it is thought that the Luchy machines will be extremely useful. They do away with the necessity of erecting elaborate buildings or elaborate fortifications against hostile tribes, and can move easily and swiftly from place to place. They carry their own supplies and their own means of movement, and so are not dependent upon their surroundings.
In tropical countries, where locomotive travel is impeded by the vegetable growth, the machines can be equipped with cutting tools, and could clear a path to whatever point aimed at in a fraction of the time compared to the slow methods now in use.
Finally their use as war engines, as terrible as the fanciful "walking tripods" of Mr. Wells's Martians, is being brought to the attention of the Italian Government.
It is only fair to say that many scientists are skeptical as to the practicability of the machines. They grant that they will have limited use, but doubt if they can be extended to the deep sea wading size predicted by Dr. Luchy. Complexity of parts, weight and the enormous energy needed to run them on a large scale are put forth as arguments against their unlimited use.
Like Zapato, I also cannot find another mention of Dr. Gustav Luchy. Zapato makes a comment assuming Luchy is Italian, be he is Swiss and collaborated with Guiseppe Pino who is an Italian. I've tried searching on variants of Luchy's name, but currently without success.
1913 – The Thing (Martian Fighting Machine – Tripod) – H.G. Wells (British)
Tripod (The War of the Worlds)
From Wikipedia
Martian tripod illustration drawn by Henrique Alvim Corréa for a 1906 edition of the novel.Tripods or fighting-machines are a type of fictional three-legged walker from the H. G. Wells' classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, used by Martians to invade Earth.
The Novel
The tripods walked on three legs, had metallic tentacles underneath, an appendage housing the heat-ray, and a hood-like head. H.G. Wells first describes the tripods in detail:
Seen nearer, the Thing was incredibly strange, for it was no mere insensate machine driving on its way. Machine it was, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible, glittering tentacles (one of which gripped a young pine-tree) swinging and rattling about its strange body. It picked its road as it went striding along, and the brazen hood that surmounted it moved to and fro with the inevitable suggestion of a head looking about. Behind the main body was a huge mass of white metal like a gigantic fisherman's basket, and puffs of green smoke squirted out from the joints of the limbs as the monster swept by me. And in an instant it was gone.
– The War of the Worlds, Book 1, Chapter 10
Another eyewitness described them as "Boilers on stilts, I tell you, striding along like men" (Book 1, Chapter 14).
A London newspaper article in the book inaccurately described the tripods as "spider-like machines, nearly a hundred feet high, capable of the speed of an express-train, and able to shoot out a beam of intense heat" (Book 1, Chapter 14). Ironically, earlier newspaper articles under-exaggerated the Martians as being "sluggard creatures." The main character witnessed the tripods moving "with a rolling motion and as fast as flying birds" (Book 1, Chapter 12).
The tripods are armed with a Heat-Ray and black smoke, a type of poison gas.
It is still a matter of wonder how the Martians are able to slay men so swiftly and so silently. Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity. This intense heat they project in a parallel beam against any object they choose by means of a polished parabolic mirror of unknown composition, much as the parabolic mirror of a light-house projects a beam of light. But no one has absolutely proved these details. However it is done, it is certain that a beam of heat is the essence of the matter. Heat, and invisible, instead of visible light. Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam.
– The War of the Worlds, Book 1, Chapter 6
Their tentacles, which hang from the main body, are used as probes and to grasp objects. The tripods also sometimes carry a cage or basket which would be used to hold captives so the Martians could drain their blood. The height of the tripods is unclear, a newspaper article describes them to be over 100 feet tall (30 m). However, they can wade through relatively high water. The HMS Thunder Child engages a trio of tripods pursuing a refugee flotilla off the coast of England.
In the book the tripods are delivered to Earth in massive cylinders, shot from a sort of gun from Mars (in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, and in the PC game, the Martians refer to this device as a "large-scale hydrogen accelerator"). Once they arrive on Earth, the machines are soon assembled. A London newspaper article cites unnamed authorities who believed, based on the outside size of the cylinders, they carried no more than five tripods per cylinder (Book 1, Chapter 14).
The depiction of the tripods in any medium only very rarely takes in account the fact that, according to the book, the Martians had never invented the wheel and never incorporated its principle in their technology — which presumably would include mechanical joints. This is in accordance with a lack of such joints in the Martians themselves — who are tentacled invertebrates after all — but makes designing a feasible walking machine very difficult.
Martian tripods drawn by Warwick Goble, criticized and disowned by Wells.The original conceptual drawings for the tripod machines, drawn by Warwick Goble, accompanied the initial appearance of The War of the Worlds in Pearson's Magazine in 1897. When Wells saw these pictures, he was so displeased that he added the following text to the final version of his book:
I recall particularly the illustration of one of the first pamphlets to give a consecutive account of the war. The artist had evidently made a hasty study of one of the fighting-machines, and it was there that his knowledge ended. He presented them as tilted, stiff tripods without either flexibility or subtlety, and with an altogether misleading monotony of effect. The pamphlet containing these renderings had a considerable vogue, and I mention them here to warn the reader against the impression they may have created. They were no more like the Martians I saw in action than a Dutch doll is like a human being. To my mind, the pamphlet would have been much better without them.
It's been suggested that the fighting machines (Wells called them "the Things") inspired the AT-ATs (Snow Walkers) in the Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back". The 'idea' may have been inspired by WOTW, but the design was certainly borrowed from Syd Mead's Walking Cargo Vehicle c1970 (published in the US Steel Interface portfolio and later in his book SENTINEL).
1913 – Automaton (French)
Popular Mechanics June 1913
A French Talking AutomatonA new French talking automaton, just placed on the market, is said to be a great improvement over previous automatons of this kind. Located in its base are mechanisms for working the eyes, eyelids, head, mouth, arms, and the hands and fingers. Fourteen different parts may be worked at once, and 5,600 positions may be produced. In addition, two phonographs are incorporated, one for talking and the other for singing, so that they can be put on in turn.
This automaton is especially designed for advertising purposes. It can, for instance, be dressed as a cook and placed behind a table bearing food products. Or it may be placed in front of a store to hand advertising matter to passers-by, and at the same time proclaim the value of the wares and invite persons to enter. The mechanisms are operated by an electric motor, also concealed in the base.
1930 – Schreitender Motorwagen / Streitwagen (Walking car) – von Bechtolsheim (Germany)
The Schreitender Motorwagen / Streitwagen (Walking car) invented by Therese Freifrau von Bechtolsheim geb. Grafin Fugger-Kirchberg, Dr.Georg Freiherr von Bechtolsheim, Max Freiherr von Bechtolsheim and Berthamarie Freifrau von Nothafft geb. Freiin Von Bechtolsheim, (not Baron von Bechtolsheim aka Clemens von Bechtolsheim) in 1930 (and not 1913 as reported elsewhere). There is very little information to be found on this walking machine other than in the patent.
Patent information:
Patent Number: DE554354.
Filed 17 April 1930
Granted 16 June 1932
Above: Note the incorrect date of 1913 and incorrect attribution to Clemens von Bechtolsheim of this previously published illustration.
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