We usually think of robots as an achievement of the modern era. But this remarkable machine is proof that the resourceful inventors of the 19th Century had the technology to create their own automata.

It may be 200 years old, but this beautiful automaton silkworm still runs like clockwork. The jewel-covered 'Ethiopian Caterpillar' was made for Chinese aristocracy in the early 19th century and is ...

The Silver Swan is the only one in the worldThe Silver Swan, made by James Cox in London in about 1773, is a life-size clockwork automaton that imitates the behaviour of a real swan. Cox was a showman ...

Editor’s Note: Art of Movement is CNN’s monthly show exploring the latest innovations in art, culture, science and technology. The boy wears an expressionless porcelain face and holds his right arm ...

This is Legonardo, an automaton capable of drawing portraits. Obviously, it doesn’t have the complex clockwork used by automatons of old, like its Swiss counterpart made by Pierre Jacquet-Droz and ...