Greetings All,  This is a bit off the subject but I found it
fascinating and thought to share it with members.  I had the
opportunity yesterday to attend a lecture by Andy Baron, the
mechanician (his term), who in 2007 restored the Maillardet Automaton,
at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.  He has included, in
his web site, a 40-page PDF file describing the problems encountered,
the solutions achieved and the remaining issues to be resolved,
complete with drawings and renderings by the Automaton.

There was some additional interest in the Automaton with the release
of the movie 'Hugo' a couple of years ago.  There are also two videos
showing the young man in action.

For anyone interested in things mechanical, I'd suggest perusing the
site and the notebook.  Andy's observations seem to be thoughtful and
complete.  He wrote the manuscript with a mind for notes to a future
restorer.  Considering that it was made in 1798 or so, the movement and
complexity of the mechanism is quite astounding.  I flashed on tracker
organs, music boxes and the Apollo player roll motor.

So, if you have about 15 minutes, enjoy the site and marvel at the
ingenuity of the Automaton's inventor.  Keep in mind that since our
automatic musical instrument may well be around long after we have
gone, documentation might help!  The web site is

  http://www.popyrus.com/hugo/ 
  http://www.popyrus.com/hugo/report.html 
  http://www.popyrus.com/hugo/automaton_report.pdf 

Cheers,
John McClelland

 [ The author writes at http://www.popyrus.com/hugo/report.html :
 [ "This report details six categories of issues that hindered proper
 [ mechanical operation of the automaton, and three conditions that
 [ risked further damage.  Numerous measures were taken to remedy the
 [ conditions, and are described in detail in the report. Various
 [ practical and esoteric aspects of the automaton and its drawings
 [ are discussed in detail."  -- Robbie