This drawing machine is inspired by the world’s first programmable wooden robot, named the Mechanical Knight by its creator, Leonardo da Vinci, who imagined it in the late 1400s.

The set includes all the materials needed to assemble the device, which, once assembled, can draw four different images: a woman, a skull, a horse and a tulip. Vinci’s Drawmaton is a simple technology based on gears, springs and swivel joints. The forerunner of the programmable computer, it is capable of reading 1 kB of analog memory via wooden “petals”.

141 parts
Requires approx. 3-4 hours for assembly

Includes device parts, 4 drawing discs, paper, pencil, easy-to-follow instructions and assembly glue.

Recommended for ages 14 and up

Size, when assembled: 40 x 30 x 9 cm (15.75 x 11.8 x 3.5″)

From initial assembly to operation, it encourages curiosity and critical thinking, while developing logic and motor skills, not to mention patience!

1) As you begin to manually rotate the smaller hand gear, it in-turn starts to spin the larger main gear.

2) This causes the edges of the Programming Petals (mounted on the larger main gear) to glide along brass follower pins encased in the upper arm.

3) Two tension springs, which are connected to the upper arm and leveraged on a stationary bolt, ensures that the brass follower pins return and reach into each recess along the Programming Petals’ edges.

4) The central “elbow” joint – which connects the upper and lower portions of the arm – assists in transferring this energy to the drawing instrument.

5) All of this movement is then interpreted, via the drawing instrument, as an image onto a sheet of paper in the drawing area.

Each piece of laser-cut wood has been carefully designed and calibrated to produce a machine in which all parts are precise to ensure exact operation. As you assemble and operate Vinci’s Drawmaton, you’ll observe how each part rests on and affects its neighbours.

The machine reads 1,000 points of information from each set of programming petals. This corresponds to 1 kb of information. The upper programming petal controls the drawing on the horizontal axis, while the lower programming petal controls the drawing on the vertical axis.