Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 15.
Georges Artsrouni's translating machine (this photograph first appeared on
the cover of
Automatisme
, vol. 5, no. 3, 1960) (Courtesy of the University of Birmingham
library)
cial telegraph codes and bank statements. He also claimed that it would
be particularly suitable for cryptography—deciphering and encrypting
messages—and that it was also a device for translating languages. Art-
srouni's design was actually a storage device on paper tape which could
be used to find the equivalent of any word in another language.
At the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1937 Artsrouni's device at-
tracted much attention (see
Figure 15)
. Many demonstrations were given
and the machine received a prize in the section for data processing. From
the beginning, Artsrouni foresaw one of its main applications as a me-
chanical dictionary for producing crude word-to-word translations across
four languages. As a mechanical dictionary, the “brain” had four basic
components: a “memory” of words in the four languages, an input device
consisting of a keyboard activating a reading head, a search mechanism,
