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It is, well spotted. I fashioned the little chap from a Mr Bean doll -- unfortunately it turned out he was instantly recognisable (especially to children) so I gave him his woolly hat to disguise him!

The fact that the little guy on periscope inside is also mechanical is scares me...

Thanks for your interest! Actually this video is intended to accompany an article about the Turk in the March/April edition of Automata magazine, which is free to download at automatamagazine.com/the-magazine When I get time I intend to make a standalone video with a voiceover. In brief, it's all electronic (as in von Kempelen's original, the moving machinery is just a distraction!) run from an Arduino mega powering RC-type servos. Counter sensing is via magnets in the counter bases which trigger Reed switches. The noughts-and-crosses algorithm I devised myself, to my cost when a young opponent found an early bug and defeated the Turk -- now fixed, I'm pretty sure he's invincible!

In guessing the same way the chess one does.