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Read this article in MAKE:
04: Music and Kits for the Holidays, Page 188.
To get MAKE, subscribe or purchase single volumes.
Subscribers—read this article now in your digital edition!A small family farm in Mexico will go under due to drought conditions and you decide to help.
From the column MakeShift
This MakeShift challenge is brought to you by Dean Kamen and the creative team at DEKA. Dean and his team will also be participating in the analysis and winner selection. And remember: don't be afraid to kiss frogs!
The Scenario: You're driving through a remote region of Mexico that is currently experiencing severe drought conditions. From the road, you see a family working desperately to keep their crops irrigated by carrying buckets of water. A quick scan of the farm leads you to believe that you can help. You pull over and introduce yourself (en español, por supuesto). You learn that the pond level has dropped due to the unusually dry summer, and the stream that it normally feeds has stopped flowing. This family of five has been doing their best to keep the crops watered, but it is clear that their attempts are doomed to fail given the severe heat, distances, and carrying capacities involved. These crops represent this family's food for the winter, annual income, and seed for next year's crop. Una solución elegante a este problema difícil es necesaria.
The Challenge: Create a makeshift solution to irrigate the crops using water from a pond that is about 50 meters away from the field. You need to raise the water 1 meter in order to restore flow to the stream. There is about a hectare (100 meters squared, a little more than 2 acres) of cropland. You need to pump about 50,000 liters each day for the next three months to adequately irrigate the field. You have about a week before the crops die.
Supply List
- A metal barn with a host of industrial farm equipment (e.g. wagon, tiller, mower, etc.)
- 1 dilapidated greenhouse, with most of its glass and associated equipment intact
- 1 broken-down farm tractor
- 3 donkeys
- 1 old oil tank, approximately 1,500-liter capacity
- 3 oak barrels, about 200-liter capacity (not water tight)
- Numerous rolls of black and clear 4 mil plastic, about 1mx50m each
Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to by Dec. 31, 2005. If duplicate solutions are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and most creative solutions will each win MAKE T-shirts and a SWISSMEMORY USB Victorinox 512MB. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your description. Good luck! For readers' solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.
Extras
Additional content for this article, available only online.
MakeShift 04: Analysis, Commentary, and Winners
Few people know that part of the hiring process at Dean Kamen's research and development firm, DEKA, is a sort of real-time MakeShift challenge: applicants are brought into a large conference room where Kamen and a dozen of his top engineers rapid fire seemingly unsolvable problems at the aspiring makers in order to observe and evaluate their problem-solving prowess. It is trial by problem solving, and the faint of brain need not apply. It is in this same spirit that Dean's team offered the MakeShift problem for Make 04: a rural setting in Mexico, summer drought conditions, and a family in need of a water irrigation solution ASAP.
by William Lidwell;
March 16, 2006 | Technorati | del.icio.us
MakeShift 04: Matthew Sparks' Most Plausible Winning Entry
by William Lidwell;
March 16, 2006 | Technorati | del.icio.us
MakeShift 04: Mark Trageser's Most Creative Winning Entry
Mark Trageser's entry won for "Most Creative" in the Makeshift column in volume 04.
by William Lidwell;
March 16, 2006 | Technorati | del.icio.us
MakeShift 04: Vinnie Forgione's "Zeno of Elea" Honorable Mention
by William Lidwell;
March 16, 2006 | Technorati | del.icio.us
MakeShift 04: Bobby Joe Snyder's "Hans Christian Andersen" Honorable Mention
by William Lidwell;
March 16, 2006 | Technorati | del.icio.us
Links
- MakeShift
Previous MakeShift challenges.
Errata for this article
Correction for page 188
The details of the challenge were left out of the print magazine:
The Challenge: Create a makeshift solution to irrigate the crops using water from a pond that is about 50 meters away from the field. You need to raise the water 1 meter in order to restore flow to the stream. There is about a hectare (100 meters squared, a little more than 2 acres) of cropland. You need to pump about 50,000 liters each day for the next three months to adequately irrigate the field. You have about a week before the crops die.
MAKE: Noise — Discuss this article
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Showing messages 1 through 10 of 10.
- Winner Selection Coming Soon
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Sorry for the delay in announcing the winners for MakeShift 04. We had many entries, and Dean and his team are looking through them. I hope to be getting their selections soon. Thanks for your patience.Posted by william.lidwell on February 15, 2006 at 07:03:18 Pacific Time
- Graffiti
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Anybody else notice the Graffiti on the roof of the barn?Posted by maltedfalcon on January 09, 2006 at 08:00:20 Pacific Time
- Graffiti
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yep - they do it every project :)Posted by VinnyF on January 17, 2006 at 04:33:13 Pacific Time
- Tools?
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what tools should we assume are available?
ThanksPosted by VinnyF on December 02, 2005 at 04:25:30 Pacific Time
- farm equiment
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Is the industrial farm equipment designed to be attached to the tractor via the PTO, or are they self powered? My gut says PTO, but I'd rather ask.Posted by VinnyF on November 07, 2005 at 12:05:14 Pacific Time
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muchas gracias :)Posted by VinnyF on November 07, 2005 at 08:09:00 Pacific Time
- Stream?
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Does the Stream water the Farmland?Posted by ACharles27 on November 06, 2005 at 13:27:02 Pacific Time
- Stream?
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Yes.Posted by william.lidwell on November 06, 2005 at 14:03:20 Pacific Time
- size of pond?
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any hint to the dimensions of the pond?Posted by VinnyF on October 31, 2005 at 09:35:46 Pacific Time
- size of pond?
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Hint: sufficiently large to provide 50,000 liters per day for three months without the water level lowering significantly -- assume it continues to be fed by a small stream and some modest amount of rainfall. FYI ... one cubic meter = 1000 liters.Posted by william.lidwell on November 06, 2005 at 14:49:01 Pacific Time
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