Mechanical logic gates
MAKE subscriber Xiaoji Chen of Cambridge, MA, is experimenting with mechanical logic gates made from wood sticks and rivets. Click on the image to see a Processing simulation.
Modern Mechanix
Robot pours the perfect glass of beer
This video by YouTube user UncleJtotheS shows a “third year Mechatronics project at the University of Ottawa” that automatically pours a glass of beer — though not a pint, which is either 16 or 19.2 ounces depending on which side of the border you are. But I quibble, when it comes to automatically pouring beer […]
Human-powered cranes and lifting devices
They just put up a great article about the machines people used to lift and move heavy loads before the advent of steam power. Arguably the pinnacle of human-powered lifting technology were Sir William Fairbairn’s hand-cranked “Tubular Cranes,” one of which is shown above as illustrated in Fairbairn’s 1860 Useful Information for Engineers, Vol. 2:
Do these gears really work?
Gearfans have gotta check out this cool video showing all sorts of crazy gears, created by Clayton Boyer. [Thanks, baz]
Brass and wood “pressure door” with iris, handwheel
Chris Schaie just e-mailed me this picture of a recent commission. It’s a custom Nautilus-style submarine door that incorporates Chris’s familiar irising peephole as well as a new multiple bolt mechanism that locks and unlocks by turning the handwheel. Beautiful work, Chris!
Rube Goldberg-esque room
Daniel Heggarty from St. Louis, MO, wrote in to share his gloriously convoluted machine. This room was constructed with the humor of Rube Goldberg cartoons in mind at the St. Louis City Museum. Developed organically, the room started with one exercycle on the bench and the thought, “What can this become?” From there, visual and […]
Sweet atomic age GE exoskeleton prototype
OMG it’s like something out of Fallout 3, only real. And I want one. Or at least a Lego version of one, with an awesome hard-hat-wearing engineer minifig at the helm. This photo of GE’s “Hardiman” dates to the late 60s. cyberneticzoo.com has more photos, concept drawings, and good back story. [via adafruit]
